Global Indianstory Giving BackYoung innovators: Solving voter ID, mental, elder care, research and eco issues

Young innovators: Solving voter ID, mental, elder care, research and eco issues

Written by: Team GI Youth

(April 7, 2022) When today’s youth chance upon a problem, they are pretty proactive. So when the then 10-year-old Madhvi Chitoor saw the menace of styrofoam cups, she decided to tackle plastic pollution. That became a huge movement that even saw Potus, American President Joe Biden write to the young Indian changemaker about her stellar achievements. Of course, there is Time Kid of the Year Gitanjali Rao who sought to address lead pollution in the water. Others relentlessly work towards spreading awareness about mental health, or crusade against single plastic use. The youth of India or of Indian origin, across the world, have taken it upon themselves to carve a beautiful present and future, and save the planet, or give society progress that creates a better world. Global Indian turns the spotlight on such youngsters who are not leaving any stone unturned to bettering society.

Chaitanya Prabhu, activist

Chaitanya Prabhu

Determined to help his friends, Mumbai-based lawyer-activist Chaitanya Prabhu started getting their voter ids done. “What started as a small action slowly took the shape of the Mark Your Presence campaign. Information about the initiative spread through word of mouth, and many people started approaching me for getting their voter ids done too,” says Chaitanya. The campaign evolved as a result of huge demand from people and reaped such a massive impact on the democracy of the society that the 23-year-old advocate at the Bombay High Court was awarded the UN India Award and Diana Award 2021 for his humanitarian efforts.

For the then law student starting such a campaign in 2018, has been a milestone. Motivated by its success, he started his second campaign, the Youth Manifesto to educate the youth about the basics of the Constitution and how they cannot ignore their duty. His idea is also to make the voices of youth reach relevant ministries, BMC commissioner and CM of Maharashtra. “We as voters are given manifestoes but not asked about ours. My idea is to involve youth in creating a list of expectations and putting it forward,” adds the young Indian changemaker. Chaitanya’s larger aim is to increase the number of voter registrations, educate voters, and soar up the voter turnout.

Follow Chaitanya on Twitter

Kavin Vendhan, founder, Smiley India

Kavin Vendhan with his Diana Award 2021

He was in Class 8 when Kavin Vendhan understood the importance of non-academic skills, when he first enrolled for a peer-education programme in his school. That opportunity opened up a new world for this Chennai boy who acknowledged a child’s potential beyond marks, and took it upon himself to launch a movement for the students and by the students. This idea gave birth to Society for Motivation Innovative Leadership and Empowerment of Youth (Smiley) India, a non-profit initiative in 2019.

“We focus on the importance of non-academic education, social responsibility, and addressing mental health issues. The youth is the future of India. We work on the overall development of young minds by conducting workshops. We give them a platform to speak their minds and understand the possibilities within,” adds the Diana awardee who works with 70 volunteers across Chennai.

Follow D Kavin Vendhan on Linkedin

Aditya Dubey, environmentalist

Aditya Dubey

The 18-year-old Aditya has been campaigning against single-use plastic by working with India’s National Green Tribunal to introduce environmental compensation from some of the largest organisations in India, including Amazon, Walmart-Flipkart, and Pepsi. The teen changemaker, who started the Plant A Million Trees campaign in 2016, received the prestigious Diana Award in 2021 for his efforts.

“I live in New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with sinusitis, a respiratory infection caused by air pollution. When I started researching about it, I realised that if pollution levels don’t reduce soon, many could die or be severely ill,” shares Aditya, who has planted over 1,80,000 trees under his Plant A Million Trees initiative. The youngster, in collaboration with the Energy and Resources Institute, is working on a direct air capture technology, called CarbonX, that absorbs carbon dioxide from ambient air. If scaled up, it can be an important weapon in humanity’s fight against climate change. “I feel that if we continue to turn a blind eye to climate change, then we all will suffer due to extreme weather conditions and a lack of clean water or air. For me, the propagation of this idea is more important than the awards,” expresses the young Indian changemaker.

Follow Aditya Dubey on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram

Karthik Ramu, co-founder AmityConnect

Karthik Ramu, co-founder, AmityConnect

The North Carolina-born teen changemaker might be busy in his sophomore year, but his sights are set on growing his co-founded AmityConnect (founded in 2018-19). The startup helps collate data of the elderly across the US, and the rest of the world, thereby predicting their medical emergencies and general health.

