Desiclub once again raises a toast to the desi spirit - the shining stars of year 2009 who dazzled the world with their astounding achievements.

Keeping up with our tradition, we present you the Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2009 and leading the pack are a bunch of high-profile desis whose word influences US policy and the mixed culture they grew up in contributes to nation building - the appointees to President Obama's administration.

Desis have arrived and how! The world's oldest democracy elected an African-American President last year and the big boss - thanks to his early association with desis - chose the best and the brightest minds to achieve his goals. In 2009, more than ever before, Desis have become intertwined with mainstream American society. Not through the usual fields such as entertainment and science, but now with the most powerful platform that exists - politics. It is safe to say that every single aspect of American life now has a Desi hand in it.

Entertainment, public service, science, technology, sports, business, literature, arts - Desis have proved their mettle in every field, at times breaking stereotypes and conventions too.

Year 2009 has been significant for the music and entertainment industry in the sense that the world stood up and took notice of the desi talents at forums such as the Oscars where a film and its music crossed all barriers and struck a chord with universal audiences on the strength of its sheer originality.

As always, it was a tough job nailing down the final 50 from the pool of talent available. Our list features some dynamic individuals whose contribution to their chosen field will be remembered for years to come. And we promise to keep you posted as ever.

50. Nikkitasha Marwaha
Location: Chicago, IL
Who is She: Miss India Worldwide 2009
Why is She Cool: Defeated 24 contestants from all over the globe and floored the judges with her classical Indian fusion dance.
What's Next: Given her dancing talents, Bollywood certainly beckons this communications student from Northwestern University.
Cool Fun Fact: Marwaha is an accomplished Kuchipudi dancer and represented USA at the Boogie Woogie International dance competition in London. She stood as the first runner up. She epitomizes Madhuri Dixit.

49. Rachna Kapur
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Founder, Network of Single Professionals (NESP)
Why is She Cool: NESP, a social networking/fundraising group she found in 2007, works towards creating awareness for non-profit organizations and charitable trusts across the world. The organization is not only dedicated to providing business and social networking opportunities to volunteers but also connects and engages contemporary single professionals with non-profit organization and charitable trusts. Apart from raising thousands of dollars for donations in the last two years, the group has gathered clothing, eye-glasses and canned goods for donations that have helped organizations like City Harvest, Toys for Tots, Parikrma Humanity Foundation, BJ's Place Homeless Shelter, Keep A Child Alive, Asha for Education, CRY, Smile Train and many others in numerous ways.
What's Next: More events, more donations, more causes.
Cool Fun Fact: NESP has over 3000 members across five chapters in Washington DC, New York, Chicago, Toronto and Mumbai.

48. Anshuman Vohra
Location: New York, NY
Who is He: CEO, Bulldog Gin
Why is He Cool: A former J P Morgan investment banker, Vohra gave in to his entrepreneurial itch and started a premium gin company in 2006, quite an unconventional choice of venture for a desi in the West. Three years hence, it is already available in USA (some states), UK, Spain, Italy, France, Canada (some regions), Germany, Denmark, New Zealand and garnering rave reviews and competing with established brands, despite being a relative newcomer. The credit sure goes to Vohra who wanted to make a gin that satisfied his desire for the unusual.
What's Next: Expansion into even greater markets, no doubt.
Cool Fun Fact: He raised money from friends for the venture. Some were his former college tennis teammates.

47. Jehangir Mehta
Location: New York, NY
Who is He: Chef and Owner, Graffiti
Why is He Cool: Mehta competed in Food Network's The Next Iron Chef and stood runner up losing against Philadelphia's Chef Jose Garces.
What's Next: Restaurant, event management business, cooking class for children, cookbook, reality shows... we are sure he'll figure in our list of 2010 as well!
Cool Fun Fact: Mehta belongs to a family of accountants. Thyme Roasted Potatoes is his favorite comfort food.

46. Jay Gatzby
Location: New York, NY
Who is He: Publicist, Manager
Why is He Cool: Being true to what he believes in, Jay has been involved in the South Asian and mainstream music scene for over 5 years now, he was moving and shaking back when the scene was still underground. He's stuck with it out of sheer passion and most recently has been representing the artist Jay Sean with PR and events, among other hot budding talent.
What's Next: Jay continues to pursue his career in the entertainment industry and will surely achieve even greater success.
Cool Fun Fact: Jay's real name is Nihar Kulkarni. But you didn't hear that from us.

45. Shilpa Agarwal
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Who is She: Author and Academic
Why is She Cool: Her debut novel Haunting Bombay has received rave reviews both as a compelling snapshot of 1960's Bombay and as a ghost story.
What's Next: Agarwal's been working on her second book for about two years. Like the first, it involves the mystical and mysterious and explores a marginalized population in our society. However, it is set in a different part of India and during a different time period.
Cool Fun Fact: Haunting Bombay won the 2003 First Words Literary Prize for South Asian Writers way before it was published.

