Page 34 - March EW PDF 24

Young Achievers

of dawn followed by following year, he smashed his own
an eight hours riding record by building the tallest (15ft
regimen on six differ- 10 inches) replica of Delhi’s Qutub
ent horses. At the end Minar, using 21,000 playing cards.
of each day, he spends Arnav’s floor-to-ceiling masterpieces
time with the horses and can be viewed on his YouTube chan-
takes them for a walk to nel christened Arnavinnovates.
strike up a friendship The only child of business couple
with them. “In between, Neraj and Payel Daga and a class
I invest some time to X student of the Sri Sri Academy,
study for my business Kolkata, Arnav took to balancing
management degree playing cards at age eight. Fascinated
programme at the Uni- by this arcane craft and encouraged
versity of Paderborn,” by his parents, he started exploring
says this determined YouTube videos of master crafts-
young achiever. man Bryan Berg. “The moment I saw
Currently, his train- Berg’s videos, I knew I wanted to
ANUSH AGARWALLA ing regimen is intensifying as Anush make stacking my passion. For my
has set his sights on becoming the
entry into the Asia and India Book
first Indian to qualify for equestrian of Records, I owe a debt of gratitude
aderborn (Germany)-based dressage at the Paris Olympics in to my principal Gargi Banerjee for
equestrian Anush Agarwalla August. “The Olympics are a much allowing me to keep my 16 ft Qutub
P(24) was among 26 sportsper- tougher test than the Asian Games. Minar masterpiece in a corner of the
sons conferred the prestigious I will have to raise my game several school auditorium,” says Arnav.
Arjuna Award, 2023 for outstanding notches higher. Nothing is impos- What began as an extra-curricular
performance in sports by President sible,” says Anush. is currently a daily three-hour com-
Murmu on January 9. Anush won Pegasus wings! pulsion. Most weekends, Arnav goes
a gold medal in the team event and Somasekhar Mulugu (Hyderabad) on a city tour to shortlist heritage
a historic bronze — India’s first — buildings for his future projects.
in the individual equine dressage “Stacking requires considerable
event at the Asian Games staged in investment of time, energy and
Hangzhou last September. ARNAV DAGA patience in a range of activities from
With his businessman father studying the architecture of build-
Gautam Agarwalla and uncle hav- or building the world’s tallest ings to finding a suitable ware-
ing learnt to ride in their youth, (11ft 4 inches) freestanding house,” says this never-say-die teen.
Anush, who was raised in Kolkata Fstructure showcasing four icon- Currently writing his class X
and schooled in the top-ranked La ic buildings of Kolkata — St. Paul’s board exam, Arnav is looking to
Martiniere for Boys, was introduced Cathedral, Writers’ Building, Sha- taking on new challenges. “After
to horses at age three by his parents heed Minar, and Salt Lake Stadium my Plus Two, I intend to enroll in
at the city’s Tollygunge Club rid- — in 41 days using 143,000 playing a B.Arch degree programme and
ing facility. Love of the sound of cards without tape or adhesive, city- qualify as an architect. After that
hoofbeats and equines gradually based Arnav Daga (16) merited an I hope to build a life-size House of
developed into a passion for horse entry into Guinness World Records Cards which people can physically
riding. last December (2023). Arnav broke enter and explore,” says Arnav.
“I used to ride ponies until I the record set 11 years ago by US
turned nine after which I became national and architect Bryan Berg, Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)
eligible for formal horse-riding who showcased a free-
lessons. But professional horse- standing playing cards
riding training in India is still in its structure measuring 9ft 5
infancy. For six years (2011-2017), I inches of three hotels in
attended weekend riding classes at Macau (China).
a well-known riding school in Delhi, This is only the latest
while a student at La Martiniere, achievement of this
Kolkata. I won two medals at the extraordinary ‘ar-
2014 Delhi Horse Show. But my real chitect’. In 2020 at age
training began in 2017 under Olym- 13, Arnav won an entry
pic champion Hubertus Schmidt into the Asia Book of
in his Paderborn academy,” recalls Records and India Book
Anush. of Records for balancing
Professional horse riding re- a 10.7 ft tall replica (us-
quires extreme fitness, discipline ing 6,832 playing cards)
and perseverance, asserts Anush. of the Empire State
His typical day begins at the crack Building (USA). And the

34 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2024