Jaswanth Madhavan
A budding scientist, environment conscious activist and above all, a crusader against climate change. That’s Jaswanth Madhavan (17), a class XI student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School (Nungambakkam), Chennai, whose innovative ideas and responses to the challenges of climate change and global warming is jetting him around the world.Jaswanth’s eco-friendly initiatives began attracting international notice in November 2007, when he won an interna-tional competition titled ‘Energising Sustainable Communities’, organised by the federal government of Australia, which attracted entries from 200 countries. His master plan to redesign the infrastructure of Chennai to equip it to face growing environm-ental deterioration, earned him the privilege of addressing a distinguished audience comprising the Australian prime minister and several Nobel laureates and environmental experts at the 3rd Interna-tional Solar Cities Congress held in February this year in Adelaide, Australia.
Hardly had this young environment evangelist returned from Australia when he had to pack his bags for the United Kingdom to attend a one week environment awareness training programme after being designated an ‘International Climate Change Champion 2008’ following a project competition held by the British Council on February 4 in Chennai. The competition which attracted entries nationwide, comprised a preliminary round, followed by an interview in Chennai and a final adjudication in New Delhi. "All finalists made presentations on climate change in India, which we defended against challenges by an eminent panel of judges who also evaluated our levels of motivation and enthusiasm," recalls Jaswanth who ascribes the development of his knowledge base to the support he received from his school and geography teacher, Mahalakshmi Ramjee in particular.
Jaswanth is also a keen gardener, writes Tamil poetry and plays the mridangam. But environment preservation is his prime passion. This month (May) he is scheduled to visit Japan to participate in the G8 Plus 5 conference as a youth speaker and in October he’ll be Oz bound again to attend an International Youth Coastal Conference.
Unsurprisingly, this young climate crusader aspires to pursue a degree in atmospheric sciences after completing Plus Two. "I want to be fully qualified to combat the looming disaster of global warming," says Jaswanth.
Wind beneath your wings!
Nikila Srinivasan (Chennai)
Krithi C. Sundaram
For Krithi Chandar Sundaram (16) a class XII student of the National Public School (Indiranagar), Bangalore, participating in a competition is not all about winning but the learning experience, which she cherishes equally. Nevertheless she was adjudged winner of the first Indian National Brain Bee championship finals staged at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad on March 29-30.
The win qualifies this bubbly Plus Two science student for the International Brain Bee championship finals scheduled to be held in Montreal, Canada on May 25-26. A three level (regional, national and international) neuroscience quiz competition envisioned and founded by Dr. Norbert Myslinski, associate professor of neurology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the championship was started in 1999 to motivate high school students to study neurosciences at the tertiary level.
"I am proud to be representing India in the finals in Canada where 26 high school (class IX-XII) students from as many countries will vie for the top prize. I wasn’t fully aware that neuroscience was such a vast subject with futuristic career opportunities until I participated in the competition," admits Krithi.
"In the regional rounds of the Brain Bee competition staged across the country in December-February more than 500 high school students from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Mumbai participated. Of them 12  two from each city, entered the national round," she elaborates.
During the competition leading to the final round in Hyderabad, all participants acquired considerable insights into microanatomy, neuro-physiology, and common psychiatric and neurological diseases from eminent medical practitioners who officiated as judges, says Krithi. "In the last round we had to identify parts of the brain and elaborate their functions. The final round was very competitive and I was adjudged winner of the national round after a tie-breaker. All the finalists were very knowledgeable. I just struck it lucky, I guess," she says modestly.
A lover of all music Krithi has set her sights on medical research or practice. "I believe there’s more to learning than academics. We live in a new era in which the internet gives access to huge libraries of knowledge at the click of a mouse. My advice to all students is not to miss new opportunities for learning," says Krithi.
Already the winner of a laptop computer and passage to Montreal, Krithi’s quest for knowledge has paved the way for her future success, whatever the outcome on May 26.
Mekhala Roy (Bangalore)