Scientist, innovator, TEDx speaker, trainee pilot – how teenage prodigy Gitanjali Rao is raising the bar

se people to the experiences of children with special needs so that they understand and see things from a lens of empathy and understanding," says Jeya.

A Tinker Champ in the making

Born in Delhi, Jeya moved to Bengaluru at the age of five. An introvert with not many friends, she spent most of her time surrounded by books. "Nothing like a good read. I have always found myself drawn to the world of books," says the teen whose favourite author is Sudha Murty. But it was in Grade 7 that she first discovered Atal Innovation Mission. "It began with a message that landed on my WhatsApp school group about a Tinkerpreneur encouraging students to teach their peers about entrepreneurship. This got me intrigued," says Jeya, who began exploring the field and soon prepared a masterclass on digital skills. "Teaching students about basic PowerPoint or Excel was the beginning of my journey as a Tinker Champ." Now a Class 10 student, she create resources like boot camps, YouTube lives, and workshops to teach students from Class 6 to 12 on digital skills, innovation, entrepreneurship, and business through peer mentoring. Till now, they have impacted over 5000 students.

Supporting children with intellectual disabilities

Over the years as a Tinker Champ, she noticed a gap: the lack of attention to intellectually challenged children. "Instead of just focussing on the resources for the intellectually challenged children, the bigger problem is the stigma around them." It's something that she witnessed firsthand in her apartment. "Such children are often mocked and made fun of. From the bird's eye view, the bigger issue is the stigma and not the resources they lack," she adds. This motivated her to start Khwahish with a mission to support children with intellectual disabilities by addressing the societal stigma and providing them with necessary resources.

"I found lack of education to be the root cause as many people have no idea about intellectual disabilities, which often leads to insensitivity," explains Jeya. She began by creating a website to share her mission and vision, and started reaching out to specialists in the field. That's when she found Dr Anamika Hui, an audiologist and speech-language pathologist who works with children with intellectual disabilities, and confirmed that stigma is a huge issue. Meanwhile, Dr Anamika also cautioned her that it's a close-knit community that isn't open to the idea of collaboration. "She told me even if I intend to empower them, I will face some resistance. I took her advice seriously and started connecting with more special educators and special schools in Bengaluru to build trust," informs Jeya.

SDG 10

While interacting with one such school - Buddhi Special School - the teenager had an epiphany that to shift the perceptions of children with intellectual disabilities from sympathy to empowerment, she needed to display their talents well and "make people know what they have to offer". Inspired, she conducted an art activity and collected their artworks for a virtual reality art exhibition. "Seeing people's surprise at the children's talent was eye-opening and confirmed that there was genuine interest, which led me to conduct my first awareness session with the help of Dr Anamika." By showcasing the talents of children with intellectual disabilities, Jeya aims to create an inclusive world. "My focus is on SDG 10 - reducing inequalities by creating an inclusive world, which can be achieved by sensitising people and changing their view on other people, who might be a little different from them."

Soon interest grew, and she began organising more awareness campaigns in residential areas as well as schools. Through Khwahish, she wants to support special schools and children and work on providing accessible learning resources and guides for parents and guardians. In just a few months, she has already impacted over 120 students. "I often ask children to picture a child with an intellectual disability, and they usually imagine someone helpless or vulnerable. This is the perception I want to change," she emphasises.

A long journey

Her journey hasn't been easy as the 15-year-old had to face a lot of criticism initially with many doubting her qualifications to work with or raise awareness about children with special needs. "I was told that working with specially-abled children or even spreading awareness about them required a certification. And I had no authority to speak on them. But I stood my ground and told them that one needed passion and the drive to conduct awareness campaigns more than certifications." Many adults dismissed her effort as a mere project due to her age and she even found many students indifferent to the cause. "Since special schools and regular schools are different, not many meet children with special needs daily. Hence, it's hard for them to understand them or know how to behave or react." She often uses the example of braces to make children understand the concept. "I tell them that if they had never seen braces before, they might mock a friend wearing them. But it’s just something normal. The same logic applies to children with special needs. However, changing perceptions takes time," adds Jeya, who believes early intervention is crucial as young minds are easy to influence as they are still far away from rigid beliefs.

Despite the challenges, Jeya has found support from a few people who have become her collaborators. "They believed in me and the cause and were always ready to help," she says. However, she acknowledges that changing perceptions is a long journey. A crucial moment in her mission was her visit to Buddhi Special School in Bengaluru, where an interaction with the coordinator, Mrs Rekha, deeply impacted her. "She told me that these kids have no idea how much stigma they will face the moment they step out into the real world. Most kids are mocked and bullied. Some kids, who need special care, are separated from their parents and stay in the premises all the time since their parents don't have the training or the skillset to take care of them. That's why special schools become important." Realising the challenges that these children might face in the real world, Jeya wants to step in and pull the plug on this by creating as much awareness so that these kids feel equally safe in the outside world. "I want the awareness impact to go into thousands for neurotypical people, especially children so that the world becomes more inclusive."

