For Akhila Roy Chowdhury (14), all roads lead to the roller skating rink at Banashankari III stage, a leafy suburb of Bangalore where she practises this skill-based sport for at least three hours every day. And the young athlete’s perseverance of ten years has paid off.
Early last year (2011), she was crowned national champion in the 12-14 age group category at the 48th Roller Speed Skating Championships staged in Vishakhapatnam. More recently last October (2011), Akhila won two golds and a silver at the Dasara Open Nationals held in Mysore, and was placed second in the under-16 Half Marathon event. Over the past decade, this promising skater has won more than 50 district, 40 state and 12 national medals.
Winning the national award — “my most momentous event” — was a dream realised for this class IX student of Bangalore’s Sri Kumaran’s Children’s Home. “I owe it all to my parents and coaches and their constant inspiration and support,” enthuses Akhila, the only child of Tridib Roy Chowdhury, a software engineer, and Anuradha, a market researcher.
Under the tutelage of her parents, Akhila struck gold in her very first state championship in Bangalore in 2004 when she was barely six years of age. But it was only after qualifying in her first national speed skating champio-nship at age 10 that she made up her mind to focus on roller skating, a sport practised by a small community — estimated at 5,000 — of aficionados countrywide. With her mind made up, Akhila ended her dry run of the last two national tournaments by scripting a comprehensive victory early last year. Since 2001, she has been training at Bangalore’s Force One Skating Academy under former national champion G.V. Raghavendra.
Given that the cost of specialised and customised skating equipment — most components are required to be imported — can sometimes run into lakhs of rupees, Akhila laments the lack of sponsors, and the recognition skating “truly deserves” from both the government and media. “We should emulate the Asian Games Federation which has included speed skating as an official event,” says Akhila who is practising intensively for the forthcoming World Championships, scheduled for September 2012 in Italy.
But roller skating is not this bubbly athlete’s sole focus. She is intent upon qualifying as an engineer in product/textile design after class XII, but wonders how she’ll do the balancing act between skating and the demands of an engineering degree programme. “I can only hope for a holistic college education which allows me to keep my skates on,” says Akhila hopefully.
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)
Aditya Palnitkar
Civil society crusader Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement sure has inspired youth across the country to speak for the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign. Some have done more than speak up and taken the extra step to chart a course. Among them is Pune-based Aditya Palnitkar (14), who has launched a website dedicated to fighting corrup-tion in public life. The www.corruption free.in website has become operational in Pune and Bangalore and enables students and citizens to report cases of bribery, cheating, over-charging, forcible donations, extortion, scams and harassment in government offices by using the ubiquitous mobile phone.
“The website is unique because citizens can report corruption via SMS (8446324670), e-mail (email@corruption free.in) or Twitter without even visiting it,” says Aditya, a class X student of the Maharashtra State Education Board-affiliated K-12 Abhinav Vidyalaya School (estb.1943), Pune.
These reports will be made available to the media and enforcement autho-rities. “The objective is to help citizens send information or complain about corruption in a simple, instant and confidential manner,” says Aditya, explaining that incoming messages are forwarded to selected newspapers and television channels, the police and other law enforcement agencies such as Pune Police Commissionerate and to some of the district courts of Pune region. The website, which was launched in 2011, has already started generating traffic.
With technical guidance provided by his father Samir, a software engineer, the website was conceptualised and designed entirely by Aditya. “It cost me Rs.15,000 to get the website going and now four IT majors viz. Persistent, Renu Electronics, PARI Robotics and Airtight Networks have offered me Rs.85,000 in sponsorship annually,” he says.
What drives Aditya’s mission is that government and corporate corruption is destroying the entrepreneurial energy of India’s youth force. “Confronted with bribe demands at every stage, young people are progressively becoming afraid to start businesses and enterprises, and opt for clerical jobs. This is a dangerous development for the country and economy. That’s why I’m determined to take on the issue and help IAC to my maximum ability,” says Aditya.
Way to go, Bro!
Huned Contractor (Pune)