44. The Bilz and Kashif
Location: Montreal, Quebec
Who are They: Music Group
Why are They Cool: Three years after the success of their debut, the group is back with a new album called "Breaking Barriers." The music industry's increasing acceptance of South Asian artists and their upcoming album being the best work they've done to date are sure indicators that they are here to stay!
What's Next: A US tour after the album comes out.
Cool Fun Fact: Their breakthrough song 2 Step Bhangra got to the top of the charts in Canada in league with mainstream acts like Justin Timberlake and Beyonce.

43. Sonal Shah
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Who is She: Actress
Why is She Cool: As Dr. Sunny Dey in Scrubs, she's another desi import to mainstream television.
What's Next: Shah also has a role in the 2009 teen comedy film Ratko: The Dictator's Son. This super talented desi is sure to go places, watch this space for her.
Cool Fun Fact: She started her career as competitive dancer, was a surefire staple in the Chicago theatre community, opted out of med school to pursue a career in acting, is a strict vegetarian, a part time calculus tutor and works with a prominent PR firm in her "free" time. Talk about busy!

42. Navin Kundra
Location: UK
Who is He: Singer, Songwriter, Composer
Why is He Cool: He was nominated for Best Newcomer at the UK Asian Music Awards. 'Tere Liye', his new love song debuted on the Unity Charts at #3 and two weeks later was at #1. It topped the charts for six weeks on the Club Asia Essential Chartshow.
What's Next: This 24-year-old multilingual singer, songwriter, composer - yeah... Kundra's well versed in Hindi, Punjabi, English and Arabic - has had a jam packed 2009 with performances as far as Holland and Dubai and release of singles such as Mehbooba from his debut album. In 2010, we're sure gonna hear a lot from him!
Cool Fun Fact: Indian filmmaker Sajid Nadiadwala chose Kundra to be the playback singer for Akshay Kumar in Kambakht Ishq.

41. Mallika Dutt
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Human Rights Activist
Why is She Cool: Dutt won the American Courage Award from the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC) for her work in the U.S. and India. She heads 'Breakthrough,' an international human rights organization that spreads the message of social justice through popular media.
What's Next: Most recently, Breakthrough has partnered with the AAJC, along with 25 other leading organizations, to produce "Restore Fairness", a powerful documentary that calls on the government to bring back due process to immigration in the US. It features interviews with members of Congress, immigration judges and individuals directly affected by unfair immigration policies.
Cool Fun Fact: She received the Spirit of Asian America Award from the Asian American Federation of New York in 2003 and the Phoenix Service Award from the New York Asian Women's Center in 2002.

40. Tania James
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Author
Why is She Cool: Critics hailed 28-year-old Tania James as the next big thing to happen to the literary world. The San Francisco Chronicle compared her debut novel "Atlas of Unknowns," to Zadie Smith's "White Teeth" and the Daily Mail described her book as "equally irresistible."
What's Next: A collection of short stories.
Cool Fun Fact: After graduating from Harvard University in Visual and Environmental Studies with focus on film-making, Tania went on to get an MFA from Columbia School of Arts.

39. Sanjay Bhatt
Location: Seattle, WA
Who is He: Journalist with The Seattle Times
Why is He Cool: Bhatt is one of the two Indian American journalists among four winners of the prestigious 2009 Knowledge@Wharton Awards for Business Journalism, sponsored by the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), the Wharton School and the Knowledge@Wharton online business journal.
What's Next: The awards provided journalists with a scholarship to attend the prestigious Wharton Seminars for Business Journalists at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Cool Fun Fact: A recipient of regional and national journalism awards, Bhatt has led three successful fund development campaigns for non-profits ($165,000 raised).

38. Rachel Roy
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Fashion Designer
Why is She Cool: First Lady Michelle Obama wore a skirt by Rachel Roy at the preview event of the first State House dinner honoring India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
What's Next: Certainly more laurels coming her way.
Cool Fun Fact: The likes of Eva Mendes, Kate Hudson, Jennifer Garner, Lucy Liu, Sharon Stone, Penelope Cruz have worn her label at prestigious Hollywood events.

37. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Location: Pakistan and U.S.
Who is She: Journalist, Documentary-Maker
Why is She Cool: Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy is the first non-American journalist to be awarded the prestigious Livingston Award and the youngest recipient of the One World Media Broadcast Journalist of the year award in the United Kingdom.
What's Next: More awareness on life in the Muslim world through her candid films.
Cool Fun Fact: Pakistan's Taliban Generation was a winner in the "Best Current Affairs Documentary - Television" category at the Association for International Broadcasting Awards in November 2009. The judges thought it was "powerful, risky and passionate." The AIB recognizes creativity and innovation in global broadcasting across TV, radio, cross-media, marketing and technology.

