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Ali Nilgiriwala - racing champion and journalist in the making
"I can’t be racing while I’m on campus, so I decided to become an automotive journalist and am now the head author of an automotive blog, 'The Drive Hub.' " - Ali Nilgiriwala, grade 11.
The go kart racer has been at the Academy for two years and has already made a mark. Ali’s IB MYP Personal Project was introducing students to the basics of professional driving. His extended essay was a research paper on fund management in motorsport, and he recently assistant coached two Lego League robotics teams. His activities on campus inadvertently link to his enthusiasm for motorsport.
Ali’s racing passion was sparked at 13, when he spent his weekends doing hundreds of laps at Pune’s IndiKarting track. At 15, Ali was spotted by Rayo Racing, a Formula Car and Go Karting outfit in Pune, and saw some success with them. At the 2015 IndiKart Kart Prix, Ali came third in the Pro Junior category. “I was going up against national drivers and champions in my first race,” says Ali, “I was scared.”
Using his foundation in motorsport, Ali built his grade 10 Personal Project on the basics of professional driving for amateur students. The project caught the interest of professional race car driver, Amer Beg, who was able to visit campus to see the project for himself. Beg is a road safety activist who raced in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo, a series where drivers compete in Lamborghini cup cars. Ali and him were destined to get along. “It was one of my most memorable days on campus.” Ali says of the event. “I remember having a nice two-hour chat with him."
Work at 'The Driver’s Hub' gives him access to supercars in india, but Ali gives all credit for his car reviews to his English teacher at the Academy. “Thanks to Mr. Sudeep, I’ve developed some serious journalism skills,” he says, “ I don’t think I would have made Head Author if it wasn’t for the skills I developed in his literature classes.”
At the FIRST Lego League robotics challenge held in Bangalore in February 2017, the Aga Khan Academy’s team Queso won the Best Project award. Ali, the assistant coach for team Queso, was moved by his team’s hard work and determination. Ali was also the assistant coach for team Maverick as well, and both his teams scored very well. “We were happy that we got a mentor like Ali,” says Alyque Farishta, captain of team Queso. “He is fun, intelligent and also extremely supportive.”
Ali wants to go on to race professionally, but his ambitions don’t end at the chequered flag. His greater ambition is to own a GT3 racing team. “Team management or ownership is the path to stay involved in the industry long term,” he says.
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Sian Virani – our very own budding Scrabble champion
Sian Virani, grade 8, participated at the 14th international scrabble tournament hosted by Capgemini in association with the Karnataka State Scrabble Association in Bangalore between 11-14th January, 2018. “This was an amazing learning experience because there were 170 participants from all around the world, some of them champions and others who were retired and had taken Scrabble up as a hobby. I played in the fourth group, where I faced others who were new to competitive Scrabble. All of us were there because we wanted to do something for ourselves.”
In 15 years, Sian sees himself as a professional Scrabble player representing India in international tournaments. “Attending school here has helped me recognise my potential, not just in studies but also in hobby sports!,” he says. “I love Scrabble and I want to become a pro in it. When I first started playing, I could only make small words. But now I can also play bingos – this is when you use all seven tiles and get 50 points as a bonus. Scrabble is a game worth promoting because it improves your vocabulary, and can bring a change in the way you think about things.” Sian was first introduced to Scrabble by a coach, who has since mentored him and introduced him to the competition circuit.
It is no wonder that Sian’s favourite part of the day is enrichment, the after-school extracurricular programme offered at the Academy. He is currently part of the robotics club, where students build Lego robots that are able to move and perform different functions. He chose robotics because he already had an electrical engineering set that he had been tinkering around with, and because he believes that artificial intelligence is going to play a key role in the future of the world. Naturally then, his favourite subject is mathematics.
Sian, who joined the Academy when it first started in 2011, says his most memorable day in the recent past was 2nd December 2017. “We organised a Harry Potter themed Yule Ball which was our service project. Through this, we raised funds for the government schools we work with. We knew what they required, and with our contributions we are going to try to change the way the school looks from how it was before.”
We wish Sian the best with his Scrabble career!
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