Immersing herself in the aisles of Barnes & Nobles, Sriya Batchu (12) searches around for her next read. Inheriting her mother’s affinity toward books, Sriya perused the Magic Tree House and Geronimo Stilton series as a child. Sriya has been an avid reader since then, and she especially picked up reading again during the coronavirus pandemic. Sriya enjoys exploring different genres and settling down in the quiet and enclosed world that books create for her.

“Reading is a good escapism for me,” Sriya said. “Whenever I want to shut the world out, I read, which is often the reason why I read books.”

Sriya picks out her books from her reading list with over 300 books that she creates from libraries or recommendations on Booktok, a section of Tiktok where users post videos and share books with the rest of the community. Besides the intricate stories that intrigue Sriya, reading transforms her in multiple ways. She describes how with each book she reads, she gains a different and fresh perspective, and she aims to diversify her bookshelf and read books that expand her cultural awareness.

“I used to read a lot of mainstream books when I was younger, and I still do, obviously, but I’ve found a pretty good niche via the recommendations on different platforms where you can talk to other readers,” she said. “I get a lot of recommendations with Indian main characters and Indian leads, and I find them so much easier to connect with.”

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Sriya talks about a phase she had when she was younger where she used to look up to the people featured on news, television and other media as role models, most of whom were white. However, as she read and explored different cultures, Sriya found her own place in the world, contributing to her open-mindedness that she currently embraces.

“Even though I haven’t done that much to add to [my Indian heritage], what I have done is stop rejecting it,” she said. “It’s more like I stopped trying so hard to be American, or what I thought was American.”

From reading books that feature South Asian characters and communicate different ideas from the mainstream, Sriya fosters a deeper connection and a better understanding of her own culture. She understands and appreciates the contributions each person makes.

“Not everyone can relate to everyone even within the same community,” Sriya said. “I know that my experiences as an Indian American are different from my friends. There are definitely things that we have in common, but each person’s perspective is different and important. With every book I’ve read, I get a bigger and better visual of that.”

As Sriya grows confident and comfortable talking about her culture, she builds friendships and connections. Friend since sixth grade Malar Bala (12) notes her bond with Sriya over the nuances between their cultures.

“She was the first person that I talked to about our Indian heritage and Bollywood movies,” Malar said. “We are both from South India, but we have different languages, so we had common movies to talk about, so there was a different type of connection we had.”

Along with Sriya’s growth to embrace her culture, Sriya carries on that receptive and genuine attitude when she interacts with her friends. Getting to know Sriya in freshman year, Anya Warrier (12) treasures her sincere suggestions for the past four years.

“She is very honest,” Anya said. “I can trust that she’s going to be the one who can help me if I’m not sure about whether I should be doing something. She also gives valuable opinions if I made a mistake. She’s one of the only people in the world who would tell me that I did make a mistake, and that I need to fix it.”

Besides her accountability for serious conversations, Sriya also masters light-hearted jokes and makes her friends laugh.

“She’s very kind hearted and empathetic, but most importantly, she’s very funny,” Elizabeth Fabel (12) said. “She has a really good sense of humor.”

Sriya hopes to bring happiness to her friends and cares deeply for the ones around her. As Sriya’s adviser since sophomore year, Dr. Victor Adler talks about her dedication and contributions to the team and her peers.

“She’s our driving force in advisory,” Dr. Adler said. “She’s a mature person and is caring. She’s the one who talks, who organizes, who brings the ideas for games. She’ll be the first one to bring food and our work and our advisory activities. We call her ‘Mama Sriya.’”

Always the one who actively participates and leads, Sriya applies her enthusiasm to topics that she truly cares about. Starting off as a member of the Green Team in her freshman year, Sriya continues to contribute and now leads the club as co-president. She dedicates her time to planning and running events that help the environment. Although Sriya’s experience leading the club this year has been extremely difficult due to the online format of the previous year, Sriya overcomes the hardships by trying new things and expanding her knowledge.

“I joined [Green Team] because I was super environmentally conscious,” Sriya said. “Green Team stuck with me, mostly because it meant more to me than a sign-in sign-out club. Not all clubs have projects to do, but I felt like that’s something that the Green Team does. That’s something that I really want to start again because all members will be engaged. And that’s what I want to see.”