Karthik Ramu solved the hugely ignored elder care problem in the US. The University of Virginia student saw his grandfather in Coimbatore fall seriously ill, he researched on elder care, got data, and he and his classmate Krishi Nayar launched AmityConnect. The mobile platform helps families monitor elders’ health by aggregating real-time health data from smart medical devices (smartwatches, etc). Honoured as a global teen leader by We Are Family Foundation (2021), Ramu is growing this and is in talks for more funding, to help families and nursing homes take care of the elderly.

“The biggest problem for our team was our grandparents – they had medical emergencies. I saw my grandfather suffer a heart attack. We felt distant and unaware, and were unable to offer the best care,” says the young Indian changemaker in an interview. His concern? “The elderly population is expected to double globally from 900 million to 2 billion in 2050 – it shook me,” he concludes.

Follow Karthik Ramu on Linkedin

Snehadeep Kumar, president, The Aurora Academic Journal

Snehadeep Kumar

Seventeen-year-old Snehadeep Kumar was producing significant research and experimental scientific work when he was in high school. Even as a teenager, he was in correspondence with the big names in science, including Dr Tom Welton, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London and Nobel Prize winning physicist Gerard’t Hooft. However, he was disappointed to find that publishing research was very difficult for two reasons – one, he was still a student and second, it was expensive. After being turned down by major publications like Scientific American, he decided to start The Aurora Academic Journal.

Dedicated entirely to students who do their own research in science and the humanities, the journal publishes work for free. There are two criteria – the author must be a student and second, produce quality research. “I want to provide a platform for kids who are brilliant and have original research, but who cannot afford to pay for a spot in a major journal,” says the young Indian changemaker.

Follow Snehadeep Kumar on LinkedIn

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Published on 07, Apr 2022

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How Tanya Gupta went from NASA to Harper’s Bazaar

(March 4, 2023) How does a mechanical engineer go from being a rocket scientist at NASA to striking it big in the creative design world? If Tanya Gupta's story is anything to go by, through a lot of hard work, persistence and the courage to put yourself out there, even at the risk of looking silly. Tanya's ability to show initiative landed her in Harper's Bazaar but we'll get to that in a minute. The 25-year-old holds a software patent at NASA and in 2021, became the first Indian American to be selected for the Adobe Creative Residency. Today, she's the founder of Guptanya.JPG Studios and lives and works in New York City. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tanya Gupta (@guptanya.jpg) Reaching for the stars Tanya was eight years old when she fell in love with space, during a family trip to the Johnson Space Center. She decided then that she was going to be a rocket scientist. "I started doing a lot more Math and Science in school and when I was 11, I went to my first engineering class,” she said. “"I was able to realise that dream and made it to

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Reaching for the stars

Tanya was eight years old when she fell in love with space, during a family trip to the Johnson Space Center. She decided then that she was going to be a rocket scientist. "I started doing a lot more Math and Science in school and when I was 11, I went to my first engineering class,” she said. “"I was able to realise that dream and made it to NASA as a rocket scientist."

The Global Indian earned herself a place at NYU, where she went to study mechanical and aeronautical engineering. There, Tanya co-founded Curtain Call, a music business startup where they would sell tickets to shows around the city for belkow the asking price. They company partnered with various venues and that would give them leftover tickets to sell. "The venues were happy, the customer was happy and we were happy," she smiles.

Her creative journey had already begun in high school, however. Her immigrant parents were "adamant" that Tanya be "academically rigorous." Unlike her peers, she was discouraged from getting a job in high school. To make extra money, she chose freelance photography, taking on gigs for her friends, doing senior portraits and events.

Life as an engineer was also going well. Tanya chose a study abroad programme at NYU Berlin, where she mae her first foray into augmented reality. She was also a teaching assistant at Stanford University's high school summer camp, where she taught teenagers who wanted to take college classes for extra credit. That led her, she says, to NASA.

