okay but can we talk about these two guys from jaipur for a second
so colonel rajyavardhan rathore — olympic silver medalist, former sports minister, generally an impressive human — recently posted about meeting two young guys from jaipur and being genuinely inspired by them.
and honestly? same.
meet vishnu prajapat and shubham kumawat.
both from jaipur. both just earned spots on team india for worldskills shanghai 2026.
vishnu is competing in renewable energy 🌞⚡ shubham is competing in IT & networking 💻🌐
for anyone who doesn't know what worldskills is:
it's basically the olympics but for technical and vocational skills. over 80 countries send their best young specialists to compete in everything from welding to cybersecurity to hairdressing to — yes — renewable energy installation and IT networking.
it is genuinely hard to get there. you have to be the best in your country first. and then you go up against the best in the world.
why this matters and why i'm posting about it:
there's this really persistent idea that "skilled trades" or "technical vocations" are somehow lesser than academic paths. that if you're really smart, you go to university and get a degree. that working with your hands or mastering a technical system is a backup plan, not an ambition.
vishnu and shubham are a direct argument against all of that.
renewable energy is literally the industry that determines whether the planet survives the next century. IT networking is the invisible infrastructure that every single digital thing you use runs on.
these aren't niche skills. they're foundational human capabilities for the 21st century.
the jaipur detail gets me every time
like jaipur is famous for its pink buildings and its history and its markets and its food (the food 🥹). it is not typically the city that comes to mind when you think "global technical skill competition."
and that's exactly the point. talent doesn't cluster in the places we expect it to. it grows wherever someone has the work ethic to develop it and the opportunity to be recognized.
vishnu and shubham had both.
go absolutely feral in shanghai, you two 🏆🇮🇳
