Hyderabad-based Sai Vamshee Krishna is only 14 years of age but his curriculum vitae runs into several pages. This accomplished bharatnatyam dancer, orator and film actor, who boasts an incredible 900 stage performances around the world, was the close runner-up in the arts and music category of the Infosys-EW Young Achievers Awards 2007.

A class X student of the state board affiliated Brilliant Grammar School, Hyderabad, Vamshee quickly established his reputation as a child prodigy. He gave his first stage performance at the age of three-and-a-half. Simultaneously he started learning the classical Bharatnatyam dance form under the famous Natya Brahma Guru Sri V.S. Rama Moorthy. A year later in 1997, he became the youngest artiste to be appointed cultural ambassador by the government of India when he was selected to perform in Mauritius, on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebrations of India’s independence. Since then there’s been no looking back for this child artiste who has vowed audiences in China, USA and Singapore, through his mastery of bharatnatyam.

In 2003 at the age of ten, Vamshee became the youngest child classical dancer ever to receive the national Balashree award conferred upon him by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. "Initially many people criticised my choice of dance form which is usually performed by female artistes. But once I started performing on stage, this gender bias vanished," recalls Vamshee.

His most cherished moment was his meeting with US President George Bush and first lady Laura Bush in Hyderabad in 2006. "I was one of three child artistes selected to welcome President Bush when he visited Hyderabad last year. The president and Mrs. Bush were very appreciative and affectionate, and the president has become my pen pal. My dream is to perform at the White House," says Vamshee, also a film director who scripted and directed a short documentary Vision 2020 which won him the second prize at the Student Leadership Conference held in the Infosys campus at Hyderabad in 2006.

An academic topper who consistently averages 90 percent plus, the young celebrity attributes his success to his parents — father Venkatesh who runs a tutorial school, and mother Aarthi a scientist at GVK Bio, Hyderabad. "I received every encouragement and support from them. Most parents today discourage their children from learning dance and music, saying it’s a waste of time. But there’s growing awareness that arts and music education is as important as academics for all-round development. In my case my co-curricular education has proved very valuable. Indeed it has improved my concentration in class and taught me the virtues of hard work, practice and discipline at an early age," says this articulate young achiever.

Bhubaneswar (Orissa)-based Apurv Mishra (17), an enthusiastic and socially aware inventor and innovator was adjudged the winner of the Infosys-EducationWorld Young Achievers Awards 2007 in the science, maths and technology category. Although he only recently completed his CBSE Plus Two exams from the DAV Public School, Bhubaneswar, young Apurv who is all set to enter the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune (estb. 2006, a recent Union government initiative to replicate the globally rated Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore countrywide) to pursue his higher education, already has several inventions and innovations to his credit.

The most noteworthy among them is the Glabenator patented in India and the US as "an advanced alternative and augmentative communication solution" for disabled people who need support to communicate because of physical and other disabilities. "The device is based on a new concept of directional displacement of a point in the skin just above the eyebrows as a data source. The user of the Glabenator contracts his forehead muscles voluntarily to interact with this device which is simple, compact and comfortable and can make alternative and augmentative communication affordable to the common man in cases of speech and communication disabilities," explains Mishra.

For this socially purposive invention, Mishra was conferred the third prize at the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2006 — the world’s largest science invention and research competition sponsored by the microchip and IT giant Intel Inc. Among his other inventions are a NUAID bottle which enables a person to drink from a bottle through an attachment which prevents water spillage and lips touching the mouth of the bottle; a vibraciodor, a magnetic communicator and hydro-computer.

"India is an economically backward country because of a conspicuous lack of an inventions and innovation culture in our institutions of higher education. In this respect the Union government’s initiative to promote the two new Indian Institutes of Science Education & Research is a very welcome development. I hope these institutes will be more receptive to new ideas and experimentation. It’s also high time Indian industry became more innovations oriented in the interests of its own survival. The numerous chambers of commerce and industry need to encourage, showcase and debate inventions and inventors much more rigorously than at present," advises Mishra.

Even before entering IISER, Mishra has ambitiously started an internet-based Innovators Factor Foundation whose objective is to link up like-minded innovators worldwide and to provide an interactive forum to showcase and discuss their ideas. And perhaps inevitably, after graduation his ambition is to promote an inventions/innovations company which will derive its revenue from patents and intellectual property rights. "Contrary to popular belief this is a very bankable idea. I will prove that it works," says this young inventor.

Don’t bet against it!

Avinash Chandrashekar

Avinash Chandrashekar (17), a class XII student of Chennai’s highly reputed Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan School, already has seven inventions to his credit. Whether it’s a simple yes/no switch, an attention-drawing device or a sophisticated multi-lingual aid — all inventions to make life easier for people with disabilities — they are testimony to this young inventor’s innovation ability and commitment to the cause of challenged people.

