Global Indianstory Global Indian ExclusiveShahan Ali Mohsin becomes the first Indian to win FIA Formula 4 car racing Indian series

Shahan Ali Mohsin becomes the first Indian to win FIA Formula 4 car racing Indian series

Compiled by: Team GI Youth

(December 23, 2023) When most kids of his age were glued to cartoons on television, Shahan Ali Mohsin would watch motorsport racing. But his visit to the Indian Grand Prix changed it all for the teenager. Looking at the fast-speed cars, he knew he wanted to be on the track driving one. And now a few years later, he has become the first Indian to win the FIA Formula 4 car racing championship. The 19-year-old, who represents the Hyderabad Black Birds team, picked up the trophy at Madras International Circuit in Sriperumbudur, a town panchayat some 35 km away from Chennai.

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It’s nothing short of a dream come true for the teenager who has spent a considerable amount of his life on racetracks. It was in 2011 that he first visited Indian Grand Prix, and was determined to make a career in motorsports. Seeing his passion, his father Shahroo Mohsin, a shoe exporter based in Agra, did some research and soon enrolled Shahan at the Meco Motorsports Karting Academy in 2012. He adapted to it pretty soon. “In my first time driving a go-kart I was already pretty fast. Mr. Ebrahim (Akbar Ebrahim) coached me over the years, which helped me learn racecraft. In the first year itself, I was in the top five. And by the end of my first year in the national championship, I already had a podium. By the second year I was already in the top three, and I was leading the championship for a brief while as well,” he said in an interview.

The very next year, Shahan began competing in the Asian Rotax Championship. By the second season, he already managed a few podiums. At the age of 12, he won the Asian Championship’s Micro Max category and even had his first race in Europe at the Rotax Grand Festival. “In 2018, I returned to Europe to do the Central European Championship. I got one podium, a second place, there. I did the Rotax Grand Festival in 2017 as well, finishing fourth that year,” he added.

Shahan Ali Mohsin | Global Indian

In 2018, Shahan faced a major setback while racing (Trofeo Andrea Margutti) in Italy when he felt a sudden pain in his ribcage. Upon his return to India, the MRI revealed a fracture in his left rib, which was caused by an injury in 2017 when he had a crash in the national championship. The injury kept him off the tracks for four months which Shahan describes as a difficult time. “I had to stay away from racing. I couldn’t do anything. There was no gym, no fitness, which was very boring for me. But in the first race after the injury, I was already on the pace. And the second race after that I won,” he revealed.

It was in 2019 when Shahan turned 15 that he switched from karting to single-seater with MRF F1600, making him the youngest single-seater driver in India. “The transition was difficult, but I adapted to it in one or two races. You’re moving from a kart of 80kg to a single-seater which is 500kg. It’s a big difference. And then you have aero, suspension, etc. Plus, in karting, you’ve got 30bhp, and in single-seaters you have 140-150bhp. It was a big difference in terms of engine and power. Then there was the gearbox. It took some time, but I adapted to it. There was a lot to learn,” he said in an interview.

Shahan credits his dad for the journey that he has been able to undertake in motorsports. The racer says that his dad always had a blueprint helping him navigate the course for the next few years. “He always had a plan, and he built me up from scratch. He moved me from the Indian national scene to Asia, then to Europe, and then to single-seaters,” added the teenager.

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For the next three years, he kept clinching awards that have cemented his position in the world of motorsports. In 2019, he was awarded Best Driver of the Year and in 2021, he won the Indian National Car Racing Championship followed by becoming the first Indian to race in the Indian Racing League in 2022. And now, he has become the first Indian to win the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) Formula 4 car racing championship.

The F4 cars, sanctioned by the FIA, are imported from France and are equipped with turbocharged Renault engines, allowing them to attain speeds of up to 250 km/hr. The Indian F4 Championship comprises a field of 12 drivers, including three from India, as well as representatives from various countries such as Australia, the US, Tasmania, England, UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and a female driver from India.

“I have set a goal to make India proud by giving my best in the remaining races of the championship,” Shahan said.

