A thread on why the next generation gives me hope rather than make me despair.
Over the last two weeks, have been interacting with children of ages 9-14 to give away the @htTweets scholarships. I am so proud to have met some of Mumbai's brightest young minds.
Over the last two weeks, have been interacting with children of ages 9-14 to give away the @htTweets scholarships. I am so proud to have met some of Mumbai's brightest young minds.
One nine year old is writing code to create simple, educational games for underprivileged children who don't have access to e-learning courses that most private schools, including his, have.
A 12-year-old girl - a national swimming champion - is writing a book inspired by the fantasy fiction of JK Rowling. She had created her own universe, and she says the book will be ready by 2019. She is also working to build awareness in non-eu Ketaki sports.
A 13-year-old boy is working to start his own finance consultancy. He can't trade on the stock market, so he has created his own method to analyse BSE and NSE listed firms. So far, he has made Rs 2.1 lakh in profit for his father.
A 12-year-old girl is lapping up books by Stephen Hawking, Lawrence Krauss, Alan Guth, Brian Greene, Edward Written, etc. Why? She wants to become an astrophysicist. She is a maths and science champion at the Olympiads but does not want to do engineering.
A 14-year-old girl tops the school each year, with perfect scores in maths and science and social sciences. Her aim? She wants to continue her Bharatanatyam training and bring about social change using the classical arts. "TM Krishna is my hero," she told me.
A 11-year-old girl wants to study environmental engineering, and start her own NGO and Innovation Lab to develop alternatives to ecologically destructive products humans use. She also wants to write newspaper columns to propagate eco-friendly thinking.
A 11-year-old boy - already an international maths and science Olympiad champion - wants to study at IIT like his father, and build robots that can help the physically challenged to complete everyday tasks with ease so that they can focus on doing big things.
There are 40-plus more scholarship winning kids who brought me to tears with just their clarity of thought and their urge to do things for the country. Not just for themselves, but to bring about universal change.
I look forward to the 2030s.
I look forward to the 2030s.
*non-cricket*
