Page 24 - EducationWorld January 2021

Young Achievers

earnest, in 2018 Chirag the underprivileged and insecure,
moved to Delhi to do his and encouraged by her supportive
Plus Two and prepare teachers at Shri Ram School, Siya
for IIT-JEE at Akash In- made societal change her mission at
stitute’s renowned Pusa the young age of nine. In 2014, she
Road centre. promoted an umbrella organisation
“I followed a rigor- christened Bee Nifty under the aegis
ous schedule of 6-12 of a non-profit run by her late father.
hours simultaneously She launched social initiatives such
preparing for national/ as My Own Bag, which employs
international Olympi- women in rural Haryana to craft
ads and IIT-JEE. Not hand bags and purses from waste
being fussed over by my fabric and sells them at school fests,
parents and resisting and Santa Cause, a voluntary Christ-
the temptation to own mas donation drive. The proceeds of
a smartphone, allowed these enterprises are donated to fund
CHIRAG FALOR me to focus entirely on IIT-JEE. My the education of slum children of the
only extra-curricular activity for four
Nayi Disha School, Gurugram.
years was stargazing, signing up for Siya’s social activism is being
t’s raining encomiums for Pune- science and astronomy Olympiads acknowledged in habitations far
based whizkid Chirag Falor (18). and playing chess and table tennis,” beyond Gurugram. In September
IIn October 2019, he aced SAT says Chirag. 2019, she was selected as one of
(formerly the Scholastic Aptitude Having attained his lifelong ambi- seven youth from India to outline
Test) with a score of 1,560 out of tion of topping IIT-JEE (Advanced), her welfare initiatives at the Geneva
a maximum 1,600 to win annual right now this young whizkid’s top headquarters of the United Nations.
admission-cum-financial aid valued priority is to proceed to the US in She was also appointed youth am-
at 82 percent of tuition and board- February for on-campus classes at bassador of the IM2030 (one million
ing fees from the prestigious Mas- MIT, Cambridge. “My focused and youth leaders by 2030) initiative
sachusetts Institute of Technology thorough preparation for IIT-JEE of the United Nations Institute for
(MIT), USA to study for a bachelor’s enabled me to do well in SAT and Training and Research, which em-
degree in physics. win a generous scholarship. System- powers youth to become changemak-
Yet despite having commenced atic study and hard work always pays ers in their societies.
his undergrad freshman year online off. Sometimes in unexpected ways,” With her class X ICSE board
at MIT last September, he prepared says this promising space scientist in exam round the corner, this ardent
for and wrote IIT-JEE (Joint En- the making. young activist is preparing to write
trance Examination)-Mains 2020 Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) her online pre-board examinations.
followed by the IIT-JEE-Advanced “Whatever college programme or
2020 in late September, and maxed career path I choose, I am confident
it with a 100 percentile score and I’ll always find time to speak up for
all-India #1 rank. SIYA TAYAL people on the margins of society.
“Although I had already been That is the social obligation of the
accepted by MIT, I simultaneously country’s educated middle class,”
continued to study for the IIT-JEE lucky Siya Tayal (15), a class says the spunky teen with an active
reputed to be the world’s toughest X student of the millennium social conscience.
entrance exam for my personal sat- Pcity’s highly-ranked Shri Ram Wind beneath your wings!
isfaction as I had been preparing for School, Aravali, Gurugram is mak- Dipta Joshi (Mumbai)
these exams for four years. There- ing waves in social media circuits
fore, I’m delighted that I topped the worldwide through her online
IIT-JEE Advanced,” says Chirag ‘Project I Am Enough’ cam-
who has also won several national paign.
and international science Olympiad Launched on Instagram
medals and certificates. in July, the objective of
This extraordinary achieve- this campaign is to contest
ment — admission into MIT and ‘perfect body’ stereotypes
IIT of his choice — is the outcome and end the culture of body
of diligent preparation from age 15 shaming by advising youth
when Chirag was a student at the to accept and respect people
CBSE-affiliated St. Arnold’s Central of all ages, sizes and shapes.
School, Pune. While in class IX, The campaign has thus far
he signed up for supplementary reached 762,000 accounts,
coaching at Akash Institute, Pune to according to Instagram data.
start preparing for IIT-JEE (Mains) Inspired by her parents’
four years later. To study in right empathetic attitude towards

24 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2021