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Published on 23, Dec 2023

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Young Global Indians leading social change through innovation

(December 29, 2022) "The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation," remarked the American writer and novelist, Pearl S. Buck. Her words continue to ring true - young people are bringing their innovative spirit to tackle the world's problems. Global Indian looks at young innovators from India and the diaspora whose brilliance, innovation and empathy are creating ripples of positive change in an afflicted society. Global Indian takes you through some of the top young innovators of 2022. Zain Samdani [caption id="attachment_17918" align="aligncenter" width="426"] Zain Samdani[/caption] As a 15-year-old visiting India from Saudi Arabia, Zain Samdani had no idea that this family vacation was set to change the course of his life. A meeting with his partially paralysed distant maternal uncle left him “shocked.” In the era of technology, seeing his uncle dependent on others for every small thing was nothing short of a horror. That encounter nudged this robotics enthusiast and innovator to develop Neuro-ExoHeal, an exoskeletal hand rehabilitation device that utilises neuroplasticity and Azure technology to help patients with neurological damage recover faster at an affordable price. The innovation not only left Google CEO

eting with his partially paralysed distant maternal uncle left him “shocked.” In the era of technology, seeing his uncle dependent on others for every small thing was nothing short of a horror. That encounter nudged this robotics enthusiast and innovator to develop Neuro-ExoHeal, an exoskeletal hand rehabilitation device that utilises neuroplasticity and Azure technology to help patients with neurological damage recover faster at an affordable price. The innovation not only left Google CEO Sundar Pichai impressed but also made the 21-year-old win Microsoft 2022 Imagine Cup World Championship, considered the ‘Olympics of Technology,’ with more than 10,000 participants from 160 countries.

Siddhartha Mandala

He was 12 when the infamous Nirbhaya rape case shook the nation in 2012. People took to the streets asking for justice, and his mom was one among them. Curious about the protests and confused about the word ‘rape’, Siddharth Mandala joined his mom for one of the protests. After surfing the internet, he understood the gravity of the issue and decided to do everything in his capacity to prevent sexual assault. This awareness led to the birth of Electroshoe, a small badge that can be clipped onto any footwear, or worn as a ring or pendant and can be easily activated during any threatening situation by pressing. “It pulls out two sharp pointers, mimicking stun gun’s mechanism, and pierces through clothing, and even skin to electrocute the attacker,” explains Siddharth who took two years to build a working prototype; and another three years to create a market-friendly product by interviewing over 500 women across India and California.

[caption id="attachment_20860" align="aligncenter" width="467"] Siddhartha Mandala[/caption]

Hari Srinivasan

Hari Srinivasan was first diagnosed with regressive autism at the age of three. From being a very active and social child, Hari suddenly became a crying, fussy baby who did not want to be around other kids. Some two decades later in 2022, Hari made history by becoming the University of California, Berkeley’s first non-speaking graduate with autism. And that is not all. With a 4.0 GPA, a major in psychology and minor in disability studies, Hari was also awarded the prestigious P.D. Soros Fellowship. The young graduate is now headed to Vanderbilt University for his PhD in neuroscience.

“There were several issues that my family and I faced due to my medical condition during the initial years. However, with the support of my family, I was able to break several stereotypes. Later, my faculty and peers at UC Berkeley helped me a lot on my journey," he said. The scholar, who is also a published poet, received the Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. “I do have some time to come up with a research topic for my PhD,” Hari told Global Indian, adding, "My work will focus around the human nervous/sensory system. However, I am yet to narrow it down.”

[caption id="attachment_18246" align="aligncenter" width="560"] Hari Srinivasan[/caption]

Maya Burhanpurkar

Growing up as the climate crisis unfolds around them, young innovators around the world know that change lies with them. In 2013, on a trip to the Arctic, Canadian researcher Maya Burhanpurkar learned firsthand about the devastation being caused by climate change. "It struck me that the icebergs we were seeing could be some of the last anyone would ever see. And that it could be alarmingly soon," she told Global Indian. She got as much footage as she could of her surroundings, also interacting with the local community to learn how their lives had been impacted by the climate crisis. That resulted in 400 PPM, a documentary film with appearances by Canadian author Margaret Atwood, astronaut Chris Hadfield and the famed explorer Wade Davis.

