Hi! My name is Riva Lilwani and I am a 17 year old student at Fountainhead school, Surat. I am a performer who enjoys dancing and acting– I am a professionally trained Bharatanatyam dancer. I have also been learning and have become quite an expert in western styles of dance, and some of my favourite styles to perform are hiphop and pop. Besides being a performer, I’m an avid reader who loves to find deeper hidden meanings between the words on a page. I’m also a cinephile– one of my hobbies is to watch films and try to mimic the acting styles of some of my favourite actors to improve my acting skills. Another skill that I would like to improve is music. I’ve always been interested in different art forms, and music is something that I have not yet explored much. In the lockdown, I picked up the ukulele as a hobby, but I wouldn’t say I’m very good at it yet. I need some more practice! I would also like to get more physically active and go to the gym regularly!

I am also a big fashion enthusiast. Clothing and accessories are a way of self-expression and I think my outfits reflect my creativity in the best way possible. However, I have recently become aware of what the fashion industry is doing to the environment. I try to shop sustainably and sew my own clothes to do as much as I can for the environment– but I would like to be more involved in practices that minimise the effects of my purchases. This is one of the reasons why I want to make a career in the fashion industry– I want to keep being my creative self and while doing so, I hope to do as much as I can to give back to this planet who has given me so much.

My outlook on life is simple: you reap what you sow. I think that it’s really important that I give my best in whatever I do and that I do it with a good attitude, because only then will I get the same response back. This is also why I think treating people with kindness is one of the most important qualities a person could have. I guess you could say that I am a big believer in karma! With this philosophy, I hope to move forward with a positive attitude and I cannot wait to see where the rest of my senior year and life after school takes me!