Tanya Lalani: A journey of fondness and growth at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad

In the lead-up to the Class of 2024’s graduation from the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, we will feature 12 of our graduates who have been at the Academy since Grade 1.

Below, we learn about Tanya Lalani and her experience at the Academy.

Reflecting on the past 12 years at the Aga Khan Academy Hyderabad, Tanya Lalani recalls her time with happiness and pride as the Academy helped her navigate through life’s ups and downs, making her a stronger person today. “I feel a concurrent mix of dismay and joy to be leaving the Academy,” she says. “The12 fleeting years have come to an end after I have formed enduring bonds with my friends and teachers.”

She reminisces over the time she spent with Dr Ajey Balaji, a former French teacher at the Academy, who never ceased to go the extra mile for her. Her strong connections with the staff were also reinforced through small, heartfelt gestures, such as how they annually made white sauce pasta for her birthday. And even as she is currently taking her International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme exams, the teachers continue to support and motivate her.

While she has decided to take a gap year, Tanya plans to attend the University of Alabama at Birmingham to pursue early childhood education (ECE) or psychology. She attributes her passion for ECE to her Junior School teachers, who nurtured her interest in shaping the future of children in their early childhood. This became especially prominent when Tanya, as a Grade 5 student, had the opportunity to teach mathematics to her juniors in a peer-tutoring activity on National Mathematics Day.

“I am prepared for what lies ahead,” Tanya says. “The Academy’s strong academic programme has prepared me to surmount any obstacle in life. This comes from the Academy’s student-centric approach to teaching that holds the students' experience to be fundamental to academic excellence.”

She further notes that the skills-based experiential programmes at the Academy are an enriching consolidation of her academic portfolio. For example, Tanya interned with the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in the summer of 2023, forming crucial connections in the process. She recalls having time-sensitive tasks to accomplish while simultaneously catching up with her academic deadlines. However, this experience better prepared her to manage workloads and timelines – a useful skill to have throughout her life. She also speaks fondly of the Model United Nations (MUN) conferences she once organised at the Academy, which helped her build her networking skills. 

Tanya is well-known among her classmates and juniors as a calm and composed person. She accredits it to the Academy's value-based learning. Tanya says, “My calmness comes from accepting differences and working collaboratively towards a shared goal. It is a learning I developed from the ethical and pluralistic environment the Academy fosters.”

Her amicable, yet strong, demeanour calls to mind the ethical leaders the Academy strives to create. Like those who joined with her, Tanya is a memorable reminder of the Academy’s facilitation and a wonderful reward for its fostering.

Interviewed by Bhaavik Blessed Mamidala, Diploma Programme 1