As she watched her grandfather's condition deteriorate from Alzheimer's, a distraught young Maya wondered if she could help. She tested two drugs used in the early stages of Alzheimer's treatment on daphnia, a common species of waterfly. "“He was taking a lot of other drugs as well and I wanted to see how the cocktail was affecting his heart,” she explains. “I noticed the drugs regularised heart rate, whether it was high or low. I never followed it up in a more rigorous setting but it certainly was fascinating.” The experiment fetched her the top place at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, at which she is a two-time winner.

[caption id="attachment_16083" align="aligncenter" width="520"] Maya Burhanpurkar[/caption]

Now a Rhodes Scholar, Maya has done cutting edge research at Harvard University, where she graduated summa cum laude with highest honours, collaborated with University of Toronto and the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory. She is the winner of the Gloria Barron Prize 2016.

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Aditya Chaudhary: Indian teen’s innovative device can help turn thoughts into text

(October 15, 2023) Having spent all of his afternoons with his grandfather after returning from school, Aditya Chaudhary formed a beautiful bond with him. With working parents, Aditya would spend hours with his grandfather listening to stories. But chinks in the quality time started appearing when his grandfather was diagnosed with Parkinson's, and soon it advanced to a stage where he had difficulty in communicating and started imagining things. Being the primary caretaker, Aditya would see his grandfather struggle with communication and often wondered if there was a way that he could comprehend his grandfather's thoughts. However, that couldn't happen as he lost him shortly but the ache to do something for patients of Parkison's led the Delhi-based teen to come up with a solution in NeuroSight, a non-invasive headset that could help paralysed and neurological patients convert their thoughts into text. [caption id="attachment_33578" align="aligncenter" width="613"] Aditya Chaudhary[/caption] An innovation for the patients of Parkinson's "My grandfather's condition nudged me to think about other patients with Parkinson's. While I was always interested in STEM, it was after this that I started getting more interested in the neurological aspect, and it motivated me to start a startup Grey Horizon, a venture

ink about other patients with Parkinson's. While I was always interested in STEM, it was after this that I started getting more interested in the neurological aspect, and it motivated me to start a startup Grey Horizon, a venture into low-cost neuroimaging," Aditya tells Global Indian, adding, "We created a device NeuroSight that can convert thoughts into words."

In India, more than 7 million people currently suffer from Parkinson's and Aditya was keen to find a solution, that was low-cost and effective. The idea stemmed from his grandfather's condition, and for months, he did research to understand but it was in 2022 that Grey Horizon and NeuroSight came into actualisation. Aditya explains that the research behind neuroimaging has been happening since the 1950s, however, it hasn't translated into anything concrete that can be put into daily use. "However, Elon Musk's Neuralink is one of the breakthroughs that has happened in this space recently, however, it is invasive where you surgically implant electrodes in the brain that reads the data that your brain is firing. However, we wanted something non-invasive, portable, and in real-time. So, we opted for EEG and merge it with the AI and ML, and use the technology in the form of a headset," adds Aditya saying that while searching for electrodes for EEG, he came across many which costs between ₹30,000 to ₹1 lakh. "We decided to come up with our headset under the budget of ₹5000." With the help of the sensors and electrodes, it collects data from the patient's brain and relays it to an app used by the patient's family member or caretaker. "The data from imaginary cortex and visual cortex is mapped out on a graph, and try to read them through AI and ML in real-time."

It was in early 2023 that Aditya started working on the prototype, which is in the process of fine-tuning. "We are now working on getting the data converted into text in real-time - as in the same second that the thought arises in the patient's mind." He reveals that it began as a research paper - which won acclaim from The Hong Kong Academy of Sciences - and later turned into hardware with NeuroSight. Now, Aditya and his team are trying to take this a notch higher by converting thoughts into actions, using prosthetic/robotic arms. "We wanted to focus on functionality as well since you can't control your muscles in Parkinson's because of the involuntary muscle movement. We recently pitched the robotic arm at one of the innovation and science fairs. We are now looking for mentorship in regards to advanced research behind neuroimaging that can validate our technology and work with people who can help convert the hardware into a minimum viable product."

