This 13-Year Old Will Inspire You To Raise Your Child To Be Socially Conscious

Meet Darsh Pant. He is 13, loves football, listening to music and even does quite well at school. But there is a side of him that you normally don’t see in your average 13-year old. But that’s because Darsh is not your average teen. He believes in actually taking time out from his busy, teen life to make a difference to the world around him.

‘Where there is a will, there is a way’, believes Darsh. A student of Inventure Academy, he travels every weekend down to a small village near Whitefield, Bengaluru where he spends a couple of hours with underprivileged kids, helping them improve their spoken English. When asked about how and why this thought struck him, he replies, “I always wanted to work towards a great cause and the fact that I am able to bring in a difference in someone’s life was more than enough to motivate me”.

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What does Darsh really do? 

On weekends, Darsh bids goodbye to his friends and walks down to Kannamangala village near his home. “The village has this little space near the temple. We spread mats and that is where our classes take place”, says Darsh. About 13 children from the village, who go to a nearby government school gather around, with their notebook and pen, as soon as their teacher arrives. Darsh spends about two hours teaching them tenses and grammar and in return he sharpens his own Kannada skills!

Darsh also plans his lesson plans meticulously, keeping in mind the various age groups he needs to cater to. He engages the kids in interactive sessions like group discussions and debates to improve their communication skills, so it doesn’t seem like a classroom environment but it makes it so much more fun for the kids!

The little boy started this journey along with a bunch of his friends. However, his friends had to eventually drop out due to family and school commitments. But, Darsh believed in what he wanted and was sure not to give up. “Excuses just don’t work. You need to step out of your comfort bubble if you want to achieve”, admits Darsh.

The idea of helping these kids struck him in April 2016, when Darsh founded his own NGO -BRYO. Through this, he works with children from low-income families, helping them with their school work and teaching them conversational English. BRYO is an organisation which focuses especially on English as communication. The organisation has about 14 kids who are trained one-on-one to speak English fluently.

His pillar of support – his parents

Darsh’s family has been a huge support all through his planning and execution.  While his mother and father took interest and care to stay with their son during his initial days of teaching, his grandparents have also been a big source of encouragement.

“My grandparents encourage me a lot. Even when I have my exams or tests in school, they make sure I plan my day well so that I do not compromise on the little good I am doing. They keep pushing me to do better”, says Darsh.

His parents have been a constant source of strength and have also helped him plan his lessons, which means they help with searching for appropriate reading material, give him feedback after his sessions, and even created the foundation for him to dream big. That said, what are these parents doing differently to raise a such a conscious child?

“There is no particular recipe for parenting. We learn, observe, experiment and that is how we figure out what works and what doesn’t. The key is to adjust the parenting style based on the temperament of the kid. I also firmly believed that both my sons are very different from each other and so were their needs. So, once you know your child’s needs clearly, then you have crossed half the well”, says Shraddha, Darsh’s mother.

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Darsh and his brother Dev are raised to be socially responsible kids. In an era where children are glued to gadgets and computers, the two boys picked a slightly different path and have also succeeded in the same.

“We have tried to make the kids understand the diversity that exists in our country and that they also need to be respected. Once this happens, the responsibility factor comes in on its own. Also, we come from a family of academicians, so education plays a very vital role. In India, education is the best possible route to empowerment and that is the path Darsh and Dev have taken”, says Darsh’s father.

So is Darsh comfortable being praised as a role model? How does he do it? It’s simple really. All you need to do is, “step out of that little bubble of comfort, for outside of that is where the real magic happens!”

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