ML Researcher | Author | Psychologist | Film Director | Data Scientist
Profile
• Name – Aditya Singhal
• Birthday – 4th February, 2000.
• Education – The Bishop’s Co-ed School, Kalyaninagar, Pune, India. (Kindergarten - 10th Grade) (LOR from school teachers) Fergusson College, Pune, India. (11th and 12th grade, HSC Maharashtra state board – High schooling in Science, specialty in physics, chemistry, biology, math and French) (LOR from College Supervisor) New York University (for Bachelor's in Psychology Hons., and Data Science).
• Active member of Swatantra Theatre – the largest Hindi Theatre in Pune. (LOR from Theatre Director)
• Tetralingual - Hindi - mother tongue, English - second language, Marathi - regional language, French - B1 proficiency from Alliance Française de Pune.
• Swimmer (Gold medalist in Interschool competitions)
• Black belt in Karate (certificates of proof).
• Awarded ‘Best Boy Middle School’ in 2015 by Bishop’s School (certificate)
• 96.2% (best of 5) holder in the ICSE board examinations. (100% in computer applications and coding) (Marksheet)
• Gold medalist in National Science Olympiad and International English Olympiad.
• Passed Grade 4 Trinity Exam with Distinction (2009) (Certificate)
• 8.5 score out of 9 in IELTS. (marksheet)
• 1470 score in SAT. (800/800 in Math) (screenshot)
• ‘A’ grade in intermediate drawing examinations held by the government. (certificate)
• Writer (has a blog of more than 450 original articles)
• Wrote and published a poetry collection named “I’s till you’re 18”, which is available on global Amazon .
• Was an editor-in-charge for ‘theGrittyWay’ which is an all India platform for showcasing consistent/inspiring youth and was also actively involved with the fraternity of ‘Dancing With Tigers. (LOR from CEO)
My friend once asked me in one of those late-night conversations what I thought the purpose of life was.
"I'll tell you what the purpose of my life is", I answered in a dreamy voice, having dwelled on it for countless hours before.
"It is to experience things, or to do things to make other people experience things they've never experienced before."
Bear with me, dear Reader.
I'm the kind of person who does not wish people a "Happy New Year." But instead, "I hope you have an eventful New Year", is the broadcast message I sent out to my 4229 contacts on WhatsApp. 'Eventful' bears no positive or negative connotations. I don't prefer one over the other. I philosophize that all life is, is an opportunity to experience the world. To be frisked away by love, to sit with friends and talk until 4am around a campfire, to ride a bike to the beach, to burn your finger on the stove, to be betrayed by your best friend, to lose something close to you, to be discriminated against in a judicial process, to give up your ice cream to a little kid who just dropped his just to feel all warm and fuzzy inside - that's it. That's what life is.
I sound like an inexperienced snob, but I’ve pondered over this a lot. Story-telling is core to me and I wish to be a channel for more experiences. I aspire to be an experience monger. If you explore some other links on this website, you'll see that I've done so through published books, poetry, short films, plays and acrylic canvas paintings. I feel too much. I think too much. And I love it. I advocate it. I wish the same for you. At 19 years of age, I'm trying to pursue a degree in Psychology in New York University. I aspire to double major with either Filmmaking, or with Interactive Media Arts (a new Virtual reality-ish major by NYU). I won't limit myself to film or words or wood to transfer unique experiences with efficiency.
I see potential in feeling things. I’m fascinating with how experiences shape us as people. And with the tools of inducing experiences at hand, I dream of changing the world for the better. Hopefully, you'll come take a piece of what I offer soon. I hope I can sway you and change you. Just a little bit. If that seems far-fetched, I hope to at least send a handful chills down your spine.
Experience
India's Best Dramebaaz - the reality show
"Har Ghar mein hai ek dramebaaz" (Every household has a little dramatist), said the TV.
My family and I were browsing through channels on the TV, when we stumbled across the commercial for the upcoming Hindi reality show "India's Best Dramebaaz". My parents had always been keen experimenters with their children. Knowing the importance of extra curriculars, they encouraged me to audition for that national television show . Fast forward to 3 days later, I found myself standing in a 'kilometer-long' queue in the great city of Mumbai.
I started doing theatre when I was only 7 (That was 11 years ago). I had acted in numerous state level drama competitions, hence I had a couple of ready monologues to showcase in front of the judges of the show, well known celebrities of the Bollywood industry (Anurag Basu, Director, Sonali Bendre and Vivek Oberoi, both established actors). Just so you can relate, "India's Best Dramebaaz" would be -on the same scale as –and is the Indian equivalent of- "America's got Talent".
To my family's surprise, I cleared the first 4 auditions and also became one of the top 18 contestants in the show. It all went uphill from there. Under the mentorship of ace theatre artists, my rank escalated till I finally won the title of India's Best Dramebaaz. (This made me kind of a child celebrity in India).
You would expect a kid to become arrogant and attention-hungry after something like that, right? But that was not really the case. I was shoved into a tornado of national level politics and business at the green age of 12, which makes me believe that the experience has shaped me as a human and made me what I am today. Talk about the treasure of soft skills I was expected to develop within a month. I honestly wasn’t ready to accept expected the trail of success that followed. This ordinary town boy was thrust into a whirlwind of unwanted attention. Therefore, for the first 2 years after the show, I continually downsized and rejected the fame that I had been riddled with. I would burst into tears everytime I was called onto a stage. But then I grew with it. I gradually developed more confidence and started to do theatre again.
I's till you're 18
Ahaan was 12 when he first met you. A round faced reality show contestant dealing with fame and insecurities.
Ahaan was 18 when he last met you. A pimple-faced adult who had dealt with some large demons.
He was your typical teenager - but with the bizarre need to document everything.
His life was ordinary in a lot of ways. Heart breaks, betrayals, regrets, fears, musings... Everything that the world talks about.
Yet, he had had some extraordinary experiences - ones which the world hardly ever talks about.
He captured every phase of his life with poems and short stories, which led to the birth of this collection - a 6-year conversation between you and Ahaan,
where you will see the world through the eyes of a boy -
through the I's of a boy -
right up till the age of 18.
