Education Leaders | Top Interviews

What started out as a fun classroom demonstration has now turned into a storybook illuminating young minds nationwide. Sridhar Guda, a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), never thought he would go on to be referred to as a children's author. But with 'Stories of Chanda Mama: Legend of the Moon', he reimagines science few professors would even dream of — by making the moon a living, laughing, tell-tale character.

Rather than using formulas or technical jargon, professor Guda had a different approach. "Children always remember stories more than textbooks," he leaned back, smiling.

"If the moon itself becomes a character who speaks, sings, and plays, they will never forget what they learn.

The book is not a desiccated textbook of facts. It's a comic-book-like story in which cosmic secrets are brought to life in adventure and characters. The spark that transformed this offbeat experiment into a nationwide movement was when NCERT's Pranita Gopal saw its possibilities. She asked Guda to work on 'Bharat on the Moon', an educational movement inspired by India's moon missions.

"When professor Pranita came to me, I knew right away that this was something greater than just a exciting project," Guda said.

"It was about sharing ancient stories and anecdotes in a form that makes astronomy easy for kids under the age of 10. That was both the challenge and the opportunity."

"All of us heard stories of the moon, the sun, and the animals growing up. That inspiration was already within us. But the NCERT directive to write for children, and have fun doing it, nudged us towards giving those stories a fresh cartoonish form," Guda told us.

Their method of choice was straightforward but effective: one story, one phenomenon.

Rather than inundating children with technical information, they employed stories to generate interest in natural occurrences. "Science books already exist to provide explanations for phenomena. We wanted to do something different and present the same through a story," he clarified.

The reaction has been warm and wonderful. Friends' and colleagues' children have already read through the bright pages, laughing at the moon's mischievous behaviour while learning astronomy without realizing it. "It is the maximum reward for us to see children happy when they read the book," Guda said.

The project has also received commendation at IIM Kozhikode with the institute director, Debashis Chatterjee, terming it a pioneering combination of education and creativity.

"Back at IIM Kozhikode, we take the view that nation-building starts with inculcating children's curiosity. When science is imparted in the form of folklore and imagination, not only does it thrill young minds but also bridges them to their heritage. This fusion of knowledge and creativity will set off the pursuit of inquiry and make our children dream fearlessly about India's future."

At 19 years old, Gitanjali Rao has already been a Time magazine Kid of the Year, a winner of the inaugural Stephen Hawking Junior Medal for Science Communication, and the brain behind innovations that address everything from polluted water to cyberbullying. Now studying bioengineering and business management at MIT, she continues to be a champion of the notion that innovation starts with empathy. During this Wknd interview, she shares with us her story, her inspiration, and why she thinks young people can change the world. 

Q: Can you recall the first time you were inspired to fix a real-world problem?

Rao: I was nine years old. I had just learned about the Flint water crisis on the news. Kids were consuming lead-tainted water, and no one was doing anything about it. I thought to myself, shouldn't I at least try? That's when I began thinking about a home-test kit for families to test water safety in real time.

Q: And that concept became Tethys, your initial major innovation. How did it come about?

Rao: I came across an MIT article on using carbon nanotubes to sense gases. I wondered, why not divert that for water? I wasn't sure it would work, but I tried it. I named it Tethys, after the Greek goddess of fresh water. When I won the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, I used the award money to develop my first prototype.

Q: From detecting lead to cyberbullying—your projects are varied. What ties them together?

Rao: Empathy. Innovation begins not with a breakthrough but with observing issues and asking, what if? Throughout the pandemic, I noticed teenagers fighting online, being bullied on social media. And that is how Kindly was created—a language-checking platform that identifies abusive messages, designed with UNICEF as part of its Digital Public Goods program.

Q: You also work with children in refugee camps. What's that like?

Rao: At the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya, I lead innovation workshops. One of my students created an app that gives children pencils or a small toy as rewards for doing their trash disposal correctly. That moment of idea generation is what keeps me going—it's about transferring power to communities that are frequently overlooked.

Q: What motivates your science communication work?

Rao: I am a young, female South Asian. I don't resemble Einstein. Those who look like me have been silenced before. That is why I feel science communication as a duty—to make every child realize that their voice and ideas are important.

Sunita Dhull, a post-graduate teacher (Geography) from PM Shri Government Senior Secondary School at Murthal Add in Haryana's Sonepat is one of 45 teachers shortlisted for the national teachers' award-2025, says a letter released by the Union ministry of education on Monday.

Speaking to HT, 52-year-old Sunita Dhull explained that she was a believer in "improve to proof and pay back to society" mantra that she learned from her father, a retired army man and late father-in-law, an air force officer. She will receive the award at a ceremony which will be held in Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on the occasion of Teacher’s day in September 5. Her husband works as a general manager in a multi-national company, son has completed BTech from Australia and daughter is doing BSC (psychology) from Ashoka University.

She joined as PGT (geography) in Haryana government in 2014 and previously she used to teach in private schools.

I used to think in practical and my students grasp concepts in a lighter spirit. I never heap pressure on them. I deal with human behaviour, scientific intelligence. This award is for my students, colleagues and my family members. Being daughter and bahu of defence personnel, discipline runs in our blood and I impart the same to my students. I have made notes and work sheets of each chapter," she said.

