Rising up during lockdown

The prerequisites of holistic development entail to learning and upgrading skills beyond the course curriculum. Especially in today’s day and age, it is imperative for children to grow holistically. During the lockdown, while the schools remained shut, the online classes continued. However, integrating the co-curricular education virtually remained a challenge. Despite the challenges faced, the students did use the free time found on their schedules to explore their passions.

Nehil Sharma, a class X student of the Sarvdaya Vidyalalya Co-ed ZP Block, Pitampura (a partner Government school in Delhi under the Satya Bharti Quality Support Program), is the youngest member in her family of three. She lives with her mother and her brother. Her mother, the bread earner of the family, works as a tuition teacher.

A studious and obedient student, Nehil is also passionate towards drawing and art. She saw the lockdown phase as an opportunity and took her passion a step ahead. She participated in many competitions and won many accolades. She partook in the ‘Design for Change’ international competition as well. She bagged awards and recognition for ‘Say no to plastic’ painting competition, ‘Thank you Nurses’ poster making competition and inter-school slogan writing competition as well.

Most of all, Nehil started working on her previously inactive YouTube channel for posting art tutorial videos. This effort did not only improve her talent but also helped her gain more confidence and refine her presentation skills. Nehil states, “When I started participating and getting rewarded for my efforts, I felt inspired. Because of Bharti Foundation’s workshops, I got the motivation and inspiration to follow my dreams, my passion, and now, I am encouraged to work hard towards making it my profession.” Now she inspires a lot of students; her teachers have also realized her talent and they too support, motivate and guided her.