Jeya, who calls herself a bibliophile, calls awareness a two-way learning process. "When you are spreading awareness, you are in turn learning a lot in the process," says the teenager. She began Khwahish with a passion for working for children with intellectual disabilities and is on a mission to make a more inclusive world. "It's important to go with the flow, and have a growth mindset where you do not quit."

tional collaboration  

The collaboration is part of ‘India-Wales, Connections through Culture’, a celebration of the long-standing relationship between the two countries on the occasion of India’s 75th Independence Day. Apart from creating the NFT, Mangka travelled to Britain as part of the bilateral cultural exchange to perform in some of the cities there.  

“The first time I represented India internationally was back in 2014 — I was selected to be at one of the world's biggest radio festivals in Colombo. That is an experience I will forever cherish,” she said.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx0xGwRMGcw

Since then, the folk artist has travelled across the world, performing at premiere music festivals. She was awarded the national young artist scholarship award by the ministry of culture in 2017, and the national child talent scholarship award by CCRT, New Delhi in 2009. The Election commission of India selected the Global Indian as the state icon of Manipur in 2017. 

Music in her blood  

Born into a family of musicians, Mangka’s environment was full of music from the time she was born. Her father, Mangangsana, who is her biggest inspiration, is a renowned folk musician, a national award winner and a versatile artiste. Mangka was deeply influenced by music from the time she was a little girl, thanks to her grandma, who was her first teacher, her father, who trained her later and the artistes who would come home to learn and practice.  

“I was not pushed into taking up music by my family, I chose it,” she said. “I urged my father to help me take my passion further by constantly trying to prove that I had potential,” she says, adding, “For this I participated in all the school and neighbourhood functions, without letting go of any chance to perform and impress my father.” Looking back, she is grateful to her father and grandma, for never having favoured or discriminated between her and their other students.  

Manga completed her masters in sociology in 2020 and has been associated as a researcher with ‘Laihui Ensemble’, the centre for research on traditional and indigenous performing arts in Imphal. Her father has been the composer, and artistic director of the national and international programmes organised by the centre.  

Setting new grounds 

Since she was a kid, the folk artist has been singing the traditional songs that the family’s ancestors once sang. “I have grown up singing ‘Moirang Sai’ and ‘Pena Ishei’, which are ballads central to Manipuri folklore,” she revealed. The young artist also sings contemporary songs based on Manipur’s folk tunes that are composed and written by her father and other renowned lyricists.  

The artist is a befitting example of Indian youth who are choosing folk music to express themselves and keeping their culture alive. The youth icon has always worked towards putting Manipuri folk music at the international map. “Folk music is a bridge between the past and the present and that’s why it’s so significant,” she said. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npdJ7adAk6Q

Mangka is the only female Pena (a Manipuri traditional fiddle instrument) player. She started learning how to play it from Padmashree Khangembam Mangi, when she was 13. “I also learned Hindustani Sangeet from Visharad Guru M. Jiten.” Another guru of hers, Langathel Thoinu helped her hone skills in Basok and Moirang Sai (a rare traditional female performing art), beginning her training before she hit her teens.  

She learned Khongjom Parvah, a 130-year-old Manipuri ballad singing tradition from guru Khumantham Sundari. The ace performer has also learned Manipuri dance for years, earning the visharad (graduation degree) and has been a student of mime. All this extensive training makes her a riveting performer. 

Preventing Manipuri folk art from getting extinct 

Today the icon for the entire state of Manipur is an inspiration for children of the state who turn up to her for learning music. She has more than 300 students. Teaching is her way to preserve the folk art and counter the threat of it getting extinct by making the next generation equipped to take it further. “Being around children is something that I love a lot,” she says. It’s not just her music but the way she carries herself is something that adds to her huge fan base of youngsters who fondly call her the Princess of Manipuri Folk Music.  

The young artist loves wearing traditional attire with the strong notion that in this time of modernisation, sticking to the roots is something that has added to her personality’s ‘unique brand quotient’. The singer has conducted many seminars, conferences and workshops. When she is abroad, she makes it a point to hold folk art sessions for children of Manipuri diaspora there.  

She has also written a book of songs, ‘Langathel Thoinu’s Moirang Sai, Thoibi Loi Kaba.’ “It’s a gift for my guru ‘Langathel Thoinu’ and I would like to have an English translation for it,” she said. “I enjoy what I do and that is why it’s not hard for me to do so many things at the same time” she adds. 

International collaborations and performances of Mangka Mayanglambam: 

• ‘Asadoya Yunta – Singel’ – an international collaboration with Japanese artist Kazuki Oshiro with performances across Japan and India 
• ‘Ingelehua – Two Cultures Entwined’ – a Manipuri and Hawaiin dance and music collaboration 
• Performance at Awa Kongchat a cultural exchange programme in Myanmar 
• ‘Nura Pakhang’ - an international collaboration with Cla, the iconic Portuguese band 
• Performance at the Esplanade Festival, Singapore 
• 'Shakuhachi meets Pena’ – a collaboration of Manipuri and Japanese traditional music  

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