[caption id="attachment_28130" align="aligncenter" width="506"] Tanya at NASA. Photo: NYU[/caption]

Life at NASA

Tanya did two stints at NASA, both as a student and even turned down a job offer. The first stint was as Ops Lead on the PRANDTL-M (Preliminary Research Aerodynamic Design to Land on Mars) aircraft at the Armstrong Flight Resarch Center. "The mission is to implement Ludwing Prandtl's 1933 bird wing design on an aircraft that is intended to perform the first-ever Martian flight," she explained. "It was going to be first ever aircraft on Mars." The teams were asked to sign the original design and that model was sent to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, where it remains. "If you're at the Smithsonian, you can see my autograph," she laughs.

She was also mentored by Al Bowers, the chief scientist at Armstrong and an expert on Prandtl's alternative wing theory. "He's the coolest person I've ever met - which I decided one day when he casually told me about the time he hung out with Buzz Aldrin," she remarked. She even "got to do a couple of barrel rolls on an F-15."

The second internship was at the Kennedy Space Centre, after her study abroad programme at NYU Berlin. There, she helped patent a 3D modelling conversion tool. Essentially, polygon-based models, the most common type of modeling for video games and animation studios. NASA had plenty of these, which they wanted to showcase to clients. However, they needed mesh-based models, which represent surface but have nothing inside to see. There was no shortcut to creating them. Tanya earned herself a software patent for creating a "one-stop shop where you can input a polygon-based model and turn out a mesh-based model," she said.

A lockdown hobby

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A post shared by Tanya Gupta (@guptanya.jpg)

Tanya eventually turned down a job offer from NASA, choosing instead to join IBM as a reality engineer in 2019. Still, she was hungry for the chance to create and "needed something to motivate me to continue that practice and skill." She spent her time learning from YouTube tutorials and to build her design cred and hopefully, be an art director someday. "My wall used to be covered in editorials and I'd tried, multiple times to get the free trial of (Adobe) Photoshop," she said. "Every single time, it was so overwhelming, and I didn't have the tools, time or resources to devote to it."

So, in 2020, when the world went into lockdown and Tanya's job went completely remote, she asked friends to send her their smartphone selfies. Submissions came pouring in almost at once. Every day, Tanya would pick one and spend three to five hours practicing a new Photoshop skill she wanted to try out. At the end of the lockdown, Tanya had a portfolio, with dozens of works of art that her audience, it turned out, really enjoyed. She posted them with the hastag #QuarantineArt".

One of her early large projects was a recreation of her favourite Botticelli work - The Birth of Venus. "I had this idea to create my own version and call it the Birth of Parvati, who is the Hindu goddess of love," she said. "I thought it would be a really cool juxtaposition."

[caption id="attachment_28129" align="aligncenter" width="1600"] Birth of Parvati - Tanya's recreation of the Botticelli masterpiece. Photo: Guptana Studios[/caption]

Adobe Creative Residency Program

In 2021, acting almost on a whim, Tanya applied to the Adobe Creative Residency. It wasn't a whim, really, because thousands of hours of work had gone into building a portfolio and learning her way around Adobe Photoshop. She went there hoping to learn about augmented reality projects but ended up focussing on photoshop and compositing. "Recreating art is like a thing for me," she says - she even recreates scenes from her favourite game, SIMS 4.

"I loved Kim Kadarshian's look at Saturday Night Life, so I recreated that," she says. She copied the outfit, analysed the photograph to figure out the lighting and recreated the image in a dark room, putting herself in the picture. She also has her own take on Barbie and Ken.

Finding herself as an artist

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Validation was pouring in from brands and audiences on social media. While major brands commended her work, everything was still unpaid. Tanya saw herself designing magazine covers but without experience, she couldn't find a gig. She ended up creating a mock-up of a Harper's Bazaar cover - "I styled, modelled, photographed, edited and designed everything myself. I called it manifestation in action and it actually led to me being featured in Harper's Bazaar. If you put youself out there, the right person might just see it and it could just lead you to the right place," she remarks.

Harper's Bazaar asked her, in a recent interview, about her future plans - "I'm setting myself up for an invite to the Met Gala in 2023."

Follow Tanya on Instagram and through her website.