Personal setbacks led to the formation of a platform

However, it wasn't an easy road for Aditya as he had to face many rejections to reach where he is now. "I started late, and that's a regret that I have. I could have done much more, but it took me a while to figure out, and now I am putting the pedal on the gas and accelerating the progress," says the teen, who had a hard time figuring out the right opportunities during his school time.

Being the one who learned the hard way, he was keen to help aspiring innovators who, like him, didn't know where to begin. This led him to start Kalam, a platform to help students access meaningful opportunities where they can convert their ideas into innovations. "We started it as an opportunity access but now plan to see it as a Y-combinator for high school students where they can convert ideas into actual startups," says Aditya, who is keen to make "a genuine impact."

Though the NeuroSight prototype is still undergoing a handful of upgradations, Aditya wants the technology to reach the maximum people, once it becomes a viable product that can be placed in the market. Moreover, he is keen to expand the horizon by integrating the technology for gaming purposes. "You can control the gaming outplay with your thoughts. NeuroSight can move to other commercial aspects as well like mindfulness app," reveals the teen who is in talks with a bunch of accelerators pitching his ideas.

Aditya, who calls himself a cinephile and a bibliophile, has a personal library of over 100 books that he has collected over the years from book markets. Along with innovation, storytelling is close to his heart, and an area that he wants to explore shortly.

The teen, who passed out of school early this year, is using this year to explore more opportunities before applying for MIT and the California Institute of Technology next year. "Engineering students have only one dream - to crack JEE. But I don't want to restrict myself and explore as many possibilities as I can. I am giving my all to leave a mark in the world of innovation," he signs off.

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Adhya Shastry: Bharatanatyam danseuse who claimed BBC Young Dancer triumph

(October 8, 2023) Adhya Shastry, a talented Bharatanatyam dancer based in the UK, achieved a remarkable milestone by clinching the coveted title of BBC Young Dancer 2022. The competition, open to dancers from across the UK, provides participants a golden opportunity to showcase their exceptional talents on the renowned BBC televised stage, drawing in audiences from around the world. “I didn’t have any expectations throughout the competition and in some sense that’s what made this whole experience so beautiful because I was experiencing everything as it came,” Adhya remarked as she connected with Global Indian. At the tender age of 13 in 2017, the 19-year-old had first stumbled upon the competition. While barely a teenager, she was captivated by the dazzling finals on her television screen. The extraordinary talent displayed by the finalists that year left an indelible mark on her, igniting a determination to be on the BBC stage herself someday. [caption id="attachment_33453" align="aligncenter" width="759"] Adhya Shastry[/caption] Over the years Adhya diligently honed her skills. When she finally felt prepared, she submitted her application to participate. In April 2022, Adhya's happiness knew no bounds when she was awarded the title of BBC Young Dancer 2022, a testament to her

erself someday.

[caption id="attachment_33453" align="aligncenter" width="759"] Adhya Shastry[/caption]

Over the years Adhya diligently honed her skills. When she finally felt prepared, she submitted her application to participate. In April 2022, Adhya's happiness knew no bounds when she was awarded the title of BBC Young Dancer 2022, a testament to her dedication and talent.

All about the competition

Since 2015, the BBC Young Dancer competition has been featured as a reality show on both BBC Four and BBC Two television channels. Designed for aspiring UK-based dancers in ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and South Asian dance genres, this competition welcomes participants aged between 16 and 20.

Adhya's journey to the finals involved successfully navigating three challenging rounds. She gained invaluable insights throughout the competition feeling privileged to meet a diverse array of remarkable individuals, each with their own captivating stories. For instance, some participants were balancing their passion for dance with the rigours of psychology or medicine studies at university. While others had recently embarked on intensive dance workshops abroad, collaborating with renowned choreographers just days before the auditions. “It felt like I had been transported into a different world where everything and anything was possible!”

Experience of a lifetime

Following the successful completion of three rounds, a total of 10 dancers emerged as finalists. They were sent to Dartington Manor, a heritage property spread over 1,200 acres in Devon, dating back to mediaeval times for an immersive week of intensive training and collaborative creative sessions with renowned choreographers.

“It felt like the beginning of something new, I felt like there were so many possibilities that were ahead of me and ahead of us as a dance cohort,” Adhya shared.

