Blazing a trail

This generation of youngsters is changing the world in small and personal ways. Some young achievers and their amazing feats.

We frequently hear stories of youngsters who achieve the seemingly impossible. Knowing exactly how they’ve managed to achieve what they did is truly inspiring. Here are some achievers who, through their actions, have carved a niche for themselves in society.

Braigo creator: Shubam Banerjee

Lego has been a part of our childhood. Those colourful little blocks were what made us proud, pretend engineers and filled us with a sense of purpose. We’ve built cars, houses, spaceships, and everything else we can possibly imagine, until we grew older and decided we had outgrown it. However, with Shubam Banerjee, it is a different story altogether. He never stopped playing with his Lego. This 13-year-old from San Jose, U.S. built the Braigo, a spinoff from Braille and Lego, in a bid to change lives. Banerjeecame across a flyer seeking donations for an organisation that helped the visually-impaired and he wanted to do something for them. He looked up details on the internet and realised Braille printers were expensive. Armed with a Lego model Mindstorms EV3, he fitted the blocks together, made a printing unit which he hooked to a robot, and voila, the Braigo was born. It costs $350, much less than a regular Braille printer would.

Whizkid alert: Rueben Paul

This eight-year-old who is not old enough to open a Facebook or Twitter account is an expert on cyber security. He started learning about computer languages when he was barely seven and went on to design his own computer projects. He’s also the CEO of his start-up, Prudent Gaming. What’s more, so well-versed is Rueben in the nuances of cyber security that he was invited to address a conference earlier this year along with Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, Home Ministry Joint Secretary, Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi, and others.

Smooth sailing: Chitresh Tatha

At 12 years, Chitresh has figured out he is supposed to be sailing the high seas. This young lad from Tamil Nadu is the youngest sailor from the country to participate in the Asian Games that was held at Incheon, South Korea this year. His interest in sailing was ignited when he saw his sister, Meghna, sailing in the Laser Radial category and decided to try his hand. He fell hook, line and sinker for the sport and since then, there’s been no looking back. He has been sailing since he was eight, training under coach Pete Conway and assistant coach Umesh Naiksatam from the Yachting Association of India.He sails in the Optimist Dinghy category and also won the gold medal in the India International Regatta (Under-12) last year.

Scaling heights: Malavath Poorna

On May 25 this year, Malavath Poorna became the youngest girl to climb Mount Everest. Poorna, who achieved the feat along with Sadhanapally Anand Kumar (18), are students of the AP Social Welfare Residential Education Institutions Society (APSWREIS). An exultant Poorna said, “The world is very small.” She left a picture of B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of India’s Constitution, on the Everest along with a national flag and a flag of her school. It took Poorna a course in mountaineering and arduous preparation for 52 days to climb her way to fame and success.

Reaching out: D.R. Prathyusha

Natural disasters always evoke sympthy. The devastation in the wake of disaster, both in terms of life and property, is huge. Families are separated while many others are displaced. But how many of us go beyond feeling upset and do something concrete to help the distressed? That’s where D.R. Pratyusha, a Std. XI student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, made a difference. While most people expressed empathy to those affected in the Jammu and Kashmir floods, Pratyusha from Kuwait voluntarily collected and contributed around 1,000 Kuwait dinars to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund after listening to the Prime Minister’s appeal for assistance to the flood victims.