There is something that differentiates and defines Karan from his fellow classmates in grade 8. While the rest of them have been with the same school since grade 1, he has only been here for a few months. This allows him to see things in a new light, a fresh perspective. 

Karan is honest enough to admit several of his thoughts and observations, quite aloud. For starters, he doesn’t believe that machines are better than humans and offer an edge. He is sure that manual hand work has its own special place that gives so much in return. 

“My aunt sometimes allows me to use her phone. Once we were watching these social media reels about how household things worked in older times. Whether it was an earthen pot used to cool water or a stone grinder used to make flour from grains, these hand-made, hand-used offerings gave human beings opportunities to create, move and exercise their muscles and refresh their minds,” he expresses putting a question in retrospect. 

“Of course, machines allow us to get the same work done with just a press of the button, but how does our human body benefit from that action, I wonder.”

However, he also admits that creative machines also pull his attention. And why not, contradiction is a sign of an activated, reasoning mind and doesn’t imply confusion.  

“I find my mind always pulled to some creative idea or the other. Mostly it is related to the use of machines using electricity. This school is nice and so is the STEM lab,” he shares. 

If Karan is to be believed, it is not just facilities offered that make all the difference. Company matters too. “My previous school, a government-run one, had screens, computers too but no STEM lab. But the students were very notorious and distracting. I could barely focus on studies in their company.”

Currently, owing to the STEM lab running with the help of ILF - Improving Education program, Karan finds a lot of his time spent on understanding how magnetic fields work and how to make moving vehicles like cars. Not surprising, considering his father spends a lot of his time driving a tempo vehicle.

“I use YouTube to learn. School is an excellent place to do that, but I like learning on my own too. After school, you can find me practising making electrical things at home,” he signs off.