Reading Time: 6 mins

Vaishnavi Jaiswal addresses glaring gender gap in STEM globally, with her award-winning initiative

(September 20, 2022) “Who do you want to be when you grow up?” Whenever Vaishnavi Jaiswal was asked the question growing up, she would say, “An astronaut like Kalpana Chawla.” By the time she reached high school, her answer had changed. She discovered a passion for coding. She soon realised, however, that whether it was astronomy or coding, not many girls aspire to enter STEM fields. The glaring gender gap in STEM aspirants led the 16-year-old to found Salubrious, an initiative to promote gender equality. “Content and resources in the field are very gender biased,” she tells Global Indian. In 2022, she won the Diana Award for having impacted more than 55,000 students from 45 countries through workshops and events, supported by over 100 volunteers. [caption id="attachment_22108" align="aligncenter" width="705"] Vaishnavi Jaiswal, founder of The Salubrious Organisation[/caption] “Even though tech is so accessible, there is a lack of women who opt for the field, possibly because STEM subjects seem intimidating,” Vaishnavi says. This resonated with her – Vaishnavi had also lacked role models who could be approached for guidance. She too had been skeptical about making STEM her future field of study. “It was like a very personal problem for me. I

of The Salubrious Organisation[/caption]

“Even though tech is so accessible, there is a lack of women who opt for the field, possibly because STEM subjects seem intimidating,” Vaishnavi says. This resonated with her – Vaishnavi had also lacked role models who could be approached for guidance. She too had been skeptical about making STEM her future field of study.

“It was like a very personal problem for me. I was determined to do something about it, even though I was very young and didn’t know how to go about starting or running a non-profit.”

Impactful associations

Vaishnavi soon found that there are plenty of women in tech making an impact, whose efforts are not always acknowledged. She began conducting interviews and writing about them on her blog.

“That’s how Salubrious initially started – as a blog, and it soon grew into a non-profit organisation with the launching of workshops on ‘STEM for change’,” she explains. “Now we have expanded our mission to not just promote STEM education for girls but also to teach them financial literacy, sponsor their education and provide skill development and entrepreneurship guidance. We also make them aware of government schemes that could benefit them.” Her organisation conducts a mix of online and offline activities.

Rising above the odds

‘Nothing came easy’ for the teen, the biggest barrier being her age. Born and raised in Gorakhpur, she had to function within a society that simply wasn’t as open-minded as a metropolitan city. However, after initial hiccups, Vaishnavi was able to establish confidence in her purpose and associate her cause with NGOs and schools that helped her movement grow.

“Social media has played a good role in expanding our reach,” she remarks. ‘The Salubrious Organisation’ has chapters abroad in places like Nigeria, Kenya, USA, Canada, Nepal, UAE, Bangladesh, Philippines, Malaysia and South Africa.

Equality is for everyone

Salubrious’ volunteers from different countries identify under-resourced schools in their own localities, organise ‘STEM for change’ workshops that follow a specially-crafted curriculum and monitor progress. Children are taught the importance of learning science in an application-based manner, to help them understand that STEM is useful to our lives in countless ways. The team has also organised a LeadHERship Summit which saw participation from youngsters from various countries. It conducts Tech Connect every three months, which is a work shop and panel discussion surrounding computer science and technology.

[caption id="attachment_22110" align="aligncenter" width="815"] Vaishnavi after a 'STEM for Change' workshop[/caption]

“Our major focus is girls but we are inclusive in nature. So, the workshops are for all genders and are conducted by male volunteers also. If we are standing for gender equality, everyone should be made part of the movement,” tells Vaishnavi.

Turning heads

Vaishnavi’s initiatives are inspirational in more ways than one. The youngest of four siblings, she is grateful to her parents who have ensured good education for all their kids even though they didn’t have it themselves. Her father dropped out in middle school, while her mother graduated class 10.

The youngster works relentlessly to make a difference in the lives of other girls from humble backgrounds, who lack the resources they need to chase their aspirations. After she won $1000 as Girl Up's Project Award from United Nations Foundation, and crowd funding from local shopkeepers, she equipped a school with five computers and a science lab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSy9V-edNe0

The 12th grade student of Gorakhpur Public School, intends to study computer science, environment ethics and economics in college. She received $1500 after winning 2022 Zonta International Young Women in Public Affairs Award for funding her education of 11th and 12th grade. Apart from addressing gender gap in STEM, Vaishnavi has been working to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene in underprivileged communities through her 'period power' project. She aspires to become a social-tech entrepreneur to introduce game changing solutions for society's benefit.

