Indian-Origin Teenager on a Mission to Spread Education in Underprivileged Areas of India

DENTON, Texas: Alisha Madhuvarshi, a 16-year-old student born in New Delhi, is currently attending the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science in Denton after studying at Seven Lakes High School in Katy for two years. Despite living most of her life in the United States, Madhuvarshi remains connected to her roots through various charitable endeavors. Having participated in math competitions since the age of nine, Madhuvarshi decided to make productive use of her time during quarantine by tutoring competitive math to younger students in her neighborhood. After her first session, Madhuvarshi asked her students’ parents for donations, with which she raised nearly $1,000. All this money went to buying sports equipment, clothing, backpacks, and other supplies for the children at an orphanage in Telangana.

Then, in December 2021, Madhuvarsh established a library with around 300 books for the children at the Sabki Pathshala run by Nitu Singh in New Delhi. Now, nearly 40 students use this library. Madhuvarshi continued her work in 2022, donating ten chairs and almost 300 books to the Vedic Inter College in Dibiyapur, with which they opened another library. Throughout this period, Madhuvarshi taught over one hundred students and even published two Number Sense Workbooks (number sense is a type of math competition) on Amazon to guide her students. She sold nearly 100 books and donated all profits to opening more libraries.

These projects materialized after Madhuvarshi connected with Deputy Commandant Rakesh Nikhaj of CISF. “Alisha contacted me after going through my social media post on a mission to educate children. Since she can’t be in India on a regular basis, she buys books from her earnings, and I donate them to those children who don’t have access to good books,” said Nikhaj.

Santosh Kumar Shukla, the principal of the Inter College – the home to the second library – expressed gratitude to Nikhaj and Madhuvarshi for their efforts toward educating children, saying, “The books which they donated are not only used by our school students but also by other underprivileged kids who wish to prepare for competitive exams. After school hours, the library is open to everyone between 3-5 pm.”

Capitalizing on the success of these ventures, Madhuvarshi recently founded her own nonprofit, Toolbox (ourtoolbox.org), which aims to provide education to disadvantaged areas and institutions in India. Under Toolbox, she launched The Library Project, an ambitious initiative to open 100 libraries in India. To date, two libraries have been established, and over $7,000 has been raised out of the $50,000 target. Madhuvarshi is enthusiastic about this initiative and aspires to impact as many lives as possible through Toolbox.