The residency programme included improvisational performances to an audience. This was where random music tracks were played. “We had never heard those tracks but were required to dance to the tunes displaying our musicality, our unique dance style, and our spur-of-the-moment creative thinking” It was nerve-wracking and fun at the same time,” she remarked.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmlbwT83ooE

Although her solo was a Bharatanatyam piece, Adhya also got to dance in a trio choreographed by one of the judges. “Since I was in a trio with a contemporary dancer and a tap dancer, the choreography included a movement language that connected us whilst also allowing us to flourish within our styles,” she said adding “Through different tasks, I learned to improvise and create pieces with other dancers exploring my own movement style and learning other styles in the process.”

Claiming the title

After the residency ended, it was a few months of waiting for the final show. At the end of it was the surreal experience of performing at the Roundhouse in London. The stage was massive. “I couldn’t believe I was going to perform in that gorgeous venue with those amazing people!” Adhya shared.

She delivered a stunning performance line-up, including a Bharatanatyam solo titled ‘Kali Kavuthwam,’ a meticulously choreographed trio by Seeta Patel, and a dynamic group ensemble piece crafted by Ivan Michael Blackstock.

When she emerged as a winner, it took a while for her to realise that she had finally clinched the top title amidst the ten brilliant finalists.

Dancing since childhood

Adhya had always been an active child. Looking at her keenness towards dancing her parents enrolled her in a Bharatanatyam class, a decision that Adhya embraced with joy.

Talking about her dance school she shares, “I started learning Bharatanatyam in Kalakunj at Reading at the age of 10. Learning there was a way for me to connect to my roots and gain knowledge about my culture. My guru, Ananya Chatterjee was always so supportive of all my endeavours and she helped harbour and grow my passion for dance. I also got to learn so much from all the beautiful dancers I danced with at Kalakunj.”

Adhya has also been a part of Yuva Gati, a dance training programme for dance styles from South Asian heritage. She was associated with it for two years gaining exposure to many dance styles. The programme connected her with numerous talented South Asian dancers and introduced her to the concept of improvisation and an understanding of the techniques underlying various movements.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-xiKwBk-S0

Dance is life

This September Adhya has started her first year of university at London Contemporary Dance School. “I am currently in a dance conservatoire that covers a lot of different dance styles like locking, popping, groove, contemporary, ballet, and more,” tells the teenager who is eager to delve deeper into these dance styles, and broaden her repertoire of movements. She is also keen on discovering how these styles can complement and enrich her exploration of Bharatanatyam.

As a dancer, Adhya’s inspiration is diverse. Whether it's observing fellow dancers' performances, immersing herself in music, engaging in conversations, delving into literature, connecting with her emotions, or simply taking leisurely walks to absorb her surroundings—every facet of life holds potential inspiration for her.

“I aspire to keep dancing and eventually start choreographing dance pieces. I have many ambitions but one of my main goals is to always be authentic in the way I move and have an honest expression of myself through dance,” she signs off.

Born in Tehran Iran, the UK-based teenager lived in India from 2009 - 2012.

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Four Golds, One Silver: Math wizards lead India to best-ever performance at International Mathematical Olympiad 2024

(August 2, 2024) “Apart from the Olympics of sports, a few days ago an Olympics took place in the world of Mathematics – the International Mathematical Olympiad. In this Olympiad, the students of India performed very well,” remarked Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the latest episode of his monthly radio broadcast, Mann Ki Baat. “Our team has given its best performance, winning four golds and one silver. Youth from more than 100 countries participate in the Olympiad, and our team was successful in ranking in the top five in the overall tally,” he said praising the young math wizards. The six-member team that brought India laurels comprised of Aditya Mangudy Venkat Ganesh (Pune), Siddharth Chopra (Pune), Arjun Gupta (Delhi), Kanav Talwar (Greater Noida), Rushil Mathur (Mumbai), and Anando Bhaduri (Guwahati). This year the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) was held at the University of Bath. After their return from the UK, PM Modi interacted with the team on his radio show. The young winners were connected over the phone during the live broadcast of Mann Ki Baat. The International Mathematical Olympiad is meant for high school students. The 65th edition of the competition took place between 11th and 22nd July this

show. The young winners were connected over the phone during the live broadcast of Mann Ki Baat.