36. Kavya Shivashankar
Location: Olathe, Kansas
Who is She: 8th grader, Word Wizard
Why is She Cool: Kavya, 13, defeated 292 competitors to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee championship.
What's Next: Kavya aspires to become a neurosurgeon.
Cool Fun Fact: She names Nupur Lala, the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, as her role model and the inspiration for her spelling career. Kavya participated in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 national finals?tying for 10th, 8th, and 4th place, respectively. Kavya's triumph before a nationally televised audience on ABC and against some stiff competition came down to "Laodicean," an indifference to religion or politics.

35. Preeta Bansal
Location: Washington DC
Who is She: General Counsel and Senior Policy Advisor, White House Office of Management and Budget
Why is She Cool: Bansal is former NY State Solicitor General, Clinton administration official and Obama friend from Harvard Law School. She also has the distinction of being the biggest Indian-American fund-raiser for the latter's campaign and raised over $1 million for the Obama coffers.
What's Next: The Office of Management and Budget designs, manages and implements budget, focuses on cutting waste and making sure that the government serves the American people effectively and efficiently.
Cool Fun Fact: Bansal was appointed New York's Solicitor General in February 1999 - one of the youngest solicitor generals in New York history.

34. Rajiv Shah
Location: Washington DC
Who is He: Head of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Why is He Cool: With a budget of over $40 billion and nearly 2000 employees, USAID is an independent federal agency that is responsible for most US non-military foreign aid, virtually the developmental face of America. His job involves advancing US foreign policy objectives by supporting economic growth, agriculture and trade; health; democracy, conflict prevention, and humanitarian assistance abroad.
What's Next: Dr. Shah was nominated by President Obama in November. He sure has a lot to prove in 2010.
Cool Fun Fact: Earlier he was appointed as Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics and Chief Scientist at the US Department of Agriculture. At USDA, he managed the Agricultural Research Service, the Economic Research Service, the National Agricultural Statistical Service and was responsible for overseeing more than 10,000 staff worldwide including 2,200 federal scientists and a budget of more than $2.6 billion. He also launched the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) - a new scientific institute created to elevate and enhance the capacity of agricultural research to address sustainable food production, climate change, bioenergy and human nutrition.

33. Hard Kaur
Location: UK
Who is She: Rapper, Lyricist
Why is She Cool: Broke conventions and stereotypes. Took a plunge into a field hitherto unexplored by desi girls. Shot to fame with the song "Glassy" that became a club anthem. She then went on to sing Bollywood numbers like "Move Your Body" (Johnny Gaddaar), the title track of "Singh Is Kinng" and "Lucky boy" (Bachna Ae Haseeno) and "Mein tera dhadkan teri" (Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani) among others. Hip Hop with Eminem, pop with Pussycat Dolls and sharing the stage with Justin Timberlake, one must say that Hard Kaur is providing the right mix of entertainment to all audiences.
What's Next: Her new album.
Cool Fun Fact: Selling all 3,000 copies of her first single "Voodoo" - this original rapper proved once again that music could be used a cultural crossover tool.

32. Suman Sharma
Location: India
Who is She: Flying instructor with the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun
Why is She Cool: Became the world's first woman to fly the mighty Russian MiG-35 fighter jet at the Aero India international air show in Bangalore earlier this year. Suman and her pilot did the side rolls and the 360-degree turns and high angle of attack for the maneuvers and pulled 7G, which has been the highest in these personality-driven flights.
What's Next: Surely more excitement in the sky.
Cool Fun Fact: A qualified pilot with a stint in the Indian Air Force as a commissioned officer, Sharma also became the first civilian woman to co-pilot the American-strike fighter F-16IN of Lockheed Martin.

31. Rukhsana and Aijaz Kausar
Location: Rajouri district, Jammu, India
Who are They: Brave brother-sister duo
Why are They Cool: Rukhsana Kausar along with her 18-year-old brother Aijaz Kausar scuffled with and beat heavily armed Lashkar e Toiba militants, who barged into their house. The siblings hit the intruders with an axe and killed one of them after snatching his AK-47 rifle.
What's Next: Rukhsana favors imparting military training to children in schools so that they can "overcome fear and prepare themselves to take on the terrorists."
Cool Fun Fact: The Kausars have been appointed as special police officers (SPFs) in Jammu and Kashmir Police but Rukhsana has demanded a permanent government job in the paramilitary forces, ideally in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