"I have been associated with special children since I was a child. As such it’s always been my ambition to harness technology to help them. My devices are simple to use and can be easily operated by differently abled children. For instance my multilingual aid for the disabled helps severely hampered spastic children to communicate their emotions to adults, do simple tasks like write and listen to music," says Avinash, runner-up in the science and technology category of the Infosys-EW Young Achievers Awards. The multi-lingual aid also won the ‘best of subject category’ award at the Intel Science Talent Discovery Fair in 2005.

This inventor with a social conscience took to science and technology at an early age. When he was just 12, Avinash became the youngest student navigator, among eight children chosen from over 60 countries, to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in California, USA, on the Red Rover Goes to Mars Training Mission. "As student navigators we got to debate with NASA scientists on whether life can be sustained on Mars, assembled a toy-rover to navigate the red planet and scheduled a space mission. It was an amazing learning experience," recalls this articulate Plus Two student who had the distinction of representing India when he was just eight years old as a child ambassador at a Unesco sponsored World Children’s Summit at Disneyland, Paris in 1998.

In 2004, following his visit to NASA as a student navigator, Avinash was awarded a scholarship to attend a workshop at the Space Academy of the US Space and Rocket Centre, Houston. Two years later in 2006, he was selected to represent India at the Global Young Leader’s Conference in Washington and was awarded a Youth Leadership Award.

Given that Mars and all things extra terrestrial captivate his imagination, it’s no surprise that Avinash wants to qualify as an aerospace engineer to "harness space technology for the betterment of humankind".

Wind beneath your wings!

G. Sathiyan

Reigning under-14 national table tennis champion and class X student of Kola Perumal Chetty Vaishnav Senior Secondary School, Chennai, G. Sathiyan (14) was adjudged winner in the sports category of the Infosys-EW Young Achievers Awards 2007. Sathiyan started playing the game when he was only four and enrolled for his first competitive tournament at age six. Since then he has competed in over 400 local, national and international tournaments and won medals in 120 of them — his most notable achievement to date being the national under-14 title which he won last year.

"I owe a great deal of my success to the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu Chandra TT Academy — a state government initiative in Chennai. Chandra TT Academy has not only provided me excellent coaching under former national champion V. Chandrashekar, but also paid for my participation in tournaments abroad," says Sathiyan.

This young achiever has already won a bronze at the Taiyuan (China) International Junior Open Championship in 2005; a silver at the Canadian International Junior Open Championship (2006) and a gold at the Fajir International Cultural and Sports Tournament in Iran earlier this year.

He takes pains to debunk the popular notion that sporting success is inevitably at the cost of academic performance. "Table tennis is not a distraction from studies. In fact the game has helped me manage my time and concentrate better," says Sathiyan who has averaged 90-95 percent throughout his scholastic career.

According to this young paddler, the skills gap between Indian and top-ranked Asian — particularly Chinese — players is not as wide as is popularly believed. "Their edge is in better training facilities and scientific physical training. The coaching facilities in SDAT, the Center of Excellence, Kolkata and Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Ajmer academies are very good. But they need to be transformed into excellent which can be done at small additional cost. For instance restrictions on the number of balls available for practice should be lifted and a few more practice robots would widen the pool of excellent young players," he suggests.

Looking to the future, Sathiyan’s sights are firmly set on the 2012 Olympics. "The gap between Indian and Chinese, Korean and Japanese players can be bridged in the next five years if a determined effort is made to improve our physical and mental fitness. I have given top priority to these training aspects to bring home India’s first table tennis medal from the 2012 London Olympics," he vows.

Power to your elbow!

Manthan B. Adiga

The sports category runner-up of the Infosys-EducationWorld Young Achievers Awards 2007 was Bangalore-based five-time national champion distance (1,000-5,000 metres) roller skater Manthan B. Adiga (21). Adiga’s achievements on the rink particularly impressed the panel of judges because he suffers from congenital macular degeneration, an eye condition which restricts the range of his vision.

Adiga, who has won five national, nine state and six district roller skating championships in the under-15 and under-17 categories since he started skating competitively in 1994, attributes his success in this esoteric sport to Bangalore’s Garden Skating Club where his coaches insisted on training him for competitive roller skating despite his visual impairment.

With evident success, because during the period 1994-2004 Adiga participated in 145 roller skating competitions notching up an aggregate tally of 29 gold, 26 silver and 27 bronze medals and represented India in two international meets in Italy (2002) and Belgium (2004).

