Gurgaon-based Arhan Bagati (16) is the latest teen to join the brigade of precocious app ideators mushrooming countrywide. Supported by the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), Arhan has conceptualised and helped develop ‘inRio’, a free app which can be downloaded on iOS and Android devices, to ensure better manoeuvrability and quality of life for para-athletes preparing to represent India at the Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Paralympic Games 2016 this September.
The app is designed to provide differently abled sportspersons vital information about diet/nutrition, gyms and sports complexes, and a list of people to contact in emergencies in Rio. The app also incorporates a detailed roadmap of Rio, a language translator, and an exhaustive list of restaurants, museums and hot spots.
The only child of Tapesh Bagati, a businessman, and homemaker Anu, this class XI student of the IBO (Geneva)-affiliated Shri Ram School, Moulsari (Gurgaon), is elated by the attention being showered on him ever since inRio was launched five months ago.
“Being a state-level athlete myself, I have deeply admired the grit of para-athletes who despite receiving scant government and social support lift themselves up to succeed against near-impossible odds. My association with the Paralympic Committee of India dates back to 2014 when I signed up to participate in its Sports for Development run. Since then, I have been an enthusiastic PCI volunteer,” says Arhan.
The app was conceptualised early last year soon after Arhan finished his class X board exams. “With time on my hands, I started shortlisting companies known to fund social initiatives. With some help from my father, I made a presentation and shared it with senior managers of several corporates. Luckily, my idea struck a chord with Boeing, Educomp, ITC hotels and Audi, Gurgaon whose managers not only offered financial but technical and advisory support as well. The funding enabled me to hire the services of Questionmark Communications to develop and code the app,” he recalls.
Currently a humanities student intent on enrolling in a liberal arts degree programme after completing his higher secondary studies, Arhan is an ardent believer in the power and potential of new technologies. “IT can help resolve many of the complex development problems confronting the nation. I also believe the success I’ve had with developing apps for differently abled sportspersons and lay citizens can be replicated by home-grown engineers in all walks of life. All that’s required is will power and a problem-solving mindset,” says this idealistic teen.
Way to go, bro!
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
Sukanya Sen
Karate kid Sukanya Sen (10), a class V student of Kolkata’s top-ranked Modern High School for Girls, is one of a growing crop of promising female practitioners of this mentally and physically demanding martial art. Last October, she won the sub-junior kumite — combat with a live opponent — title at the 21st International Sports Karate Association (ISKA) World Cup staged in Liverpool, New South Wales (Australia). 
Standing tall at a mere 4 ft 8 inches and weighing 38 kg, Sukanya, a member of the 30-strong team representing India at the World Cup championship, overcame 24 opponents to win the title. Her Australia tour was partly sponsored by the Kolkata-based Seishinkai Karate Federation, which sends its top three students to the ISKA championship annually. The 10-year-old was accompanied by her mother, Dr. Sudeshna Roy Sen, and coach, Shihan Premjit Sen, also a referee certified by the Asian Karate Federation.
The elder child of Partho Sen, an architect, and Dr. Sudeshna, an ophthalmologist, Sukanya was introduced to this ancient Japanese martial art at the age of six when her father enrolled her at an academy in Salt Lake run by the Seishinkai Karate Association, which is licensed by the Karate Association of India.
Since then, this talented pre-teen with lightning-fast reflexes has been on a roll. In April 2014, at the 10th Kotaka’s Cup organised by the International Karate Federation at Delhi’s Talkatora stadium, she bagged gold, silver and bronze in three events. Later in October, Sukanya won gold at the International Open Karate Championships organised by the Japan Karate Federation in Yoita, Niigata, Japan.
Although still a little child, Sukanya has substantially developed the discipline and mental toughness required of this martial sport. “I am prepared to work hard at my studies and karate. I love them both,” says this little wonder.
Wind beneath your wings!
Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)