30. Falu
Location: New York City
Who is She: Singer
Why is She Cool: She shared the stage with A.R. Rahman at the Time 100 Gala where the duo performed his Oscar-winning hit 'Jai Ho' in front of Time Magazine's selection of 2008's 100 most influential people in the world. Later she was again invited to repeat the act at the First White House State dinner held in honor of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Her brand of Indie-Hindi music has rocked the crowds at New York's trendiest clubs, is a staple at the prestigious Carnegie Hall, charmed the audiences at numerous music fests across the US and left the Europeans spellbound too.
What's Next: Effortlessly blending Indian raga with rock, she, along with her band was recently in Mumbai to record a traditional Indian music album.
Cool Fun Fact: Was invited to perform with Junoon at Geo Sessions which was broadcast throughout Asia and Australia, as well as on Fox TV's Fearless Music, where the hit single Rabba became the first Hindi song ever performed on the national network. She also serves as one of Carnegie Hall's Musical Ambassadors to New York City.

29. Indian Americans in the Obama Administration
* Rajen Anand, Executive Director of the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, US Department of Agriculture
* Preet Bharara, US Attorney, Southern District of New York, US Department of Justice
* Anju Bhargava, Member, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
* Shailen Bhatt, Associate Administrator for Policy & Government Affairs, US Department of Transportation, Federal Highways Adminstration
* Rachana Bhowmik, Director of Special Projects and Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, White House
* Amit Bose, Director of Congressional Affairs, Federal Railroad Administration, Department of Transportation
* Anisha Dasgupta, Counsel, White House
* Arun Chaudhary, Videographer, White House
* Shomik Dutta, Special Assistant to Greg Craig, White House Counsel's Office
* Nayyera Haq, Press Secretary, U.S. Department of Agriculture
* Neal Kemkar, Special Assistant to the Counselor, Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary
* Madhuri Kommareddi, Associate Staff Secretary, White House
* Aditya Kumari, Director of Special Projects and Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, White House
* Samir Mayekar, National Security Staff Assistant, White House
* Semonti Mustaphi, Deputy Press Secretary, White House Office of the First Lady
* Ven Neralla, Priority Placement Director, White House
* Eboo S. Patel, President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
* Kavita Patel, Director of Policy for the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, White House
* Rohan Patel, Director of Advance, Department of Agriculture
* Gautam Raghavan, Special Assistant to the White House Liaison, U.S. Department of Defense
* Pradeep Ramamurthy, Director of Response Policy, White House
* Sue Ramanathan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Legislative Affairs, Department of Homeland Security
* Taara Rangarajan, Deputy Associate Director, White House
* Nicholas Rathod, Deputy Associate Director, White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs
* Priya Singh, Press Assistant, White House Press Office
* Puneet Talwar, Senior Director of Iran, Iraq and Gulf Countries, National Security Council
* Neera Tanden, Counsel to the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
* Rich Verma, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, U.S. Department of State
* Arun Majumdar, Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy in the US Department of Energy
* Farah Pandith, US Special Representative to Muslim communities
* Richard Verma, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the State Department
* Vinai Thummalapally, US envoy to Belize
* Ro Khanna, Deputy Assistant Secretary for domestic operations of the US and Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration
* Subash Iyer: Special Assistant to Karen Mills, administrator of the US Small Business Association
Location: Washington DC
Who are They: Desis handpicked by President Obama to be a part of his administration to bring about the "change" he promised during his election campaign.
Why are They Cool: These are all second if not first generation desis who have reached where they are today because of their exceptional careers and the cultural background that they were raised with - one can assume.
What's Next: We may have missed out on a few individuals in the above list but doesn't that highlight the growing presence of desis in the top echelons of power politics?
Editor's Note: This list is not exhaustive and so we may have missed some Desis in the Obama administration.

28. Reshma Saujani
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Community Activist, Attorney
Why is She Cool: This dynamic Yale legal scholar has decided to take an even deeper plunge into active politics. She is running for a seat in the 14th Congressional District of New York against the popular Carolyn Maloney.
What's Next: Reshma is strongly campaigning for 2010 elections and has her website reshma2010.com up and running.
Cool Fun Fact: She helped raise $1 million for John Kerry in 2004.

27. Anoop Desai
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Who is He: Singer
Why is He Cool: Anoop is the first desi to reach American Idol's top 7 finalists.
What's Next: Desai has moved to LA from North Carolina to pursue a career in music.
Cool Fun Fact: He has also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Live with Regis and Kelly, Access Hollywood, Today and local radio stations across the nation as a result of his American Idol exposure.

26. Raj Patel
Location: US, UK, Africa
Who is He: Writer, Activist, and Academic
Why is He Cool: Raj Patel has worked for the World Bank and WTO and been tear-gassed on four continents protesting against them. He is best known for his 2008 book Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System.
What's Next: His most recent book, The Value of Nothing, will be available in January, 2010.
Cool Fun Fact: He is currently a visiting scholar at UC Berkeley's Centre for African Studies, a researcher at the School of Development Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and a fellow at The Institute for Food and Development Policy, also known as Food First.