She mentioned that she has over 280 students who had chosen geography in Class 11 and 12.

" I am a professional teacher and I desire to spend my life for teaching. I wish to make my students multi-talented and they should imbibe good values," she added.

The Harvard Kennedy School canceled its plans to implement HKS Global, an online program for international students who cannot travel to the United States, because it did not receive enough student interest. The school will continue with its partnership with the University of Toronto's Munk School for students who wish to return, however, as per a report published by The Harvard Crimson.

HKS had gone public with the contingency plan in June, when the Trump administration had also gone public with visa and entry restrictions against international students. The plan involved online study and a visiting student program in Canada. The Toronto option is proceeding for some small number of returning students, but the online study option has been rescinded.

The report indicates that in an email to the students on Tuesday, Debra E. Isaacson, senior associate dean for student affairs and degree programs, wrote, "At the expected levels of participation, the cohorts would have been too small and the class offerings too limited to provide the world-class HKS experience that you deserve."

The majority of the international students, an HKS spokesman said, will enroll on the Cambridge campus. Only a smaller number will remain to pursue their studies at Toronto, where they will be full-time Munk School students but earn HKS degrees.

For incoming international students who are still awaiting visas, the announcement offers fewer alternatives. They can defer, withdraw, or, in the case of mid-career MPA students, switch to Harvard's Public Leadership Credential track. The school delayed the start date for some programs to October 20 to provide visa approvals with more time.

The cancellation comes after court fights between Harvard and the US government. Harvard's Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification was previously withdrawn by the Trump administration and an entry ban was imposed, for which lawsuits and court injunctions were filed. A federal judge had suspended those measures, but the administration appealed and continued with foreign student restrictions.

The cancellation comes after court fights between Harvard and the US government.

In a candid conversation with the team at Sunbeam School, Baillia, it becomes clear that the institution’s approach to education goes far beyond textbooks. From patent filings to publishing books, students here are being groomed to think like creators, not just learners.

Q: Your students from school applied for a patent and published more than a hundred books this year. That's not typical for school students. How did it occur?

Principal's Response:

We think that students must be problem-solvers from an early age. The patent resulted from a student innovation as part of a school project. With regard to the books, we collaborated with Bribooks so that students of all ages could publish their own creations—poetry, fiction, essays. It's providing them with an avenue to say something and boost their confidence.

Q: Is this part of a bigger change in your teaching philosophy?

Academic Coordinator

Completely. We've incorporated vocational training and actual exposure into the curriculum itself. Students of Class 11 now get a seven-day offline internship where they work under direct guidance of industry experts. From appreciating work culture to networking, the experience opens their eyes.

Q: How do you prepare students to make career choices at such an early stage?

Career Counsellor:

We begin one-on-one counselling from Class 10 itself. Our annual career fairs also invite experts from various fields—design, medicine, coding, journalism—to advise students. It's not about pushing decisions early, but to help them find their interests genuinely.

Q: And how about the teachers? Are they trained for this type of approach?

Teacher & CENTA Certified Educator:

Professional growth is not an option here. Most of us are on boards such as Microsoft Innovative Educator, IPN, and Wakelet. These partnerships open us up to world's best practices, and that is reflected in classrooms.

Q: In a single sentence, what does the Sunbeam student become today?

Principal:

A Sunbeam student steps out not only with marks—but with a voice, a vision, and the ability to create something of their own.

Elon Musk's teenage prodigy Kairan Quazi is hanging up his rocket for trading algorithms, leaving SpaceX after two years to become a developer at quantitative trading behemoth Citadel Securities in New York City. "I was ready to challenge myself and grow my skillset into a new high-performance environment," the 16-year-old said in an exclusive interview with Business Insider.

Quazi, the youngest graduate of Santa Clara University before enrolling at SpaceX's Starlink team at age 14, will begin this week at Citadel Securities, one of the world's leading market making firm. The hire is a huge win for the financial sector as it vies with AI labs and large tech companies for the top engineers.

From satellite beams to trading algorithms: Why Kairan Quazi chose finance over AI

In spite of being offered jobs at top AI labs and top tech firms, Quazi chose Citadel Securities for the compound intellectual challenge and quick feedback loops. At SpaceX, he engineered production-critical systems, developing software that dictates where Starlink satellites point their beams in order to provide stable internet connectivity to millions of users.

"Quant finance provides a very unusual mix: the depth and intellectual challenge of AI research, but much more quickly," Quazi told Business Insider. "At Citadel Securities, I'll have the ability to see tangible impact within days, rather than months or years."

Teen genius welcomes Wall Street meritocratic culture

Kairan Quazi lauded Citadel Securities' meritocratic culture, observing that the firm never let his age stand in the way of opportunity. The Bangladeshi-American child genius who leaped from third grade to college when he was 9 and interned at Intel Labs when he was 10 will work on international trading infrastructure at the nexus of engineering and quantitative problem-solving.

Living on his own in Manhattan, Quazi will have a 10-minute commute to work, a huge improvement from having his mother drive him to SpaceX's Redmond headquarters, since he still hasn't obtained his driver's license.