/ A Message From The Editor-In-Chief: The Journey

by Hina P. Ansari

A Message From The Editor-In-Chief: The Journey

Apr 01, 2015

All it takes is a spark. Intent. A vision. A goal. It’s something that drives you and takes you from where you are to where you want to be — from concept to execution, from sketch to prototype, from the haze of dreams to the concrete slabs of reality.

As nature intended, we never go about this journey alone. As we clear a fresh path, we are always in the company of strangers, friends, mentors and family encouraging us, guiding us, letting us make our mistakes in the hopes we learn from them, and relishing in our victories in the hopes we never forget them. We thrive in their company. And they are always there reminding us of how valuable we are, how valuable our journey is, how valuable our dream is.

The idea of sharing this journey is what drives the concept of THE ANOKHI LIST 2015. We want to, of course, recognize the trailblazers who have forged their own respective paths. From the red carpet to the boardroom and from backstage to centre court, we collectively celebrate them all.

Just as we are ANOKHI we want to ensure the uniqueness of our coverage is reflected by the sheer variety of nominees with respect to age, gender, geography and profession. Coming up with the list is a year-long process where our Nominations Committee, headed by our formidable CEO, Raj Girn, hone our respective radars and start scoping the global career space for South Asian talent.

It might be a referral from a colleague, a nomination submitted by a reader or even a spontaneous Googling of a name we noticed on the closing credits of our favourite Netflix drama. No status update, tweet or link goes unnoticed. Among the hundreds of names we receive, the list is whittled down to the magic number 32 that we feel tells a complete narrative of the various points of success. THE ANOKHI LIST 2015 writing team then jumps into high gear and works with the recipients to ensure the heart of their stories are told.

It’s their distinctive voices of success that compels us to move forward. We started to tell their stories with words but we needed the proper visuals to complete this chronicle. So our creative director, Ajay Lad, came up with a design concept “inspired by traditional royal colours and a historic floral pattern like the ones found on the walls of many palaces.” A perfect way to showcase the purpose of this book, which is to shine a light on the leaders of today and tomorrow, those whom we feel are current and future moghuls in their careers.

So here we are, a year later, ready to share THE ANOKHI LIST 2015 with you. We are here to share their stories and their journeys with you. And who knows, maybe next year you’ll share your story with us.

Best,

Hina P. Ansari

Editor-In-Chief

Hina P. Ansari

Author

Hina P. Ansari is a graduate from The University of Western Ontario (London, Ontario). Since then she has carved a successful career in Canada's national fashion-publishing world as the Entertainment/Photo Editor at FLARE Magazine, Canada's national fashion magazine. She was the first South Asian in...