Delhi teenager’s book on coding aims to bridge the digital divide

Paarth Arya, a 17-year-old, has written a book The Python Champions of Coding, for the youngsters interested in coding. He has ensured to keep it comprehensible enough for readers to understand the subject without the help of teachers.

The pandemic drove many youngsters into worrying about what future holds for them. But some, rose above that challenge, to not just keep themselves engaged, but also help their peers. And 17-year-old Paarth Arya is one of the latter! “Last year while pursuing my 11th grade I felt some of our text books, though written with the right intent, could be made much simpler and less cluttered. I had done some online courses, like CS50 from the Harvard University, where they explained everything in a manner that was easy to understand,” says Arya, who is in std XII now, and adds, “The pandemic and the situation around me made me notice that while I was getting quality education online, some of the underprivileged students of my age were deprived of these opportunities. I felt I should do something to resolve this, and that’s why I wrote the book!”

Paarth Arya says he wrote the book by compiling the concepts in an uncomplicated manner, for the ease of young readers.

With an aim to spread his knowledge and love for coding, Arya wrote the book, The Python Champions of Coding, for those who are 10-12 years old, and interested in coding. And besides including lots of activities and relevant information, Arya has made sure to explain the concepts in an uncomplicated manner. “I tried to make it as easy as possible so that the readers don’t need a teacher and are able to understand it all on their own,” he says recalling how his love for coding goes back to when he was in class six. “I had a keen interest in coding and did some hackathons in school, and got the confidence to explore my abilities. I then started searching about online courses in coding, and gathered some knowledge. Of course last year we had so much time because of online education, and I even did many online courses in artificial intelligence, machine learning and so on, and realised that since I do have basic knowledge of the subject, I should do something in my own little way... I spent around five months writing the book, gathering knowledge from everywhere, going through the drafts again and again to include as many activities as possible, and showing the book to my parents and friends to ask for their advice to make sure that I present the information in a simple way. I even asked my teachers for advice. And when I approached my principal, she was so proud of me!”

Delhi teenager’s book on coding aims to bridge the digital divide

The young gun believes in the need to use technology for the good of youngsters. “Technology has many advantages all over the world... But it’s a very important to understand that technology itself has the power to be inclusive, and we should be sensitive and aware enough to harness it so that everyone can have access to advantages like knowledge and learning. This would also bridge the digital divide that’s deprived to a large part of our population,” says Arya, who has decided to donate the earning from the sale of his book for a good cause. “All my earnings from the book will be used to enable education for the underprivileged. It’s an NGO called Bring a Smile Foundation in Hyderabad, which works in education and health. A major premise of writing the book was also to be able to bridge the digital divide, to whatever extent possible. That is why, the content is available as a physical book, an e-book, and even as videos on YouTube,” he concludes.

Author tweets @anjuri

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