The International Mathematical Olympiad is meant for high school students. The 65th edition of the competition took place between 11th and 22nd July this year. Apart from the five medals, the Indian team got an honourable mention.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoq0WKPTzK0

India’s legacy at the International Mathematical Olympiad

This year teams from the USA, China, and South Korea finished as the top three winners. India secured a total score of 167, just one mark behind South Korea, which finished third. A total of 609 students (528 male, and 81 female) participated at the IMO 2024, representing 108 countries.

The fourth rank in 2024, marks the best performance by India at the IMO since the country’s debut in 1989, both in terms of the number of gold medals won and the rank achieved. Previously, India's highest rank was seventh, which was achieved in both IMO 1998 and 2001.

Since 2019 (except for 2020 when the team couldn't participate), Team India has secured at least one gold medal every year, accumulating a total of nine gold medals over this period.

Indian team member Aditya's performance also earned him an overall ranking of fifth, marking the best performance by an individual from an Indian team ever.

Talking about his tryst with mathematics Aditya shared with the PM, “I had keen interest in math since early childhood. My teacher in standard six played a significant role in developing my interest in the subject.” While Siddharth his school mate added “I was in same class as Aditya and even I had interest in math since childhood, and the same teacher helped us hone our skills in standard six.”

Indian contingent in the UK

Before heading for the competition, the Indian team trained at the IMO Training Camp held at Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI). In UK the young math wizards were accompanied by mentors like professor Krishnan Sivasubramanian of IIT Bombay, and former IMO medallists Rijul Saini of Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBSCE), and Rohan Goyal; currently a Ph D student at MIT, USA, among others.

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Apart from participating in the competition the high schoolers were thrilled to meet people from different countries and to explore the city of Bath and Oxford. “We met lots of students from other countries and it was very nice to interact and connect with them. We also got an opportunity to meet several famous mathematicians. We loved exploring the city of Bath and were even taken to Oxford University. It was a very good experience,” Siddharth shared in Mann Ki Baat.

Making friendship with mathematics

Answering Modi’s question on how to build a friendship with mathematics, Rushil remarked, “When we learn addition as kids, we are taught to carry-forward, but we are not taught why carry-forward is important. Similarly, when we learn about compound interest, we never ask where the formula for compound interest comes from. I think that maths is actually an art of thinking and problem-solving. I believe that while practising maths, if we question why we have to do things the way we are taught, and understand the reasons – it would increase our interest in the subject, as students get scared of things which they cannot understand.

Rushil looks at mathematics as a very logical subject. “It allows creative thinking, enabling students to come up with out-of-the-box solutions - a quality that comes in handy in the Maths Olympiad.”

Preparation, selection and family’s support

The students participating in the Mathematical Olympiad get four-and-a-half hours to solve a paper consisting of three long math problems. Although, on average, there is one-and-a-half hours to solve each problem, they are complex and the preparation to answer them correctly takes days.

“During the preparation phase, it takes up to three days to work on one such problem,” Arjun shared. Talking about the preparation process, he informed the PM that the team prepared for IMO by looking up problems on the internet and practising previous years’ papers. “As we worked on the problems, our speed and proficiency increased - most significantly, our problem-solving ability improved, helping us not just in mathematics but in other walks of life.”

Kanav from Greater Noida, who is now in class 11, shared that he started preparing for the Olympiad when he was in standard seven. Both he and Arjun credited their families for support. “I feel that when a member of a family is preparing for such a competition, it’s not just the struggle of the participant but the entire family,” remarked Arjun.

[caption id="attachment_38642" align="aligncenter" width="647"] International Mathematical Olympiad 2024 Team[/caption]

Selection for the finalists from India for the International Mathematical Olympiad is conducted in five stages by the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE). Kanav shared that although he came very close to qualifying last year, he could not finally make it and was dejected. However, he felt motivated by his parents' words – ‘that it’s the journey that is important, not the destination’. “If we love the subject and enjoy the journey, we will ultimately get success,” was the advice of his parents that kept him motivated.