Vaishnavi will soon be participating at the UN General Assembly 77 Science Summit, a hybrid event taking place in the US. The changemaker has been named a Global Teen Leader in 2022 and received the Young Achiever’s Award in 2021.

Follow Vaishnavi on LinkedIn
Follow Salubrious on Instagram

Reading Time: 5 mins

Avi Gupta: Indian-American teen revolutionises healthcare with affordable ventilator invention

(September 13, 2023) "I want to take you back to March 2020. The coronavirus had landed in the United States. Social distancing entered into our vocabulary. Schools were closed and store shelves were empty. Against this backdrop, Europe grappled with its first wave of coronavirus. One of the key shortages they faced - ventilators," that's how Avi Gupta opens his TedX speech. The Indian American from Portland reveals that the US, especially Oregon, too faced a similar situation with a shortage of hundreds of ventilators for the critically-ill covid patients. That's when Oregon Health Authority reached out for help from many individuals and companies, including INTEL. However, it didn't take the responsibility of designing and manufacturing a ventilator, instead the request was filtered down to the senior staff of the company, one of whom happened to be a manager of Avi at a former internship. That's how the Stanford University student joined a team of doctors, researchers, and fellow engineers to co-found LifeMech, a non-profit that builds low-cost ventilators. Such has been the impact of his work that he was awarded the Truman Scholarship 2022 for his commitment to public service. [caption id="attachment_24322" align="aligncenter" width="481"] Avi Gupta played a key

Avi Gupta played a key role in developing low-cost ventilator[/caption]

Then an 18-year-old, Avi helped design the ventilator's user interface, as amid the crisis, "rapid development and deployment of the technology were essential." Interestingly, he wasn't just the youngest member of the team but also the reigning Jeopardy Teen Tournament champion. "The original prototype which was fully functional was made in our garages. So, it's truly something that can be deployed worldwide," the Global Indian said in an interview.

Avi, who switched to Stanford to pursue his interests in artificial intelligence and public policy after a year of college at Columbia University's School of Engineering, knew that the prototype had to be scalable in both design and manufacture. But more than anything it had to be "low-cost and open source to be deployed in communities worldwide." "What it meant that anybody like a doctor or a non-profit in another country could download our designs and code and easily manufacture the ventilator with the parts available in their country," he added.

[caption id="attachment_24323" align="aligncenter" width="546"] Avi Gupta is currently studying at Stanford University.[/caption]

Though he found the process of designing the interface stressful, he also found it equally rewarding as it could have a direct impact on someone's health. Avi, who collaborated with his father, Dr Saurabh Gupta, a cardiologist for the making of the ventilator, said that the project epitomises the work that he wants to do - using technology to solve a bigger problem. "It's using technology to advance public service," he told the Stanford Daily. Later, the ventilator was approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and used widely during the ventilator shortage.

Apart from this, Avi is also involved in Public Interest in Tech (one of the groups on the Stanford campus) which focuses on fostering conversations around technology's role in society. Since his school days, Avi has been keen to make a change, so when he won the 2019 Jeopardy Teen Tournament, in honour of the host Alex Trebek, he donated a part of his winnings ($100,000) to raise awareness and fund early pancreatic cancer research. He partnered with OHSU Knight Cancer Institute to create and lead the #InspiredBy campaign, raising over $225,000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBFc0Lbek4w

It was in 2016 that he kickstarted his journey towards creating social impact when he founded Project 32, a student-run social startup that uses the power of education to tackle dental diseases in youth. Since its inception, Project32 has provided thousands of dental hygiene kits to children in the US, India, Guatemala, and Haiti.

In his free time, he loves to play chess and basketball and is a huge Portland Trail Blazers fan.

