sharaan bhusas business plan is clear with parents busy working from home they need their kids to be constructively engaged so at the start of the lockdown in march the 14yearold from kalakshetra matriculation school launched dum ta ka where at 199 for five classes he gives children percussion lessons with whatever drumlike material they have at homei send them video and audio recordings so that they can practise i use the djembe while those without drums use buckets boxes tumblers and spoons says the teen tycoon well he has earned 85000 so far all of which is going towards acquiring the gaming console of his dreams the classes are still on as is his bucket list of goodiestheyre baking cakes teaching yoga talking coding the lockdown and consequent shutting of school campuses seems to have opened the floodgates of entrepreneurship with children as young as eight looking at ways to follow their passions and earn a little either for themselves or to give to charitysince she was five years old mahika madiaraju dreamed of opening her own caf but it was the lockdown that truly set her on the path i started taking orders in april a few days after the lockdown began says the 10yearold from coffee walnut to lemon drizzle cakes mahika has taken 30 orders so far im donating everything to charity says the kc high student adding that with school going online its left her with a lot more time to focus on her businessits important to start teaching entrepreneurship at a young age says namita thappar of young entrepreneurs academy which works with children on developing their business ideas it equips them with lessons on financial management and critical thinking and communicationkids are naturally curious says psychologist sangeetha madhu they have a willingness to explore which is what entrepreneurship is all about the kinesthetic or handson learners are probably the ones who will follow this line she sayspsychiatrist dr kannan girish says the lockdown has opened his eyes to just how independent children can be given the time and space the fact that oncampus school has not yet begun has resulted in children having the time to introspect most are not as dependent on parents and friends as they used to be and that is setting them on a journey of selfdiscovery he says dr kannan found that some students who he counsels had taken on courses they found interesting while others were building things even my nineyearold did a coding course during the lockdown created nine games and then went on to sign up students he sayswhile dr kannans daughter evanka shocked him with her coding skills at another apartment complex in the city eightyearold lasya meena money took her mother mansi by surprise when she started yoga lessons for children in the building through the lockdown the adults would exercise on the terrace after a while i noticed that my daughter too was coming up there and teaching asanas