What do you expect from a 10-year-old? In most scenarios, you may come across, talkative young minds who may be gushing about their hobbies, favourite movie stars, songs, cartoons, etc., right? Of course, besides indulging their hobbies, you may throw them a rhetorical question: What do you want to be when you grow up? Ishita Katyal strives to shift this mind-set and wants ‘adults’ to ask children: “What do you want to be now?” She isn’t a sociologist, a teacher or a professor but a thinking 10-year-old. When Ishita is not playing basketball, dancing or singing, she is busy marshalling the lives of children and adults around the world, delivering talks and attending international conferences.
Studying in fifth standard at Vibgyor School in Pune, Ishita made history by becoming the youngest Indian to speak at TED Youth conference in New York last year where she spoke on “What do you want to be now ?”, and had set another milestone after being invited to the main TED event in Vancouver (Canada) this year where she was among one of seven speakers to deliver a speech in the first session.
It all started in 2013 when Ishita attended a TEDx Pune event with her mother Nancy and she heard speakers talk on motivational and current topics. “I got inspired listening to speakers and I wanted to organise my own TEDx event. My parents and my family encouraged me,” says Ishita and adds, “Though I couldn’t quite understand what the talks were all about… stories and experiences they shared on stage sparked my curiosity. I was impressed and came back home with a head, full of ideas, dreams and role models.” After clearing two interviews on Skype conducted by TED members, the young girl was selected to be the youngest organiser of TEDxYouth events in Asia-Pacific region.
Talking about her first talk/speech, she recalls, “I gave my first TEDx speech at the town hall in Bhilwara, Rajasthan. The topic was, “Why you don’t have to wait till you grow up?” The first few days after I got the topic, I locked myself up in a room and scribbled my ideas on a paper. I wanted to tell a story that would be simple and inspiring. I worked on it and prepared a second draft. I showed it to my parents. They shared their thoughts on how I could make it better. I took their advice and made some changes. After I gave the speech, everyone congratulated me.”
After this, Ishita organised a TEDxYouth at Balewadi event at her school which highlighted on how to make lives simpler through the use of technology. Although quite young, Ishita was intrigued when she was asked who she wanted to be in future. “It is a generic question which is asked to children right from the age of four or five. I wanted to talk on this because it is a question that everyone should consider, from a younger age. I am sure most kids my age would be asked of the same,” she adds, saying, “I believe age is just a number. I believe any child is capable of great actions which can touch the lives of others regardless of his or her own age. Next time, you talk to a child, talk about the present. The future will take care of itself. I love everything about academics but I also prefer to talk to people who are different from myself. I’m a wanderer, an eavesdropper and a conversationalist. People like talking about themselves and I need that sort of a talk to stimulate my ideas.”
Ishita is also an avid propagator of the rights of the underprivileged and believes that the society has neglected ordinary people’s feelings, tastes, fashions, passions, leisure and pleasure. She wants to make them a part of everyday conversations; to open up a world of unspoilt dialogue and become part of the intellectual world.
Aside from that, she is an avid book reader and has also already authored a book named Simran’s Diary, a story of a girl named Simran and her daily life adventures. “I want to write more books. Also, I want to be a motivational speaker and talk on inspiring topics like how to fulfill your dreams. I want to speak in more events. But, presently, I want to work towards my second book which I will start penning down during my summer vacation,” she adds
Ask her what success means to her, she says, “Success is anything that makes me happy and brings a smile on my face. At the same time, I am not greedy about it.”
And what do you understand about failure? “Just like success, I have also faced failures. When I started to write the book, I had to delete so many parts of it and rewrite it. I made a lot of mistakes and felt bad about it. Whenever I felt sad, I would just step away and think what went wrong. I would write it down and tell myself not to repeat it. I would talk to myself and eventually calm down. I think everyone makes mistakes but we should try to learn from it and not repeat it again.” For this little girl, her parents and family inspired her to follow her dreams without any pressures. And she is thankful for that.
