Aneesh Gupta, Eesha Kondapalli win IPA’s youth essay competition

Aneesh Gupta from Carmel, Indiana and Eesha Kondapalli from Cary, North Carolina have won the India Philanthropy Alliance’s (IPA) 2025 Youth Essay Competition, which drew a record number of submissions from across the United States. Aneesh Agarwal from Portland, Oregon and Swasti Timande, from Columbus, Indiana, finished runners-up.

Winners in the high school and middle school categories will present their essays on Oct. 2 at the Indiaspora and IPA Philanthropy Summit in San Francisco, hosted at the Indian Consulate and moderated by writer and performer Isheeta Ganguly.

Launched in 2020, the competition challenges U.S. middle and high school students to identify India’s pressing challenges and propose solutions. This year’s theme, #FutureByYou, highlighted youth empowerment and practical solutions for change.

Aneesh Gupta, a Grade 11 student from Carmel, Indiana won in the High School category for his essay, India’s Invisible Children and the Fight for Recognition.

READ: Kashish Kumar wins second prize in Elie Wiesel Ethics Essay Contest (August 12, 2025)

“Making sure that a child’s birth is registered might not seem like a big deal, but it is actually one of the most transformative acts that you can do to ensure a child’s future,” he wrote.“Identity is more than just paperwork; it’s access, safety, and a sense of dignity as well. One of the reasons I wrote my essay was as a call to action to make sure that every child is counted, because every child counts.”

Gupta will be gifting his $1,000 award to CRY America. 

Eesha Kondapalli, Grade 7, Cary, North Carolina won in the Middle School category for her essay, A Cry in Hyderabad: India’s Rabies Epidemic

“I entered IPA’s Youth Essay Competition because of my deep passion for writing. Writing has always been my way of expression – especially on issues I care about,” she wrote. “When most people think of pressing developmental issues in India, issues such as poverty and illiteracy come to mind. Although those issues are very important, not every single Indian has faced them. With India’s stray dog population of nearly 60 million dogs and the associated Rabies problem, it’s impossible not to be affected by them, no matter where in India you are.”

Kondapalli will be gifting her $1,000 award to Stray Animal Foundation of India.

Aneesh Agarwal, Grade 10, Portland, Oregon finished High School Runner-Up for his essay, India’s Overlooked Literacy Crisis.

READ: 21 Indian origin students awarded ISA scholarships for 2025 (July 22, 2025)

 “The most striking thing I found when doing my research was how important English proficiency is in the corporate world. For example, only 7% of Indian Engineering graduates are employable in global jobs due to a lack of English proficiency,” he wrote. “That is a huge economic shortfall for India. As a community, we should work on this so that people can find jobs outside of India and India’s cultural heritage can spread beyond India’s borders.”

Agarwal will be gifting his $500 award to AID India.

Swasti Timande, Grade 6, Columbus, Indiana finished Middle School Runner-Up for her essay, India’s Hidden Food Security Challenge.

“Last year, when I went to India and my parents took me to the market, my jaw dropped when I saw huge piles of vegetables and fruits rotting!” she wrote. “From watching the news with my parents, I knew that in the monsoon, lots of produce was wasted from a lack of storage. Seeing usable produce wasted was something I’ll never forget, especially since it affected 190 million undernourished Indians.”

Timande will be gifting her $500 award to Save Indian Farmers.