25. Kunal Nayyar
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Who is He: Actor
Why is He Cool: Nayyar plays the shy genius Rajesh Koothrappali on the CBS sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which has hit its ratings stride in its third season.
What's Next: His work has gotten him noticed and he has followed a dedicated path towards his goal. Hope we get to see a lot of him on the small and big screens.
Cool Fun Fact: He was born in London, raised in India and came to the US to pursue a BS in Business from the University of Portland, Oregon. While there he also took some acting classes, got involved with theatre and earned his master's degree in fine arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. He made his screen debut in the film S.C.I.E.N.C.E.

24. Pranav Mistry
Location: Massachusetts
Who is He: Research Assistant and PhD candidate at the MIT Media Lab
Why is He Cool: Mistry's revolutionary innovation 'The Sixth Sense' technology uses any wall, any surface around as an interface or like a computer. It compares to and overtakes products such as Microsoft Surface that costs thousands of dollars. No wonder then that the world's leading tech companies are evaluating the technology and Mistry's work has created a sensation in the digital world.
What's Next: SixthSense won the INVENTION OF THE YEAR 2009 award by Popular Science in June 2009. This is just the beginning. The technology is bound to transform the way information is accessible to all people in the near future.
Cool Fun Fact: Mistry received Technology Review TR35 2009 Young Inventor Award in August of 2009.

23. DJ Rekha
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Producer, Curator, Educator and Activist.
Why is She Cool: Rekha was called the "ambassador of Bhangra" by New York Times, her brand of Basement Bhangra parties have been a staple at SOBs in NYC since 1997. In 2009 DJ Rekha was inducted along with six 'Fabulous New Yorkers' into City Lore's Eleventh People's Hall of Fame. The award honors the contributions of ordinary people outside the glare of mass media. These local heroes are selected by a committee of New York City-lovers working closely with City Lore's Board of Directors.
What's Next: She currently performs regularly at venues around the world and teaches courses on Bollywood and Bhangra at New York University.
Cool Fun Fact: She curates the Desi Diaspora film series at the Tribeca Film Festival. Rekha has given lectures and led workshops on Hip Hop, politics and South Asian art for various universities and institutions including the Smithsonian, Brooklyn Museum and Columbia University.

22. Naeem Khan
Location: New York, NY
Who is He: Fashion Designer
Why is He Cool: First Lady Michelle Obama chose to wear his creation at the first State House dinner in honor of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The entirely hand-made embroidered gown was sewn in India in his family workshop in Delhi.
What's Next: After the dinner, Khan became a Google sensation. Women's Wear Daily reported that at 10 pm that day Khan's name was the third-most Googled phrase, following "Dancing with the Stars" and "Who won Dancing with the Stars" and before "Black Friday Deals Online." Guess that says it all.
Cool Fun Fact: Khan is well-known in red carpet circles - he has dressed Beyonce, Carrie Underwood, Katherine Heigl and Queen Noor of Jordan.

21. Richie Mehta
Location: Canada
Who is He: Filmmaker
Why is He Cool: 'Amal' a movie directed by Richie Mehta received six nominations, including Best Achievement in Direction and Best Adapted Screenplay at the Genie Awards held in Ottawa on April 4th. The Genie Awards are the Canadian equivalent of the Oscars.
What's Next: Mehta has been solidifying his role as a serious up-and-coming filmmaker for years, and been mentored by industry legends such as Wim Wenders, Shekhar Kapur and Brian DePalma. Mehta's feature films to date - Amal and System of Units - have screened and garnered him much acclaim and numerous awards around the world at film festivals such as Telluride, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Montreal International Film Festival, and the London International Film Festival. These experiences, along with his travels to India and afar, have granted him access to a global filmmaking community and assisted in further nurturing his independent spirit and international presence.
Cool Fun Fact: The film won the Jury Award for Best Narrative at the 2008 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival.

20. Ustad Zakir Hussain
Location: India
Who is He: Tabla Maestro
Why is He Cool: For being nominated at the 52nd Grammy Awards in the Best Classical Crossover album category for the album The Melody of Rhythm.
What's Next: It can only get bigger and better for this global talent.
Cool Fun Fact: Previously Hussain has won the Grammy for the Contemporary World Music Album category for his collaborative album Global Drum Project along with Mickey Hart, Sikiru Adepoju and Giovanni Hidalgo in February 2009.

