Khoj

With an estimated population of 236 million youngsters under 25, India has the highest number of youth in the world. On the other hand, we cannot offer world-known innovators, rock bands, philosophers, artists, Olympians, and the list goes on. Why not? The Indian culture is particularly protective of children and youth. From a young age, children are discouraged from asking questions, and it's the task of the parents to decide for their children: whom to play with, what to study, whom to marry, when to have children, and much more. The sociocultural upbringing of a child, combined with our current education system, plays a huge role in not letting our youngsters think out of the box. We want to change this. The word Khoj means to search in Hindi. We want to create experiential learning journies for your youth so that they could learn, unlearn and relearn more about themselves and their interests. We have designed an adventurous eight-month learning journey and we named it “The Great Indian Treasure Hunt”. Through this journey, we aim to take our participants out of their comfort zone to grow. The Great Indian Treasure Hunt has six different phases: Sky, Water, Fire, Metal, Earth, and Air. Each phase focuses on learning and individual growth with specific outcomes. For example, planting and cultivating 10 acres of land, cleaning 10,000 square meters of water bodies, and implementing eight action projects in different parts of the country—altogether, 5,000 hours of volunteering. At the end of the journey, based on our set criteria, a jury will select one team as the winner of The Great Indian Treasure Hunt. The winning team along with other teams will receive a treasure fund that will set them free to work on their idea and to chase their dreams. The program also aims to create innovators, social change-makers, leaders, entrepreneurial minds, and professional team players—all in all, youngsters who do not fear failures and thus dare to take risks in their lives.