Unburden app — Meet Ray

Recognition

  • IRIS National Fair — Gold Medal (2025–26)
  • Sanjay Palsamudram Special Award — Behavioural & Social Sciences
  • Regeneron ISEF Finalist — 2026
  • Team India — ISEF Representative

The question

When I was younger, bullying affected my confidence, participation, academic engagement, and sense of self. What stayed with me was not only what happened, but how difficult it was to articulate. Years later, I began thinking about children experiencing the same silence.

  • What happens when a child does not know whether what they are experiencing is bullying?
  • What happens when they are not ready to tell an adult?
  • What happens after the incident, when the emotional effects remain?

What is Unburden?

Unburden is a child-focused anti-bullying platform designed to support awareness, reflection, emotional resilience, and recovery. The platform brings together:

  • Daily challenges
  • Guided journaling
  • A conversational support tool
  • Relaxation resources
  • Interactive activities and games
  • Educational modules for children
  • Information and support resources for parents

The goal was never to claim that an app could replace trusted adults, educators, counsellors, or professional support. The goal was to create an accessible starting point.

From building to listening

The most important stage of Unburden's development happened when I moved beyond my own assumptions and began listening to children. Through engagement with children from NGO communities and educational settings, I saw how differently bullying was understood and experienced.

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Children reached through outreach

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Anti-bullying comics distributed

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Children surveyed in field research

Those responses changed how I thought about the problem. Awareness itself was part of the intervention — if children cannot name what is happening, they cannot seek help.

Full impact breakdown →

Testing in the real world

Unburden was tested with children through workshops and community engagement, including at Shikshantar NGO. The children interacted with the platform, explored its activities, and responded to conversations around empathy, respect, positive behaviour, and bullying.

"The app added value to the learning experience and supported the objectives of the workshop effectively."

Feature walkthrough

Video

Unburden feature walkthrough

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Presented to the Dean

Interactive session with the Deputy Dean of Yale Engineering

Mr. Vince Wilczynski · Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science · Mumbai · 23 September 2025

I had the privilege of attending an interactive session with Mr. Vince Wilczynski, Deputy Dean of the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science, during his visit to Mumbai on 23 September 2025.

I was grateful for the opportunity to present Unburden, my AI-powered anti-bullying mobile application, and discuss how technology can be used to address real-world social challenges. Receiving his encouraging feedback and insights was both motivating and reaffirmed my passion for building human-centered AI solutions.

Experiences like these inspire me to keep learning, researching, and creating technology that makes a positive impact.

Photo

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Photo

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In the press

Featured in Times Now and other national coverage of Unburden's ISEF and IRIS recognition.

View press coverage →

Comic & campaign

Educational comic materials for anti-bullying awareness — flip through the pages like an open book.

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Visual Documentation

IRIS presentation
Research presentation at IRIS National Fair
Unburden app
Demonstrating the Unburden mobile application
NGO outreach
Deployed in community outreach with NGO partners
ISEF project board
Featured on Regeneron ISEF Project Board