The power of one young voice
- The International
- 14 hours ago
- 5 min read
Ali Lewis talks to Srishti Sabarinath on being a young international activist, how books can change the world and raising awareness through social media.
Photographs: Sabarinath K
Text: Ali Lewis
When the world feels bleak, speak to a young person. I meet Srishti Sabarinth at the end of a long, slightly frustrating work day and within a few minutes, I feel completely uplifted. She made my day, I tell her. She laughs. “I always love yapping about things to someone, so thank you!” she replies. “You made my day!”
“Yapping” is a total understatement for what Srishti does. The 13-year-old, who moved to Copenhagen from India at 5, can list activist, cultural ambassador, blogger, reporter, and more on her CV. She is a young ambassador for Copenhagen Libraries, a member of the Copenhagen Youth Council, and she promotes STEM activities for young people. She still finds time to blog about reading and to raise awareness of issues and organisations on her Instagram and TikTok accounts. She is an influencer, in the best possible way, at a time when concerns about young people’s mental health, social media use, low levels of reading and political engagement, and immigration issues fill the Danish news.
It all started with books. “My book blog was the beginning of all the good things in my life and really created who I am today,” Srishti says. Newly arrived in Denmark from Kerala in India, enrolled in a Danish public school with no other international students, the public library next door was a haven for her. “My own experience is that libraries play such an important role in integration, especially now the government’s approach is changing,” she says. The young Srishti devoured books, learning Danish along the way. Eventually, her parents suggested she start a blog. “I wanted to shout out to the world how good these books were, and with the blog, I finally had someone to yap to all the time about that!” she laughs.
My goal is to make sure kids know reading is super fun
“What I’m trying to show through my blog is that reading is actually fun. Kids think that reading is just homework from teachers or parents,” Srishti points out. “My goal is to make sure kids know reading is super fun. It’s like watching a movie, but you imagine it yourself, which is better than staring at a screen.” She hates it, she says, when parents say to their children to read for 20 minutes a day: “It makes it seem like homework and it’s not! You’re supposed to read for fun!”
Copenhagen Libraries were with Srishti “from the start. They were my second follower,” she tells me. She thinks they liked that her reviews were “so authentic, just what a nine-year-old had written, with all the spelling errors and in bad Danish!”
"We love collaborating with Srishti at Copenhagen Libraries,” says Sigrid Brix, children’s librarian. “She reads a lot, and she talks about books in a way that makes others want to read too. She has such a great energy that shines through the screen, and she is truly inspiring."
Srishti recalls a message she got from the mother of an 8-year-old girl: “Her mom wrote to me that she loved reading, and she was so happy I was trying to make reading a normal thing that’s not boring. She saw me as some kind of role model! I was so happy!”
She has such great energy that shines through the screen, and she is truly inspiring
Books might be her first love - Srishi is much in demand these days from publishers, authors and book prize committees - but her passions are much broader. She is a member of Copenhagen’s youth council, particularly focused on increasing awareness of mental health support for young people and of the hidden racism that can endure in Denmark. “I want to show Danish people how hard it can be,” she says. “I joined the Copenhagen Youth Council to try to do something about hidden racism. Sometimes people at school are racist to me without even realising it, like telling racist jokes they heard online. It makes me really sad, and I want to spread awareness about that and make things better.”
Srishti’s social media accounts, which her parents oversee, have given her another platform to reach young people around the world and share her Indian culture. “People still think Indian is a language, and I’m like: ‘There are 23 different languages in India, and none of them are called Indian!’ Srishti laughs. ‘People still think we worship cows! I try to spread awareness of Indian culture so more people learn about the different festivals and different parts of the country.”
When I see an organisation that people should know more about, I have to tell them
Srishti also promotes organisations working to make internationals’ lives better here: “When I see an organisation that people should know more about, I have to tell them because it’s so important,” she says. She recently featured an interview with LGBT Asylum, a Copenhagen-based NGO supporting LGBTQI+ asylum seekers and refugees, on her social media. She has also been very busy speaking about the upcoming elections and interviewing local politicians on Copenhagen youth audio platform Huligennem. Srishti thinks she has interviewed around 50 people now, including multiple authors and the Danish Minister for Culture. She still gets nervous and worried she’ll mess up. “Sometimes I do, but I just get back up and carry on,” she says. Her dad has been a huge encouragement to her: “He will always say, ‘You can do this!’ And I’m so happy he does that.”
Srishti creates videos in English and Danish to reach broader audiences. She still feels like an international, she says, even though she has lived here since she was a small child. “When I go to India, I feel like I’m a Dane there, and I feel like an Indian here. I know the history of India, but I’ve never lived there and experienced the culture. I don’t really know what I am, but right now I would say because I know so much Danish culture, I’m “culturally” Danish or something like that,” she says.
She is also an ambassador for STEM, promoting the organisation Coding Pirates and the recent Ada Lovelace Day, an international event celebrating the woman who was the first programmer and giving a space for girls to share their enjoyment of coding. “Girls often think coding is a boyish thing and they don’t want to join,” Srishti says. “Someone actually didn’t believe me when I said the world’s first programmer was a girl! They said, Nah, it has to be a boy! I want to challenge these misconceptions.”
I just want to fight for what’s right
Entering politics would seem like Srishti’s natural career, but she says that’s not her main passion. “I just want to make Denmark a better place for internationals,” she says. ”I just want to fight for what’s right.”
Srishti has encouraging words for any young people around her age struggling with moving to a new country: “I struggled academically and socially at first because I couldn’t speak Danish well, and I didn’t understand Danish culture yet. Now I have some really good friends. I can speak Danish fluently: I often think in Danish instead of English! I don’t know which language I’m better at now! I do understand the culture. My story has a happy ending! It’s going to get better, I swear!”
So what's next for the young woman who is perhaps Denmark’s youngest ethical influencer? “There are still things I wouldn’t dare to do, but I’ll get there soon,” she says. Wherever Srishti is, she’ll inevitably have a book in her hand, ready to yap about it to anyone who will listen. “If you mention free books, she will do anything!” Srishti’s dad laughs, and she agrees.
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