19. Jay Goyal
Location: Ohio
Who is He: Majority Whip, Ohio House of Representatives
Why is He Cool: Goyal's proactively led efforts to create a more skilled workforce and develop a forward-thinking holistic vision for Ohio.
What's Next: Rumor has it that he is one of the two members of the House leadership team short listed to be named the next Lieutenant Governor by Governor Ted Strickland. If that happens, he will be one of the youngest, at 29!
Cool Fun Fact: Goyal became the first Asian American to be elected to the Ohio Legislature at age 26 in 2006.

18. Padma Lakshmi
Location: New York, NY
Who is She: Author, Actress, Model
Why is She Cool: In 2009 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for hosting Top Chef along with Tom Colicchio. An entrepreneur as well, Padma has been launching her business ventures this year. Recently she launched her line of spices, teas and kitchenware for Home Shopping Network after coming up with an eponymous line of jewelry.
What's Next: She is also set to begin writing a third cookbook, a follow-up to her 2007 Tangy Tart Hot & Sweet.
Cool Fun Fact: This year Padma also starred in the EELS video for the song 'That Look You Give That Guy', playing the love interest of Mark Oliver Everett.

17. Aziz Ansari
Location: Columbia, SC
Who is He: Aziz currently stars as Tom Haverford on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation.
Why is He Cool: Besides the fact that he is a super-hilarious comedian, Aziz gets away with that good ol' American boy charm with the ease of, well, a good ol' American boy.
What's Next: He's working on a movie called "Get Him to the Greek" with Jonah Hill and Christina Aguilera.
Cool Fun Fact: Aziz is working on several projects, which he will be featured prominently in. It'll be great to see him on the big screen more often.

16. Sonal Shah
Location: Washington DC
Who is She: Director, White House Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation
Why is She Cool: Last year US President-elect Barack Obama picked her as one of the advisers to help him assemble his White House team. That itself was no mean achievement. In 2009, she was appointed to this new office to promote government efforts to help non-profit groups and social entrepreneurs expand to tackle pressing social problems. Her blazing career track lists stints as head of Google.org's Global Development team where she was engaged in defining their global development strategy and promoting the firm's philanthropy work, as vice president at Goldman Sachs where she developed and implemented its environmental strategy and as director of the Department of Treasury sub-Saharan Africa office where she worked in Bosnia and Kosovo after the war and served as the senior adviser to the Under Secretary at the Department of Treasury during the Asian financial crisis.
What's Next: Shah has earned a stellar reputation for her innovative and intelligent solutions to global development issues. We can only expect more.
Cool Fun Fact: Along with siblings Roopal and Anand, pooled in $50,000 from their savings and set up Indicorps in 2001, a nonprofit which offers fellowships to Indian-origin Americans to work on specific development projects in India.

15. Akshaya Patra Foundation
Location: India
What is It: An NGO, which runs the world's largest school meal program
Why is it Cool: It bagged the Tech Awards 2009, a signature program of The Tech Museum, San Jose, California, USA. Akshaya Patra won the Microsoft Education Awards, in the category of education. The Award was presented with a cash prize of $50,000 at a glittering ceremony in San Jose, CA for social entrepreneurs leveraging technology to benefit humanity. Akshaya Patra was selected from among 650 nominees representing 66 countries.
What's Next: Akshaya Patra crossed the one million mark and is now feeding 1,008,518 children in 17 kitchens in seven states... do we need to say anything more?
Cool Fun Fact: Harvard Business School has conducted a study on its operations and included it in the MBA curriculum as a case study on precision and time management. The study was based on its engineered kitchens, preparing 100,000 meals in six hours and needing only $26 to feed a single hungry child for a year.

14. Vivek Pai
Location: Princeton, NJ
Who is He: Associate Professor, Princeton University
Why is He Cool: HashCache, the technological brainchild of a team of Princeton computer science researchers led by Vivek Pai has drawn recognition as a revolutionary way to expand internet access around the world. The new efficient data storage system was featured as one of the top 10 emerging technologies of the year in Technology Review, a scientific magazine published by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
What's Next: HashCache, features a new data-caching system that stores information more efficiently than current methods. By making Internet access more affordable, HashCache has the potential to expand web use in developing regions around the world.
Cool Fun Fact: Instead of relying heavily on RAM, HashCache stores information from frequently visited web sites on a local hard drive so the data can be accessed directly. The system significantly increases the efficiency of internet data transfer, which can reduce the cost of maintaining a one-terabyte hard drive tenfold. It can be implemented in cell phones, laptops or nearly any other hardware.

13. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan
Location: Cambridge, UK
Who is He: Senior Scientist, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology
Why is He Cool: Dr. Ramakrishnan won the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome. He is the seventh Indian or person of Indian origin to win the prestigious award. His research showed how Ribosomes - a cellular machine that makes proteins, which in turn control the chemistry in all living organisms - look and function at an atomic level using a visualization method called X-ray crystallography to map the position of each of the hundreds of thousands of atoms that make up the ribosome. Dr. Ramakrishnan's basic research on the arrangement of atoms in the ribosome has allowed his team not only to gain detailed knowledge of how it contributes to protein production but also to see directly how antibiotics bind to specific pockets in the ribosome structure.
What's Next: This could help researchers design antibiotics to treat people who are infected with a bacterium that has developed antibiotic resistance. For example, some of the strains of bacteria that cause tuberculosis.
Cool Fun Fact: He is a theoretical physicist who switched to biology.

12. Vivek Kundra
Location: Washington DC
Who is He: USA's Chief Information Officer
Why is He Cool: He's the nation's CIO!
What's Next: Focusing on ensuring openness and transparency, lowering the cost of government, cyber-security, participatory democracy, innovation and overseeing the $71 billion federal technology budget.
Cool Fun Fact: In his first public move under the Obama administration, Kundra developed a new feature on USASpending.gov called the IT Dashboard. It outlines U.S. investments in technology and provides a timeline for project completion.

11. Sachin Tendulkar
Location: Mumbai, India
Who is He: Cricketer, Batsman
Why is He Cool: Two weeks short of completing his two decades in international cricket, Tendulkar crossed his personal milestone of 17,000 ODI runs in the fourth One-Day International against Australia in Hyderabad and passed 30,000 runs in international cricket.
What's Next: He silenced his critics who long wanted him to hang his boots. Is there any wonder he's called the Master Blaster?
Cool Fun Fact: He is the first player to score 10,000 runs in one-day internationals, also the first player to cross every subsequent 1000-run mark that has been crossed in ODI cricket history.

10. Lisa Ray
Location: Canada
Who is She: Actress
Why is She Cool: Lisa was diagnosed with incurable cancer called Multiple Myeloma in mid-2009. Instead of isolating herself, she went public about it through her blog and is giving the disease a spirited fight.
What's Next: Ray will be featured in UniGlobe Entertainment's breast cancer docu-drama titled "1 a Minute" scheduled for release in 2010. The documentary also features cancer survivors Olivia Newton-John, Diahann Carroll, Melissa Etheridge, Mumtaz (actress) and Jaclyn Smith.

9. Kal Penn
Location: Washington DC
Who is He: Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement
Why is He Cool: While acting continues to remain his passion, Kalpen Modi (he reverted to his original name after joining the Obama administration) followed his heart and campaigned vociferously for the President in 2008. His efforts were rewarded after President Obama took office
What's Next: His South Asian ethnicity regardless, he carved a niche for himself in Hollywood. With his current job he's helping bridge the gap between the White House and the general public. Any doubts this desi won't go to even greater places?
Cool Fun Fact: He attributes his political awareness to his value system. Modi's grandparents had marched with Mahatma Gandhi during the Indian independence movement. In 2006 he started an international studies program at Stanford where they allowed him to do most of the course work online so it was something he could complete while acting.

8. Aneesh Chopra
Location: Washington DC
Who is He: USA's first Chief Technology Officer
Why is He Cool: Being first in itself is a huge credit besides reporting directly to the President. Chopra strives to improve public access to government data, helping bridge the "digital divide" by expanding broadband throughout the country and working on overhauling the way digital health records are stored, among other goals.
What's Next: Transform federal agencies into leaders of technological innovation.
Cool Fun Fact: Within hours of joining in May, he spearheaded the launch of Open Government Initiative using web-based tools that allow Americans to tell how they'd like the President to conduct the business of open government.

7. Freida Pinto
Location: India
Who is She: Model turned actress who shot to fame playing the leading lady Latika in Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire.
Why is She Cool: Was nominated for 'Best Actress in a Supporting Role' at the 2009 BAFTA Awards and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture along with other cast members of Slumdog Millionaire. People magazine featured her in the "Most Beautiful People List" and in the "List of World's Best Dressed Women."
What's Next: She's completed work on Miral, a Franco-Israeli film and been cast in Woody Allen's "You will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger" with the likes of Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts as co-stars.
Cool Fun Fact: L'Oreal Paris signed her for its global ad-campaigns and that puts her in the league of Jane Fonda, Penelope Cruz, Beyonce Knowles, Kerry Washington and Aishwarya Rai.

6. Mindy Kaling
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Who is She: Actress, Writer, Comedian, Producer
Why is She Cool: In April 2009, Kaling was featured in Entertainment Weekly's list of the 10 Funniest Actresses in Hollywood.
What's Next: In May 2009, NBC signed Kaling to a two-year, seven-figure contract in which she will develop and star in a new comedy while continuing to write, produce and act in The Office.
Cool Fun Fact: As an actress, she has appeared as Richard Lewis' assistant in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and on film in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Unaccompanied Minors" and "License to Wed." Known for both her writing and acting skills, behind the scenes, Kaling is a co-exec producer of "The Office," having written notable episodes including "The Dundies," "Diwali" and "Golden Ticket."

