22-year-old G. Pavan Kumar is a YouTube Educator, with more than 250,000 subscribers on the platform. In 2014, he participated in Agastya’s signature Young Instructor Leader programme, in which talented students improve their leadership abilities through peer-to-peer teaching. He completed his schooling from Andhra Pradesh Model School and his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Yogananda Institute of Technology and Science in Tirupati.
When he was young, Agastya instructors came to his school in Mobile Science Labs and demonstrated solar and lunar eclipses, how the human heart pumps blood and how solar energy works. At that time, the Internet was not as widely available, so students had fewer resources to explore new concepts. For Pavan and his classmates, seeing all of the models increased their interest in science. In particular, Pavan appreciated Agastya’s practical teaching methods, noting a stark contrast with his school’s more theoretical approach.
It’s Festival Time!
When Pavan was in the third standard at Mandal Parishad Primary School, a colourful bus arrived to transport him and his classmates to Agastya’s Campus Creativity Lab in Kuppam. When they arrived, Pavan was awestruck upon seeing the campus’ greenery, and immediately felt welcomed by the warm and friendly instructors! The science labs on campus were full of apparatuses he had never seen before. From then on, whenever they visited the Kuppam campus, Pavan felt like it was festival time! Between the fifth and tenth standards, he regularly visited the campus.
“I always enjoyed the visits, but once I started to come more frequently, my attachment towards Agastya and [its] instructors grew,” he said.
Pavan always treasured science and, unlike most of his friends, did not consider it difficult. Agastya’s hands-on explanation of the heart and its mechanisms helped him recall the material during school examinations.
Ramji Raghavan, Agastya’s founder, has said that “we learn about 10% of what we read, 50% of what we see and hear, and 80% of what we experience”, and Pavan’s experience serves as proof that Agastya’s experiential methods are effective.
From Learner to Leader
In 2014, Pavan was among three students selected as Young Instructor Leaders (YIL) and took part in numerous YIL activities. Before participating in the YIL programme, he was very shy and experienced stage fright. Agastya instructors encouraged him to explain scientific concepts to his classmates, allowing his confidence to soar. His problem-solving abilities experienced similar improvement; he later credited Agastya with giving him “the outlook of approaching a problem with a positive and logical thought process.”
With the encouragement of Agastya instructors, Pavan started teaching his junior students as well. Since the eleventh standard, he has utilised his annual YIL scholarship of INR 3,000 for his educational purposes.
Innovation, Exemplified
In the ninth standard, Pavan talked about solar panels in front of the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Chandra Babu Naidu, who was impressed with his performance and publicly praised him. While participating in INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research), a Department of Science and Technology programme where students prepare problem-solving science models, Pavan created an automatic irrigation system. In his design, a sensor installed in the irrigator detects dryness in the field and the device automatically fills up with water. Then, once the field is sufficiently irrigated, the device would stop dispensing water.
His innovation won first place in a district-level competition and he earned a medal from Mr. Ganta Srinivasarao, the Education Minister at that time. Agastya was there to assist him with every step, nurturing his talent and helping him succeed.
“When I discussed this with the Agastya instructors, they asked me to describe my initial thoughts and helped me fine-tune my model for the competition,” he explained.
In addition to developing his science skills, participating in the YIL programme had a tangible impact on Pavan’s character and attitude. He learnt to manage a team, clearly explain concepts to people and to lead science experiments.
Taking Teaching Digital
After his twelfth standard, Pavan sold onions in Kuppam market for daily wages — but his role as a teacher was far from over.
Pavan recalled that during the Covid-19 pandemic, one thought was persistent: I can no longer teach and can only go to the Campus when a meet is organised for alumni.
Worried about his future and career, he began to create videos explaining science concepts in Telugu — based on what he learnt at Agastya — and upload them to YouTube. The growth of his channels speaks to his consistency, teaching talent, and persistence; he has attained a large following despite the fact that YouTube’s algorithm often takes at least three months to recommend a video to viewers. He has also persevered through numerous setbacks, including a slow laptop, outdated equipment, and the lack of a quiet space to record.
Pavan manages his two YouTube channels on his own. His main channel, Pavan Edition, has 239,000 subscribers, and his videos have garnered more than 5.1 million views. His impact is deepest in India, where almost 82% of his viewers are from, but he has also inspired many in the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America. Recently, he also became an entrepreneur, entering the digital marketing field.
Still, as his influence has grown, Pavan has remained committed to giving back.
At a recent alumni meetup, Agastya showcased Pavan’s achievements to well-wishers from Delhi, Rajasthan and a few other states. Pavan declared that he wants to help other YILs and would be happy if even 10% succeeded, exemplifying what it means to be a force multiplier.
With his forward-thinking attitude, his motto in life comes as no surprise:
Do not be a job seeker, but become a job creator.
