TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people finds no Indian on the list

The TIME 100 most influential people list is out without a single Indian on the list.

Transcript

00:00Time magazine has released the 2025 list of the 100 most influential people in the world,

00:06featuring not a single Indian in the rankings as of April 17, 2025.

00:11No points for guessing, US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk both made it to the list.

00:16And so does Nobel laureate turned Bangladesh's chief advisor, Muhammad Yunus,

00:20who is the oldest to feature in the list at age 84.

00:23But not one person from the world's most populated country and the fastest growing economy.

00:28Sounds amiss, right?

00:29In 2024, actor Alia Bhatt and Olympian wrestler Sakshi Malik made it to the list.

00:34Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, actor Dev Patel and President of World Bank Ajay Banga

00:39were those of Indian origin who made it the same year.

00:41The only Indian origin who finds herself in the 2025 list is Reshma Kevalramani,

00:46who became the first woman CEO of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a major biotech company in the US.

00:52Reshma had emigrated from India at the age of 11.

00:54The century-old Time magazine has for long been very American-centric in content and focus.

01:00While it covers international events, the New York-based publication is heavily influenced

01:04by American politics, business and culture with the editor solidifying the American identity.

01:09Their Person of the Year is often said to have represented American challenges or achievements.

01:13Till date, Mahatma Gandhi is the only Indian to be named Person of the Year in 1930.

01:19In 2011, Dhoni was more influential than Barack Obama, according to the magazine,

01:24which also featured Mukesh Ambani and Azeem Premji, among others.

01:27In 2019, the magazine featured PM Modi on the cover with a controversial headline,

01:32calling him Divider-in-Chief, while the 2015 edition came with a headline,

01:36Why Modi Matters.

01:37Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone and Parveen

01:42Babi are some Indian celebs who have been on the cover of the magazine.

01:45In fact, Parveen Babi was the first Indian celebrity on the cover of the magazine back in 1976.

01:50In 2018, Sachin Tendulkar actually wrote Virat Kohli's profile,

01:54as one of the most influential people in the world for the publication.

01:57With so much history with India, the question that arises is why I miss out this year?

02:02What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.