Indeed Adiga’s achievements are a saga of triumph over adversity. "Due to my eye condition I can’t see beyond 3-4 ft. Therefore I would do practice runs on championship tracks several times with my coaches before the actual races. Another problem that all roller skaters in India face is that skating rinks are very small compared with the 200 metre rinks abroad. For instance the training rink in Bangalore’s Kanteerava Stadium is a mere 20 sq metres. Therefore I used to wake up at 4 a.m in the mornings to practice on the city’s deserted roads," says Adiga

After an action packed career as a competitive roller skater, in 2005 Adiga switched to coaching aspiring skaters. "Most Indian children have a natural sense of balance. Therefore they learn to skate very quickly. Given minimal training and rink facilities we could produce world champions. One of my ambitions is to build a skating rink of olympic standards in Bangalore," says Adiga currently a business management student of Vasavi Vidyaniketan Institute of Management Technology and Research, Bangalore.

Whether it’s the tree planting drive or an anti-plastic bags campaign she initiated in her hometown Hyderabad, Shravya Mallavarapu’s commitment to envir-onment conservation and upgradation is non-negotiable. A student volunteer/ member of several organisations including the Friendship Foundation, National Green Corps, Blue Cross of Hyderabad and Worldwide Fund for Nature, this 14-year-old’s passion for eco preservation and improvement persuaded the six-judge panel to adjudge her winner of the Infosys-EW Young Achievers Awards 2007 in the social service category.

A class X student of the state board affiliated St. Paul’s School, Hyderabad, Shravya has taken her save-the-earth message beyond national boundaries. In 2004 she was a Friendship Foundation delegate at the International Children’s Conference on Environment in Connecticut (USA). The next year she represented India at the International Children’s World Summit in Japan, where 600 child delegates from over 90 countries participated. Her project report titled ‘Creating an artificial scrub forest eco-system’ won her accolades at both international summits.

"The scrub forests which surround Hyderabad, home to many endangered primates and marsupials, lizards and birds, are facing rapid enqcroachment by farmers and villagers. The rate at which they are being continually cleared, the animals may lose their habitats very soon. My project focuses on the threats to scrub forests and suggests preventive measures," says Shravya who is also in the forefront of a public awareness drive to stop dumping of plastic wastes into the city’s show-piece Hussain Sagar Lake.

The daughter of a state government transport department employee, Shravya is multi-faceted and has won more than 150 prizes in painting and essay writing, is a trained Carnatic music singer and a blue-belt in karate. In 2006 she won the Amazing Kid Award instituted by Pogo, a children’s television channel, in the leadership category.

This 14-year-old multi-tasker looks to the future with cheerful optimism. She is keen on following in her older brother’s footsteps into an Indian Institute of Technology. "I’d like to get into IIT-Roorkee because it has a Himalayan Explorer Club. But my ultimate goal is to start an environment NGO. An IIT degree will stand me in good stead for this very demanding objective," says the young crusader.

A finalist of the Infosys-Educationworld Young Achievers Awards 2007 and runner-up in the social work category, Monica Balaindra (14) is a passionate children’s rights activist. "Most children are unaware of their rights and can neither appeal nor complain and it’s up to privileged youth like us to speak up for them," says this class X student of the state board affiliated St. Gabriel’s High School in Warrangal, Andhra Pradesh.

As early as class IV, Monica researched and compiled a project report titled ‘Children are Equal to God’, highlighting numerous crimes committed against children in India. A year later in class V she compiled another project — ‘Life-Mirror’ — focusing on the issue of child labour in India. This report supported by poignant interviews and photographs of children working in hotels, garages and on construction sites, received wide acclaim including letters of appreciation from President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Carol Bellamy, executive director of Unicef.

"Regrettably my home state Andhra Pradesh has the ignominious distinction of hosting the largest child labour force in India," says Monica, who also served as a child jury member at the 12th International Children’s Film Festival held in Hyderabad in 2005.

A writer, photographer and child rights activist, this gifted teenager is also a trained Carnatic music vocalist with 150 concerts to her credit. "I also play the veena and devote every Sunday afternoon to visiting juvenile homes and orphanages to cheer up children with my music," she says, acknowledging the support of her father Chandra Prakash, a state government employee and mother Sandhya, a lecturer in S.N. College, Warrangal.

An academic topper, Monica has set her sights on qualifying as a pediatrician and has some words of advice for politicians and education bureaucrats. "Child labour is rampant in India because of the pathetic condition of government schools. Their infrastructure and learning environments are so abysmal that children prefer to work rather than attend these schools, where anyway no learning takes place. The key to eliminating child labour is improving and upgrading government schools to private school standards," advises this perceptive child rights activist.