5. Neal Katyal
Location: Washington DC
Who is He: Principal Deputy Solicitor General, U.S. Department of Justice
Why is He Cool: He is the highest-ranking Indian American in the US DOJ.
What's Next: Having reached where he is, all we know is that he's gonna feature in our list for many more years now! The New York Times magazine writer Jonathan Mahler published The Challenge: Hamdan v Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power, with Katyal as one of the protagonists. Hollywood star George Clooney and his movie company Smokehouse bought the rights to the book. Katyal and Clooney held preliminary talks about a consulting role for this legal eagle whenever the movie took shape.
Cool Fun Fact: He shot to limelight in June 2006 when the US supreme court sided with Katyal's arguments on behalf of Salim Ahmed Hamdan - a former chauffeur of Osama bin Laden - which challenged the policy of military trials at Guantanamo Bay and found that President George W Bush's military tribunals violated the constitutional separation of powers, domestic military law and international law. Katyal earned himself a place in the legal history of the United States and a niche as a legal prodigy, unprecedented for a desi attorney.

4. Dr. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi
Location: US Army
Who is He: A Doctor and Captain in the US Army
Why is He Cool: Dr. Kalsi was recruited to join the Army's Health Professions Scholarship Program several years ago. He maintained his turban throughout his 8 years of medical education, which included specialized Army training, attendance at Army ceremonies and work in military medical facilities. After completing the program, he was told that he must remove his turban and cut his unshorn hair to begin active duty. Rather than abandon the requirements of his faith, he appealed to Army leadership to end its policy of excluding Sikhs from service. The Army accepted his individual appeal.
What's Next: The decision provides only a one-time accommodation for Captain Kalsi, it lends hope to all Sikhs who want to serve their country while observing their faith. In August, 43 members of the House of Representatives and 6 U.S. Senators called on Defense Secretary Robert Gates to allow all Sikhs to serve in the U.S. Army.
Cool Fun Fact: The Army's decision is a major step towards ending a 23-year old policy that excludes Sikhs from service.

3. Jay Sean
Location: UK, USA
Who is He: Singer, Songwriter
Why is He Cool: His American debut single "Down" topped the Billboard Hot 100 making him the first solo artist of South Asian origin to achieve the feat. The single has sold over two million copies in the US making him the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history. Sean's next single, "Do You Remember" has so far climbed to #25 on the Hot 100. Both songs are featured in his third album, "All or Nothing" - which is his debut album in North America. It's very cool seeing him on TV and everywhere else as a successful mainstream artist.
What's Next: More chartbusters, obviously.
Cool Fun Fact: He gave up a career in medicine to follow his passion in music.

2. Indra Nooyi
Location: Purchase, New York
Who is She: Chairman and CEO, PepsiCo
Why is She Cool: For ranking #3 on Fortune magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women and being named 2009 CEO of the Year by the Global Supply Chain Leaders Group. Talk about a role model!
What's Next: Since becoming CEO in 2006, Nooyi has grown the company's top line-revenue from 10 percent in 2008 to $43.3 billion. If she could do that during an economic downturn, the scenario is expected to get better in 2010.
Cool Fun Fact: Nooyi, who gets $13.4 million in compensation has pushed PepsiCo to target health-conscious and female consumers, resulting in such new products as Smartfood's low-fat popcorn clusters, low-calorie Trop 50 and Starbucks Frappuccino Lite.

1. A.R. Rahman
Location: India
Who is He: Music Maestro
Why is He Cool: While India recognized his talent about two decades back with Roja, Hollywood recently discovered him all over again through Slumdog Millionaire. In 2009, he bagged two Academy awards for his song 'Jai Ho', made it to Time Magazine's list of '100 Most Influential People in the World' and received two Grammy nominations a few days back. Thanks to his mainstream success, he's become one of the biggest draws for concert sales in the US. We all remember sitting there as we watched the Oscars with enough pride to last us a lifetime. A.R. Rahman gave us the luxury and enjoyment of his beautiful music, which was recognized by all.
What's Next: He's now sought after in Hollywood. The West too can expect more musical marvels from his repertory!
Cool Fun Fact: He is shy, hence a man of few words, but he lets his music do the talking.

Also read our Top 50 Coolest Desis lists from previous years:
DesiClub.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2008
DesiClub.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2007
DesiClub.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2006
DesiClub.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2005
DesiClub.com's Top 50 Coolest Desis of 2004