Page 30 - EducationWorld Feb 2021 Low

Young Achievers

Rakesh God- awarded an entry into the India
hwani, a Ben- Book of Records.
galuru-based Conceived by a group of German
professional master chefs way back in 1896 to
counselor promote German cuisine worldwide,
who runs the International Exhibition of Culi-
the School of nary Art, aka the Culinary Olympics,
Meaningful is a quadrennial five-day competition
Experiences. for professional chef teams world-
Currently wide. The latest (2020) competition
preparing for which attracted 100,000 visitors,
their class XII 2,000 participants from 60 countries
KIAN GODHWANI & CBSE board exams scheduled for competed in 16 skill categories, most
of them team events.
May, the duo has ambitious plans for
“Representing India and winning
NANDINI BHATTACHARYA HappyInc’s expansion. “Kian and I medals at this prestigious competi-
will both be proceeding for under-
grad education this year studying tion was a proud moment for me.
appyInc, a free-of-charge separate subjects. As our boundaries My only regret is that for lack of
online peer counseling expand, so will HappyInc. We also a national team, I had to compete
Hservice designed for teenag- plan to start working on developing a in individual categories,” recalls
ers to overcome pandemic-induced user-friendly HappyInc app through Yeshwanth, who opted out of regular
stress, anxiety and depression, which teenagers can not only seek school while a class IX student, and
launched last August by Kian God- counseling support, but also spread enrolled in the National Institute of
hwani and Nandini Bhattacharya hope and happiness through their Open Schooling to enable participa-
— class XII students of the high- stories and hobbies, and make a tion in the February competition,
ranked Lawrence School, Lovedale positive impact on society,” enthuses which would have otherwise clashed
(Ooty) — was adjudged runner-up Nandini. with his class X board exam.
in the University of Arizona Stu- Fair winds! The elder of two children of
dentpreneur Challenge by a panel Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) homemaker Jayanti, and master
of professors of the university’s chef Umasankar Dhanapal, Yesh-
Eller College of Management. want believes his culinary skills are
The idea of conceptualising and YESHWANTH KUMAR hereditary. “I picked up the nuances
launching HappyInc occurred to of culinary art from my father who
Kian when he began experiencing is a professional master chef. He is
severe stress and mental imbalance he youngest chef to win four my role model, coach and inspira-
while preparing for the CBSE class silver medals in the ‘pastry and tion,” says Yeshwanth who signed
X exam. “Although I was among Tculinary artistry’ individual up for master chef classes in 2015
the lucky ones to get treatment, I categories at the world’s oldest and at the Culinary Academy of India,
witnessed many teens in need of toughest Culinary Olympics 2020, Hyderabad attending daily classes
help shunning treatment because staged in Stuttgart (Germany) last in his summer and winter holidays.
of high counseling charges or February, Chennai-based Yeshwanth Subsequently, he travelled with his
confidentiality issues. HappyInc Kumar Umasankar (17) has been father to China, Vietnam, Thailand
was ideated to fill this void,” he and the Czech Republic to train with
recalls. experts in the art of sugar, chocolate
Essentially, HappyInc is an on- and ice sculptures.
line service through which teenag- After averaging a commendable
ers can express themselves freely 80 percent in the NIOS class X exam
with sympathetic peers who under- of October 2019, Yeshwanth is pre-
stand and support them without paring to write his class XII school-
passing judgement. All one needs leaving exams this year. “After I
to do is visit the website (happyinc. complete Plus Two, my mission is
in), navigate to the Book a Ses- to showcase India’s diverse culinary
sion page, provide some personal art and cuisine to the world. I am
details, and within a few minutes also looking forward to starting a
a helper is assigned to her and two-year apprenticeship programme
counseling sessions are conducted offered by Sri Lanka’s celebrity
on Zoom. Help-seekers have the chef Dimuthu Kumarasinghe. My
option to chat with their helpers ultimate dream is to establish a
without revealing their identity. world-class culinary art studio,” says
HappyInc’s counselors aka helpers, this young food artist, certain to go
are teenagers who are put through places with his culinary flair.
a three-week training programme, Dipta Joshi (Mumbai)
designed in-house by Kian’s father

30 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2021