Monsoon Scratch Festival 2026

“The future belongs to curious minds that are ready to experiment, and collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds” said Mr Ashank Desai, Founder and CEO of Mastek, and a Founding Member of NASSCOM. Mr Desai was speaking as a Chief Guest at the Monsoon Scratch Day held on August 1, 2026.  The day marked the conclusion of Monsoon Scratch Festival 2026, which was envisioned with the theme “Design your road to Success”, and witnessed participation of 1000+ students from 31 schools from all over India.  Emphasising his point, Mr Desai spoke of several fields such as Space, Climate change, Cybersecurity, Health, Robotics where breakthroughs by a single person are difficult, but wonderful outcomes could result through teamwork.

He advised students to ask questions and develop critical, creative and analytical thinking skills to be future innovators and entrepreneurs. Mr Desai said in this era of internet, learning can be unlimited and students in villages should take full advantage of virtual connectivity. He was of the view that the future also belonged to those who could use Artificial Intelligence.

Mr. Ashank Desai responding to a student question

The second Chief Guest, Mr Gajanan Patil, IAS, and CEO of Zilla Parishad, Pune advised the students that consistency, discipline, and effective time management were more important in achieving success than the school or village one is from. He said it was a myth that private schools provide better education than government schools, and shared that he himself was educated in Sainik School and had reached this far. He called upon the students to aim high, and seek advice from parents and teachers. He also spoke of the various initiatives his administration is undertaking for school students to make learning a wholesome experience.

Mr. Gajanan Patil engaging with the students

The Festival, which included Project Competitions, Hackathons, and Debates, was a celebration not just of coding, but of creativity, teamwork, communication, confidence and perseverance among students from schools associated with GEF.