A new scholarship that asked students to share their ‘one idea that will bring change to India’ has been awarded to 19 young Indian students to study at the University of Sydney.
The two big ideas that won the Sydney Scholars India Scholarship worth $200,000 each were by Madhullikaa Singh from Mumbai and Aryan Bhatia from Delhi.
Madhullikaa’s big idea is to challenge people into discussing things that are considered taboo in India, topics like menstruation, LGBTI rights, mental health, sexual assault and harassment.
She hopes to use her degree in theatre and performance studies and international relations at the University of Sydney to help start those uncomfortable conversations.
“I want to reach out to teenagers facing challenges that are not spoken about due to the prejudices that are associated with them. Through the blog, I’ve built a community of young adults who listen to and support each other with empathy. Only when we ‘talk the taboo’ can we start creating safe spaces for people dealing with trauma,” says Madhullika.
Drawing on his passion for technology, Aryan’s big idea is to create an app to link farmers with storage facilities to help reduce the wastage of crops in India.
19 Indian recipients of the Sydney Scholars India Scholarship scheme. Source: Supplied
Around 40 per cent of crops are wasted in India every year because farmers are not able to access storage facilities in time.
“There isn’t a lack of storage facilities in India, the wastage comes about because the produce doesn’t reach the storage facility in time. My app will connect farmers with nearby cold storage facilities and markets. This has the potential to improve the livelihood of farmers by actually allowing them to sell their produce instead of it going to waste,” Aryan said.
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The Sydney Scholars India Scholarship scheme worth $500,000 consists of three types of scholarship for students from India.
Two scholarships worth $200,000 each, 10 scholarships worth $20,000 each and 15 scholarships worth $10,000 each has been awarded to 19 students this year as part of the program.
“We were incredibly impressed by the quality of the applications and are delighted that we have the opportunity to help educate the next generation of leaders from India,” said Vice-Principal of External Relations at the University of Sydney, Tania Rhodes-Taylor.
