HYDERABAD: National Geographic India is back with its series of short films titled – ‘One For Change’ on Earth Day (April 22). CE speaks to Ankith Rao, a student of HPS, who is one of the change-makers featured in the series about his work and more
Love for our planet transcends all ages. All it takes is for one person, irrespective of their age, to take that one step that can have a magnifying impact on the planet. Defying the perception that only adults can bring about change, National Geographic’s One for Change is now celebrating the inspirational stories of six young changemakers and their love for our planet. Sparked by a formidable sense of passion and the tenacity to make a difference, these young champions aged 9-17 years, are debunking the myth that kids are too young to drive a change and have been consciously working towards planet conservation. Their inspiring stories will be amplified across the Disney Star network as a special Earth Day initiative urging millions of viewers to prioritise sustainability in their daily lives.
One of the six young inspirational changemakers who is making a tremendous difference is Ankith Suhas Rao from Hyderabad. The 17-year-old student of Hyderabad Public School, being a young speaker at COP 27 summit in Egypt, he has been long involved in initiatives linked to climate awareness in Hyderabad, including being a part of a programme called Decarbonise launched by the Centre for Global Education of Canada that allow students below 18 years to deliberate on climate change and present their findings to the world.
Talking about his initial reaction after being chosen as one of the six young changemakers, Ankith says, “I got to know about this initiative through a friend of mine and right back after I landed from COP 27 summit in Egypt. I sent my application for this program and when I got selected I was so ecstatic and also so privileged to be a part of this wide variety of changemakers and teams.
I was over the moon basically. The selection process was quite nice in the sense that I had to create a small radio essay stating my climate action journey and why I would like to be a part of this programme. It was quite simple, but I was quite nervous as well because it’s such a huge thing to be a part of, especially One for Change, part of National Geographic. It’s always been a dream of mine. I’ve grown up watching National Geographic, all the wildlife documentaries and when I did receive the news, I was so proud.”
As a child Ankith has always been quite curious and intrigued by his surroundings, especially the biodiversity around where he lives, watching the wildlife or the biodiversity around him fade over time. “I live in Hyderabad and we have a lot of birds and other creatures. But then due to urbanisation, even simple species like the sparrows, which are found everywhere slowly disappeared from our cityscapes. So watching the biodiversity around me slowly disappear overtime urged me into getting into climate action. And it was in my school where I found out that we had a COP club, which is the Conference of Parties and I joined it in the eighth grade and with this programme, I was able to put in my efforts, carry out various sustainable activities and that’s how all the various initiatives have culminated to be where I am right now.
Most of the physical activities like holding tree plantation drives or awareness rallies, awareness programmes within my school and community around our neighbourhood, happens in and around Hyderabad,” he says, adding, “We are a part of a programme which is called Decarbonise and it’s a global programme. Apart from these activities we carry out in our immediate surroundings, we also have a lot of interactions with students from all over the world regarding climate change, and what climate action means to us. So it’s like going from local to global.
At present Ankith has finished his 12th grade exams and is working on his entrance exams for college. “Along with my degree, hopefully, I would really like to continue my climate journey. I definitely don’t want to just leave that one part behind because it’s something that even future generations are going to be affected by. And if even a single individual can do something about it, I want to be that person to really carry out and motivate others to do,” says Ankith signing off.