Follow Avi Gupta on Linkedin

Reading Time: 4 min

A ‘voter-gait’ to create true democracy: Lawyer-activist Chaitanya Prabhu raps for rights

(April 1, 2022) In 2018 while searching the internet for a new (coloured) voter id, Chaitanya Prabhu discovered that all the processes to register and upgrade were simple and swift. Yet, enquiring if his friends had their new and improved voter id, he was shocked to learn that many had not even registered to vote, and thus were unaware of the simple online process. It left him flabbergasted. Determined to help his friends get a voter id done, he started a movement. “What started as a small action slowly took the shape of the Mark Your Presence campaign. By word of mouth the information spread, and many people started approaching me for their voter ids,” says Chaitanya in a conversation with Global Indian. The campaign evolved as a result of what people wanted. The need came from the masses and his movement gained impetus. It became so impactful that the Mumbai-based 23-year-old advocate at the Bombay High Court was awarded the UN India Award and Diana Award 2021 for his humanitarian efforts. For the then law student starting such a campaign in 2018, has reaped great rewards. [caption id="attachment_13871" align="aligncenter" width="617"] Chaitanya Prabhu, lawyer-activist, founder of Mark Your Presence[/caption] Lighting

nt_13871" align="aligncenter" width="617"] Chaitanya Prabhu, lawyer-activist, founder of Mark Your Presence[/caption]

Lighting up young minds

His dedication didn’t escape the notice of the chief electoral officer, state election commission of Maharashtra and chief electoral officer of Delhi. They offered full support to Chaitanya’s non-profit and non-partisan organisation. Currently doing a master’s in public policy at St Xavier’s College, Chaitanya gained an insight into how policies are framed. The lawyer-activist addresses his two awards as “extreme light in the darkness.” Since he began, he has mobilised more than 26,000 youngsters to take their first steps towards being responsible citizens of a democracy. Today, Mark Your Presence has 430 volunteers, and 25 core team members.

[embed]https://twitter.com/chaitanyavotes/status/1409537501304217600?s=20&t=HTxDyXwfQFVfwJHAl_-FIA[/embed]

“Mark your Presence also offers a leadership fellowship, where we train young people (between 16 and 22) to take part in strengthening the Indian democratic system, and turn every institution into a voter-friendly campus. Selected after diligent screening, they become part of our forum - a certificate and letter of recommendation from the election commission of Maharashtra,” says Chaitanya.

An activist soul

The lawyer-activist has visited top schools and colleges in Mumbai and Delhi for seminars and speeches to empower the youth to become politically aware voters, and choose representatives well – echoing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “I want to reduce the huge gap that lies between the young population and the people’s representatives so they make informed choices to make our country leap ahead with the right leadership,” says Chaitanya who is also a national level athlete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOcjO7U7dZY

Winning mantra

An athlete, winning is ingrained in him, and so is perseverance. His sporty side played a large role in shaping this young activist. “I might be seen as a young person with full access to the election commission of Maharashtra but that has come after four years of slogging to prove my mettle,” smiles the young activist, adding, “Wading through bureaucracy hasn’t been easy.”

The founder of Mark Your Presence has represented Maharashtra in track and field events (400 meters) at nationals, and has won DSO national, open national and AISM national championships.

[caption id="attachment_13876" align="aligncenter" width="675"] Chaitanya with his grand-father[/caption]

Incidentally, Chaitanya’s grandfather, MH Prabhu, who passed away a couple of months ago at the age of 101, has been his biggest inspiration. “He was a freedom fighter. My passion to make people aware of democracy and be conscious about their rights comes from him. Having grown up in his presence, it was impossible to remain untouched by the values he stood for, that led him to fight for our Independence; playing a crucial role in the nation’s history. I learned about rights from him,” says the doting grandson.

The extra mile…

“After having helped thousands register, I have come to see that it’s not enough. It led me to start educating the youth about the basics of the Constitution and how they cannot ignore their duty,” Chaitanya explains. Though he is compelled to admit that there is much more to be done.

His Youth Manifesto movement stems from this believe - to ignite young minds and encourage collaboration among long-time youth advocates, environmentalists, activists and emerging leaders. “We want the voices of the young people to be heard by those who matter,” Chaitanya remarks. Rampant discussion on topics that matter, Chaitanya helps these ideas reach changemakers. The team has been working on the manifesto for the past six months and expects it to be ready by May. The movement gained further momentum when Navya Naveli Nanda, the entrepreneur granddaughter of Amitabh Bachchan, and Malhar Kamble, founder of Beach Please joined Chaitanya.

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His idea is that the youth manifesto reaches relevant ministries, BMC commissioner and CM of Maharashtra. From working on the ground, reaching slums, high-rises, he feels everyone wants their aspirations addressed, "We as voters are given manifestoes but not asked about ours. My idea is to involve youth in creating a list of expectations and putting it forward," he adds.

