Hridith Sudev is a scientist, social activist, author, speaker, screenwriter and environmentalist who is known for founding an environmental organization, The World Foundation. His first book, a poetry anthology titled "Catharsis: An Anthology" was published in 2018.
Early life and background
Hridith Sudev was born on 27 December 1999 in the southern Indian state of Kerala to Dr.Shaji P Sreedhar and Hridhya S Menon. Hridith is part of the now defunct Kurumbranad Royal Family through his father, with his great-great-grandfather, HH King Ramavarma Valiyaraja II being the last reigning monarch of Northern Kerala. During his early childhood, Hridith suffered from ataxia, a condition he recovered from later. He moved to Oman with his parents in 2004. He graduated from Indian School Salalah in 2018.
Project GreenWorld and environmentalism
Hridith Sudev and his younger brother Samved Nambiar, founded Project GreenWorld International under their middle-school Social Science Department in 2012. Beginning as Project GreenOman, the Eco-Club organized numerous activities and events that soon caught the eye of authorities. This led the Eco-Club to be expanded as a non-profit called Project GreenWorld International. PGWI went on to win the World Environment Day Global School Award 2012 leading to Hridith being appointed as the Project Earth Student Ambassador of Oman to the UNCSD Rio+20 conference in 2012. On 5 June 2014, Sudev became the then youngest national recipient of International Energy Globe Awards, Austria which was awarded to Sudev jointly with his organisation's Oman unit. Hridith has often been called the 'World's Greenest Boy' for his environmental stewardship. In 2018, Hridith and his team reconstituted PGWI as a subsidiary of a new umbrella organization called The World Foundation. TWF is a registered non-profit NGO working for social justice and environmentalism. Hridith now serves as the Chairman, Board of Directors for this foundation.
Scientific Career
According to official website, Hridith Sudev began working on his water-filtration technology in 2016 inspired by his grandmother's practice of using Moringa oleifera seeds to purify water. The then 11th grader Hridith, began working off of the research of Dr.Stephanie Velegol and team of Pennsylvania State University and used a novel concept of adsorbing MOC proteins from moringa seeds on charcoal dust to filter water. Hridith has since started Project SasyaClean, a social entrepreneurship venture that eventually aims to mass-manufacture the filter to help solve the world water problem in regions with water scarcity.
Writing career
Hridith self-published his first full-length book with TinkerBird Publishing in 2018. The book, a poetry anthology titled "Catharsis: An Anthology" was one of the best-selling English-language poetry books in the Middle-East. His second book, The Summer of Touch-Me-Nots is expected to release in 2020.
Philanthropy and public life
Hridith has often identified as a social change activist and is an active advocate of feminism and social equality. Hridith has been a vocal supporter of the HeForShe Campaign, LGBTQ rights and Black Lives Matter Movement. In 2017, he launched the neo-history website, "The TheirStory Movement" with Alexandra Fuchs, to "celebrate lesser-known great persons; female, queer or otherwise marginalized, who helped shape the modern World and our history." The website aims to reduce gender bias in textbook history through mass awareness.
Personal life
Hridith is a self-described 'left-leaning, secular, Gandhian feminist' known for his liberal viewpoints in politics. He has named feminist poet, Rupi Kaur, Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, socialist writer and activist Jessica Mitford and Instagram-based writer, Lindsay O'Connel as his literary influences. On multiple occasions, Hridith has identified PennState researcher, Stephanie Butler Velegol, on whose work his research is based on, as is his biggest inspiration in science alongside Russian chemist, Dmitri Mendeleev and Indian rocket-scientist, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. .Hridith is also an avid Instagrammer who works in close association with success coaches to help build a "Good Vibes" culture on the internet.
