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"Treat young people not as beneficiaries, but as collaborators" | Deepak Ramola
In his keynote address to Festival of Hope India at Pathways School Gurgaon, New Delhi, Deepak Ramola shared stories of connection and cultural understanding built through listening to one another, writing and taking the perspectives of young people seriously. Then, in conversation with Anoushka Jolly, Grade 9 student at Pathways, they continue the discussion and share their experiences.
Deepak Ramola is the founder and artistic director of Project FUEL. He is just completing a master’s program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. A TED Talks speaker and UN Action Plan Executor, he previously served as the Kindness Ambassador for the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development. His methodology has been recognized among the world’s top 100 innovations in education and has been adopted across five continents. Ramola is also a celebrated lyricist in Hindi cinema, and his songs have been voiced by Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar and Rekha Bhardwaj, among others. His first collection of Hindi poetry, Itna Toh Main Samajh Gaya Hoon, received the prestigious Young Writer Award in 2020. His latest book, 50 Toughest Questions of Life, went into a reprint two weeks after its release.
Anoushka Jolly, a Pathways School Gurgaon student who invented an app called 'Anti-Bullying Squad Kavach', was awarded the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar by President Draupadi Murmu in Delhi. Awarded in the Social Service Category, she raised funds for her invention at the popular TV show 'Shark Tank'. Anoushka is planning to launch ABS Kavach 2.0 and a mental health metaverse app, called Inner Arch.
