Not waiting to be hired, India’s youngest interns are creating

All of them have something else in common: they're placing bets on the young-who want to learn more than teachers teach, more than syllabi can hold. Those who don't wait for a degree to begin working, and for whom the end of school is just the beginning of something else. Every year, close to 10 million students in India take the Class 12 exams. Some follow the campus-to-cubicle track. But a few-fewer still- take the unexpected turn.
Across the ocean, Palantir recently announced a fall fellowship for the best and brightest high school graduates-an internship that could become a full-time job.
There are quiet revolutions back home too. At RN Podar School, startups working in AI, clean tech, and sustainability are already seeking out bright minds-before they graduate. "Our toppers are picked early on for short internships. In fact, we're picking some of our brightest students and placing them where they can build," says Avnita Bir, director-principal of the school. "This year, some will use AI to design learning modules for sixth and seventh graders. Others will scrape the Internet for alumni data. A third group will produce podcasts on topics relevant to the school." She doesn't call them interns. She calls them explorers.
Anubhav Kumar (19) is already charting his orbit. A former research scholar at UPL and intern at IIT Bombay's green energy lab, he's now interning with Sphera, in his first year at IIT Madras, studying AI and data science. "Internships don't open up easily for the really young," he says. "But if you bring value, they make space." He is also an author and wants to start something of his own.
At 18, Arsalaan Alam has already redesigned a donation platform for PayPal in collaboration with Control Alt Delete, an international NGO. He's won a $10,000 grant from Emergent Ventures, attended the math and rationality camp at UC Berkeley, and worked with California State University East Bay. Now, when he writes code as an engineering student, it isn't for a classroom-it's for the real world.
As an intern at Gaussian Networks last year, Samarth Anand did not fetch coffee, but analysed user trends and mapped competition. "What strikes me most about this generation is the intensity of their energy and the clarity of their purpose," says Prof Rudra Pratap, founding vice-chancellor of Plaksha University. "They're not waiting to grow older. They're starting now-building, questioning, creating. Age isn't a barrier. We have to match their urgency with opportunity."
In the Indian tradition, age was never a barrier to education or attainment. Spiritual master Ashtavakra, the guru of Raja Janak, was only 12 years old.
At Lohum, Greater Noida's battery recycling company, the youngest interns are ten. They don't come to build resumes, but to ask questions-about waste, energy, why things must end when they can begin again. "Those who come after Class 12," says HR manager Tushti Singla, "want to roll up the sleeves and probe what's really happening out there." Most such internships are not paid ones.
Institutions are taking note. "We see more young people wanting to build rather than be hired," says Prof BS Murty, director of IIT Hyderabad. "Our campus has seen 260 startups in the past five years. We tell our BTech students-if you want to launch a startup after your second year, go ahead. We'll give a diploma. In five years, you can come back to finish your degree." Because learning, like lithium, doesn't have to end. It just needs a second life.