I referred to Sanjith in my last blog. I’ve known him since he was less than a year old. He was amongst the youngest kids I know to: play golf seriously, going for many tournaments/ write a blog/ own a cell phone (which my friend Narayan presented him with when he was 5 maybe – it had no sim, but was thoroughly explored by Sanjith)/ cook delicious naans and paneer/ start a change.org type petition to have the metro allow cycles onboard/ even wear a saree :). He went through school quizzing, MUNning, playing cricket and of course golf, and doing multifarious other things. Began college in France, but came back due to the pandemic. He then started a Young Adults talk in collaboration with the BIC – and I have to say I’m a huge fan of this series. Gets together a group of YAs to talk about relevant topics (chosen largely through some polls via social media as far as I can see). These folks are soooo articulate, sooo confident, soooo opinionated yet sooo respectful, soooo inclusive – I just LOVE listening to them – better than any prime time TV debate.
Brings me basically to the point of this post. I am v v impressed by today’s youth – I do think they are growing up in tougher times than I faced as a child (even the more privileged ones). And yet, they seem to be really dealing with stuff thrown at them in very inspiring ways.
Ofcourse, the best example of the above is Malala – got shot at because of activism about education, went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Or GretaThunberg, had Aspergers, OCD, selective mutism; started a whole school strike movement for climate advocacy, and has spoken at multiple global events, including the famous “How Dare You” ( and whose latest comment on her old foe Trump at his departure is pure genius)
Or Gitanjali Rao, Time magazine’s first ever kid of the year, who has done “astonishing work using technology to tackle issues ranging from contaminated drinking water to opioid addiction and cyberbullying, and about her mission to create a global community of young innovators to solve problems the world over”
Or for that matter Coco Gauff, the youngest player ranked in the top 100 by the Women’s Tennis Association
Or Millie Bobby Brown, who produced and starred in the mystery film Enola Homes, after having received Emmy nominations for her role in Stranger Things.
Or look at the Forbes 30 under 30! Whether it is Lily Hevesh, 21, domino artist; Travers 23 and Xiao 21 – who founded Luminopia, a children’s health startup doing cinematic medicine; the Moore “Venture Twins” 25 – VCs at CRV, writers for Tech Crunch, founders of student startup incubator Cardinal Ventures; Matthew Asir, 22, Founder of the Legal Bullet, they are all inspiring sub 30 “kids” (in my head). I mean really really inspiring.
OK, these above are celebrities/ well known, and one could argue there always are some. (Oh, and that these are global)
But I watched the other day this webinar by my friend Sanjay, interviewing two young Indians who have set up fashion businesses – Palak Shah of Ekaya, and Aaditya Kitroo of Jos & Fine. Basically retail of high end heritage textile products – Benarasi in one case and Cashmere in the other. Fantastic session – two very different stories, one has family in the wholesale business for years and years but has rebranded and contemporised it for a retail B2C take, and the other started afresh, struck by how the Cashmere brand, which had originated from Kashmir, had got appropriated by Europeans, started supplying it after sourcing from indigenous weavers, and now is ready to go B2C. Again, both intelligent, bright, ambitious, high energy, compassionate, articulate and go getting young folks – was such a pleasure listening to them.
OK, so these are also slightly older people, though Palak started at 21.
But look at kids in school – this 12th grader I know of, began an outfit called Share a Square – has got folks teaching knitting and crocheting to other young kids, who in turn have to donate knitted or crocheted “squares” – 6” X 6” – that will then get sewn together by out of work tailors and given to homeless folks for their babies! Is it an idea or what? Soooo end-to-end, soooo smart, does sooo many things in this loop! Has now experimented with many allied things like sales of crocheted items, collabs with craft shops, all via a set of volunteer kids.
Another kid started a setup called Rutuchakra, to help spread education menstrual hygiene, with access to products. Has chapters in many schools. Kids volunteer and do many wonderful partnerships, distribution of pads in poor areas, webinars for education and the like.
Another couple (or maybe 3) kids started this thing called DogPile Thrift – a thrifting business, where proceeds go to care for abandoned street animals.
All lovely ideas, not necessarily big ones, all executed smartly, all done by kids!
This is only some achievements I am listing. Not everyone has resumes with such credits – there are enough and more kids who win everyday battles over mental illness, hunger, peer pressure, the weight of expectations, and come out impressing me with their kindness, tolerance, energy and open heartedness, and their grit and determination.
As I was telling a friend, I feel like a dinosaur when I look at this generation. In a good way, though 🙂
And of course, what better story to end this list of impressive stuff done by kids than yesterday’s cricket David vs Goliath like Test Series victory over Australia. Arguably the most epic ever – achieved with the longest odds ever. Young kids, some coming from bottom of the pyramid backgrounds, some debuting in this series, with injuries galore, past performance the lowest total ever, captain gone home, suffering racial attacks and personal bereavements, winning over Australia in Brisbane! And How! Well done, Sundar, Thakur, Siraj, Gill, Pant, Agarwal. And of course Rahane. Oh, and Dravid! No one could say it better than Shashi Tharoor.
In case you were wondering, Epicaricacy is “Rejoicing at or deriving pleasure from the misfortunes of others” 🙂
joshsang 