The Akshar Foundation Is Rewiring Access To Education
GQ India|September 2019
The Akshar Foundation is rewiring access to education, and its impact, for underprivileged children in India with a groundbreaking model. Co-founder Mazin Mukhtar details how they practise what they preach
Mazin Mukhtar
The Akshar Foundation Is Rewiring Access To Education

At 16, Mazin Mukhtar was an aerospace engineering student with excellent prospects. He had a rare paid internship at the University of Maryland, and an even rarer job offer from Boeing. By 18, he’d found a side gig: He was volunteering his time teaching children in the slums around Washington, DC. “Poverty in the US is really quite bad,” he says. “There are a lot of issues with guns, violence and drugs in these slums. It was traumatic.”

One day, Mukhtar asked a teenage student about what he hoped to achieve that year. “He told me he wanted to have a child,” Mukhtar says. “At 14! And he said he wanted this because he wasn’t sure he’d live till he was 18, and wanted to leave something behind.”

For Mukhtar, who’d already begun to be disillusioned with the education system in the US, and “couldn’t live with the guilt that came attached to [his own] privilege,” this was a turning point. He dropped out, and started to work towards changing the education model so it would be accessible to the underprivileged. His first attempt in 2013, a school in New York City, failed due to “real estate problems”. It was around this time that he met Tej Hazarika (Assamese singer Bhupen Hazarika’s son), who in turn introduced him to Parmita Sarma, then a student at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai who was also researching better access to education. By 2016, the two had put together the Akshar Foundation.

Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av GQ India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 2019-utgaven av GQ India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA GQ INDIASe alt
The 30 Best Watches Of 2024
GQ India

The 30 Best Watches Of 2024

Rounding up the best shapes, materials, complications and sizes from this year's horological novelty treasure chest.

time-read
10+ mins  |
October - November 2024
Wes Lang's Heroes of Love...
GQ India

Wes Lang's Heroes of Love...

Last month, LA-based artist Wes Lang unveiled The Black Paintings, a monumental series of works that play like storyboards to a raucous midnight horror movieand a spiritual quest. Here, GQ collaborates with the artist on a fashion story that brings his stylish characters off the canvas.

time-read
8 mins  |
October - November 2024
The Miraculous Resurrection of Notre Dame
GQ India

The Miraculous Resurrection of Notre Dame

In 2019, a fire nearly destroyed the crown jewel of France-and the nation set a breakneck five-year deadline to bring it back from the ashes. This is the story of how an army of artisans turned back centuries to restore Notre-Dame by hand, and wound up reviving something even greater than the cathedral itself.

time-read
10+ mins  |
October - November 2024
"IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING PERFECT. IT'S ABOUT BEING REVOLUTIONARY."
GQ India

"IT'S NOT ABOUT BEING PERFECT. IT'S ABOUT BEING REVOLUTIONARY."

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter talks business, legacy, art, and family

time-read
10+ mins  |
October - November 2024
The Wedding Singers
GQ India

The Wedding Singers

Madboy Mink's dynamic duo, Saba Azad and Imaad Shah, redefine festive style.

time-read
5 mins  |
October - November 2024
A Watch Is More Than Just a Pretty Face
GQ India

A Watch Is More Than Just a Pretty Face

As collectors look to make their grail watches stand out, they're turning to unique vintage bracelets and paying thousands on thousands for straps on the secondary market.

time-read
3 mins  |
October - November 2024
The Fluidity of Cartier
GQ India

The Fluidity of Cartier

Why Gen Z stars are obsessed with this historic maison.

time-read
2 mins  |
October - November 2024
A Princess with Passion
GQ India

A Princess with Passion

From restoring monuments to reviving hereditary crafts, Bhavnagar's Brijeshwari Kumari Gohil has her sights on the future.

time-read
6 mins  |
October - November 2024
THE FUTURE SOUNDS LIKE AT EEZ
GQ India

THE FUTURE SOUNDS LIKE AT EEZ

The Coachella-slaying, multi-language-singing, genre-obliterating members of Ateez are quickly becoming load-bearing stars of our global pop universe.

time-read
10 mins  |
August - September 2024
DEMNA UNMASKED
GQ India

DEMNA UNMASKED

He's the most influential designer of the past decade. He's also the most controversial. Now the creative director of Balenciaga is exploring a surprising source of inspiration: happiness. GQ's Samuel Hine witnesses the dawn of Demna's new era, in Paris, New York, and Shanghai. Photographs by Jason Nocito.

time-read
10+ mins  |
August - September 2024