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Young Achievers

a rural development trainer, courageous child of Adityasingh
Sriya was inspired to achieve Jhala, a hospitality chain consultant,
by her grandmother Debjani and gemologist mother Kamakshi,
Mishra, the state’s first woman and class I student of the Cambridge
mountaineer, and grandfather (UK)-affiliated Adani International
Rabindranath Rath, a former School, Ahmedabad, is delighted
IAS officer as much as by her with all the attention. The many
parents. “My grandmother plaudits and hosannas this young
taught me to scale new heights braveheart has received include a
even with sub-standard equip- scholarship until graduation.
ment. Since then, I have never “When Veerangana switched on
been shy of aiming high,” says the air-conditioner in her bedroom
Sriya, a school and college top- that night, a spark triggered a raging
per and winner of InsideIIM’s fire that engulfed our apartment in
‘Most Promising Incoming the Bodakdev suburb. The minute
MBA Student’ award against she saw the spark, she came running
3,000 applicants from India’s to inform me in the adjacent room.
top B-schools last August. I immediately sent her out of the
Evidently, there’s no stop- apartment to request a neighbour to
SRIYA SAINATH ping this young winner who aims call the fire brigade and alert all our
neighbours, mostly senior citizens.
high and devises ways and means
to get there. “ I intend to apply my Our elderly neighbours informed
learning to start my own venture. It me later that my little girl not only
riya Sainath (25), a computer is entirely possible to create value helped them evacuate to a nearby
science engineering graduate for others and do it while respect- garden but even managed to switch
Sof NIT-Rourkela and cur- ing the United Nations Sustainable off the main electric switch,” recalls
rently a first year MBA student of Development Goals,” says this driven mother Kamakshi.
the blue-chip IIM-Bangalore, was achiever. According to father Adityasingh
adjudged Young Analyst 2022 of the Wind beneath your wings! who was away on business that
London-based Institute of Analytics Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) night, Veerangana had been famil-
(IoA) in early March. IoA is a global iarised with the fire drill exercises
organisation established to encour- which are normative in the hospital-
age responsible and ethical data ity industry where he works.
science professionals. VEERANGANA JHALA Mother Kamakshi attributes her
Earlier in 2018 while interning daughter’s bravery to her rural up-
with Adobe Research, Mumbai after bringing. “We spend a lot of time in
she bagged the Adobe India Women here was a thrilling sense of our village Chuda with our extended
in Technology Scholarship besting deja vu in the Jhala house- family members. Spiritually ground-
4,000 contenders, Sriya secured Thold when Ahmedabad-based ed and connected to her roots, she
a patent supported by Adobe for a Veerangana Jhala (7) was conferred has developed a deep sense of duty
novel dynamic pricing mechanism the National Bravery Award 2023 and empathy towards challenged
she designed for data enterprises. ahead of Republic Day (January 26) and elderly people in particular,”
Subsequently during a three-year in Delhi by Major General (Retd.) says her proud mother.
stint with Microsoft India, Hyder- ‘Ironman’ Vikram Dogra, for display- Certainly her life’s journey has
abad (2019-2022) after graduation, ing extraordinary courage in saving begun well.
she worked on integrating privacy 60 human lives in a fire on August Runa Mukherjee Parikh (Ahmedabad)
safeguards into data storage sys- 7, 2022 that gutted their apartment
tems. building in Ahmedabad.
“I’m very grateful to Prof. Dinesh Unlike her grandfather
Kumar, chairperson at the Data Krishnakumarsinh Jhala
Centre and Analytics Lab of IIM-B’s who was presented the
Decision Sciences department for All-India NCC Best Cadet
nominating me. Now as a youth Junior Division award
ambassador of IoA, I am commit- by then prime minister
ted to promoting responsible use of Indira Gandhi on Repub-
data and fostering a culture of ethi- lic Day in 1969, Veeran-
cal data usage and professionalism gana was deprived of the
within the community,” she says. privilege of being part of
Although born and raised in the R-Day contingent of
non-metro Bhubaneswar (Odisha), bravery awardees because
the younger daughter of Basant this ceremony was dis-
Nanda, a senior sales executive in a continued in 2017.
private firm, and mother Lali Rath, Nevertheless this

36 EDUCATIONWORLD MAY 2023