In a world in which we are constantly required to conform and “fit in”, it is rare to be able to take the road less travelled, and find your calling. 15-year-old Vivek from Bengaluru is an example of a person who has defied the odds to find his true calling, in this case, carpentry.
Vivek’s parents Rashmi and Nagesh Babu recognised their son’s carpentry skills early on and helped him pursue his dreams, as per a report by The Better India.
Chasing His Dreams
A young entrepreneur, Vivek creates customised wooden toys for educational purposes, which he supplies to schools. Rashmi and Nagesh realised that traditional methods of teaching were not apt for Vivek, when he was in class six.
They also realised that Vivek’s talents were being contained by making him attend a regular school. Rashmi says, as quoted by The Better India:
It wasn’t that he had no interest in studying. In fact, he was very receptive to learn via practical examples. But, everything he was ‘taught’ in school started becoming hard for Vivek to cope with after a point.
Rashmi, who had seen her son struggling to cope with a mainstream academic curriculum in school, decided that Vivek must be enrolled in an alternative form of education. Nagesh was quoted by The Better India as saying:
We grew tired of receiving complaints during PTA meetings. Classroom education doesn’t necessarily help every child, and we knew that we couldn’t fail someone who was so talented.
New Beginnings
Rashmi spent months trying to find the right school for Vivek to attend and finally chanced upon Bengaluru-based Aurinko Academy, which claimed to be a “progressive” learning space for children.
We could see the change in him almost immediately. Within few months in the institute, Vivek found himself intrigued by carpentry, which was one of the subjects taught amidst the various genres in their unique curriculum.Vivek’s Mother, Rashmi to The Better India
Noticing these positive changes in her son, Rashmi soon took Vivek out of his old school and enrolled him full-time at Aurinko Academy.
After Vivek had managed to imbibe all that his new school had to offer, he decided to learn more woodworking skills on YouTube. Rashmi said, as per a report by The Better India:
Impressed by his dexterity, Anoop (Aurinki Academy’s principal) assigned Vivek his very first project of creating 100 cubical structures that could be used as teaching material in the academy. He was so engrossed with the project that he ended up finishing the entire lot within a month!
Vivek hopes to inspire other children to chase their dreams like he did, and looks forward to organising workshops for parents and their kids in the future. You can check out Vivek’s artistry on his Facebook page called “Kingwood Carpentry”.
(With inputs from The Better India)
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