His larger aim is to increase the number of voter registrations, educate voters, and soar up the voter turnout. “I intend to keep scaling the initiatives,” says the idealist who inadvertently created micro-targeted campaigns like “art for right,” “rap for rights,” “speak for rights” and “she votes.” “Convincing is a difficult job, it requires patience but I never give up on this path of fighting unawareness,” Chaitanya signs off.

Follow Chaitanya Prabhu on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

Reading Time: 5 mins

Aditya Dubey: This teen changemaker & Diana awardee is eradicating pollution

(March 26, 2022) It was his grandmother, MP Saroj Dubey, who taught him as a young boy that the greatest happiness is found when you bring happiness to others. Today, an 18-year-old Aditya Dubey is campaigning against single-use plastic by working with India’s National Green Tribunal to introduce environmental compensation from some of the largest organisations in India, including Amazon, Walmart-Flipkart, and Pepsi. The teen changemaker, who started the Plant A Million Trees campaign in 2016, received the prestigious Diana Award in 2021 for his efforts. "I live in New Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with sinusitis, a respiratory infection caused by air pollution. When I started researching about it, I realised that if pollution levels don’t reduce soon, many could die or be severely ill," shares Aditya in an interview with Global Indian. "While people knew about the issue, not many were raising their voice against it. I did not want to sit quietly, thus I founded the Plant A Million Trees initiative in 2016," he adds. Since, over 1,80,000 trees have been planted under the campaign. [caption id="attachment_13340" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Aditya Dubey receiving the Diana Award[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_13340" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Aditya Dubey receiving the Diana Award[/caption]

Rebel with a cause

As the movement gained momentum, Aditya decided to soldier on. In his quest to ban single-use plastic, the teen changemaker launched several campaigns including Kill Plastic and Revive Yamuna in 2019. To ensure smooth running, he even sold some of his belongings to fund them. "I did not want to ask for money, so I sold my golf kit to fund the Plant A Million Trees initiative. Later for another campaign, I sold my PlayStation as well," smiles Aditya, who schooled at Modern School, Barakhamba Road.

For the Kill Plastic campaign, Aditya approached Amazon and Walmart-Flipkart to stop using single-use plastic packaging material. However, when the companies refused to accept his request, he filed a petition before the National Green Tribunal against them. "I was young so a bit nervous. But, I was never scared to do the right thing. I think I got that from my grandmother. She taught me that one should never be afraid to raise their voice. Unfortunately, I lost her a few years ago. But. her teachings will always guide me," says the teen changemaker.

[caption id="attachment_13341" align="aligncenter" width="556"] Aditya during a campaign[/caption]

A big win for the teen changemaker was when his petition forced the giants to stop using single-use plastic, reducing plastic waste generation in India by thousands of tonnes each year. Another campaign by him against Pet bottling companies, resulted in heavy fines, running into millions of dollars, being imposed on Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Himalaya, Parle Agro, and Bisleri.

Beyond the rewards

Ever since he began working to save the environment, Aditya has received several awards and recognitions. While he is happy that his work is truly making an impact, the son of two accomplished Supreme Court lawyers - Anurag and Anu Dubey - feels that such recognitions help spread awareness. "I feel that if we continue to turn a blind eye to climate change, then we all will suffer due to extreme weather conditions and a lack of clean water or air. For me, the propagation of this idea is more important than the awards. Recognition is a tool that enables me to convince citizens, organisations, corporates, and political leaders to support me in my campaigns," says the teen changemaker who unwinds on Formula 1 when he gets time.

No time to waste

Upset that the governments are not taking adequate measures to eradicate pollution, Aditya is doing everything in his power to initiate change. The youngster, in collaboration with the Energy and Resources Institute, is working on a direct air capture technology that absorbs carbon dioxide from ambient air. If scaled up, it can be an important weapon in humanity's fight against climate change. “I have been working on this technology called CarbonX since October 2021. We have been able to finalise the design, and are now in the process of creating a user prototype and commencing trials," shares Aditya, whose only dream right now is to set up a million-tonne carbon dioxide extraction plant in India by the end of this year. Set to study BS in computer science in 2022, he hopes to leave behind an able team to continue his good work.

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