13-year-old Ishita Katyal believes that there is much in the world for every person to learn – especially to always be a child at heart while doing the things you love. As one of the youngest authors in India (she wrote “Simran’s Diary” at the young age of 8), she has been featured in the Child Magazine amongst the 8 Child Prodigies of India.
According to Ishita, nothing should stop children from experimenting what they want to do in life and they should not wait to be an adult to follow their passions. She also emphasizes the message that all adults have a responsibility to not only help young people discover their passions but to always remain passionate in whatever they do.
Her inspirational talks have been presented on prestigious forums, including the TED Conference in Vancouver, TEDYouth in New York, TEDxGateway, NASSCOM, AMCHAM: Future of work conference, Toastmasters & Corporate companies like CISCO, AMDOCS, Invesco, Broadridge, Barclays to name a few. And she is the youngest TEDxYouth organiser in the Asia-Pacific region.
She has been facilitated with 2015 Sakhi Samman award from Lokmat, REX Karmaveer Chakra Award and REX Global Fellowship 2014-15. Ishita loves to write, dance, sing, innovate and spend time with her loved ones. Like any other young girl, she adores watching various series of interest which provide her with perspective in her day-to-day life. Being an avid reader, she digs into John Green, Cecilia Ahern and Lois Lowry in her free time.