Avantika Khanna is just 17, but her unbridled passion for history and heritage has made her dream big and achieve those dreams.
A year ago, she created an app called India Story to help people rediscover India’s rich heritage by curating audio tours of Indian monuments. Now her recent venture is www.indiastory.me, which brings together culture walk providers under one umbrella.
The India Story app is available to download on Android and iPhones. “Here you can browse through the monuments listed for a particular city. The app is linked to Google maps for easy navigation.
"All other details are routed through our server. The information on the app is an audio guide, apart from the digital information. It helps a person navigate through a monument, while listening to the story of that place.”
It was the need for a common platform where locals and tourists can access legends and factual information about Indian monuments that made Khanna start the app.
“I always wanted to create a platform that could help in cultural preservation. So, I conceptualised the minimum viable plan for this app during a programme organised by the Young Entrepreneurs Academy, when I was in Class IX,” says Khanna, a Class XII student at The Shri Ram School Aravali, Gurugram.
At present, 32 students from 16 cities of the country are playing the roles of photographers, app developers, content writers and marketing personnel for the app as well as the website.
This avid traveller who is fond of history says, “I have always been interested in Economics and entrepreneurship and the power that businesses have to create a tangible change. I wanted to combine both my interests to leave an impact on society.
The student-run app has over 700 users, and it recently got new teams to create an information base for Assam and Pondicherry.
“Meanwhile, on the website, we are bringing, culture walk providers, who can take people on walks through prominent areas of Delhi. In the pipeline is religious tourism, where we will cover religious destinations of India,” she adds.