Strategy of success

It was Anando’s second IMO experience, and he loved both. “Math requires patience,” he believes. “In the way we are taught maths, we are given a formula to memorise. Whether one truly understands the formula is often overlooked. Just solving problems using the formula is emphasised, so that with practice, the formula gets ingrained in memory. But what would happen if one forgets the formula in the exam? Hence students should try to understand the formula first,” was his advice to students.

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Powering up: Gamer Akarsh Chaudhary is taking over the world of e-gaming

(March 21, 2024) Over the past few years, India's online gaming scene has boomed like never before, propelling it among the world's top three gaming markets. Although not yet a traditional career choice, numerous young people now spend their afternoons competing in professional tournaments. Among them is gamer Akarsh Chaudhary, also known as Vivone, a nine-year-old from Mumbai. Despite his tender age, he has not only taken part in but also emerged victorious in numerous tournaments. The young child embarked on his gaming adventure at the age of four, inspired by watching his father play popular games like PUBG on his mobile device. "I asked my father if I could try the game, and he handed me his mobile. Instantly, I became hooked and began playing by myself. After practicing regularly for a couple of days, I even managed to defeat my father," shared the young gamer. [caption id="attachment_22260" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Gamer Akarsh Chaudhary aka Vivone[/caption] With a substantial following of 108K followers on Instagram and over four lakh subscribers on his YouTube channel, Vivone has created more than 6000 live streams and videos. "Recently, I participated in the SkyEsports Streamers Showdown, competing against numerous top gamers from around the

scribers on his YouTube channel, Vivone has created more than 6000 live streams and videos. "Recently, I participated in the SkyEsports Streamers Showdown, competing against numerous top gamers from around the country. I clinched the first prize of ₹15 lakh, impressing even my opponents with my performance throughout the tournament," said the gamer, whose average earning through live streaming games is around $6000-7000 per month.

Game on

Amid the challenges of the lockdown, numerous individuals sought refuge in online gaming, including Akarsh's father, Vivek Singh. Unbeknownst to the IT professional, this pastime would eventually serve as the inspiration for his son's career. "Initially, when I started playing, it was purely for enjoyment. However, my father soon noticed my potential and began coaching me accordingly. He taught me a variety of moves and tricks that significantly improved my game," said the Global Indian.

[caption id="attachment_22261" align="aligncenter" width="549"] Akarsh with his parents, Shikha and Vivek[/caption]

Recognising his potential, his father commenced live streaming his games under his gamer alias Vivone, which phonetically sounds like "we won". Shortly after, Rooter, Vivone's streaming platform partner, received a surge of offers from gadget companies, fantasy apps, and even some FMCG brands, willing to pay up to ₹1 lakh for video collaborations. Vivone is proficient in playing games across multiple platforms, be it mobile, PC, or console. Talking about his favourite games, he said, "I really enjoy playing BGMI the most, but right now, Valorant is my top favourite. I like messing around with its characters and maps. I also like playing CODM, Fall Guys, Tekken 7, Rocket League, New State Mobile, Pokemon, and other little mobile games."

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A balancing act

Although it's fascinating, Akarsh's parents take caution to ensure their son doesn't spend all his time glued to his laptop. "If you really love something and want to do it well, you should start learning and practising early with someone to guide you," the gamer's father, Vivek, shared in an interview, adding, "We noticed our child's talent and helped them get better at what they love. But we also make sure they do well in their studies and play physical games. Luckily, Akarsh enjoys playing football outside just as much as he enjoys playing it on the computer."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfC_YY6SLyA

Giving an insight into the young gamer's day, Vivek shared, "Because Vivone streams games nearly every day, we decided not to give him too much schoolwork, so we chose to homeschool him. After he finishes his studies in the afternoon, Vivone streams for about two hours. Then, like any other kid, he plays with his friends, especially cricket or basketball. Sometimes in the evenings, I take him swimming too."

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The road ahead

After winning against some of the best gamers in the country in various tournaments, Vivone is now preparing to represent India in international competitions. "When I first began playing, I never imagined having such a large following and subscriber base. Now, my main aim is to excel in international tournaments. I'm currently searching for tournaments for players under 13 years old, primarily organized in the US, Europe, Korea, and China," the young gamer shared.

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