THE JOB
ALL SYSTEMS GO
Starting with some of his writing from Sixth College , Lakshya Datta ‘ 11 launched an online storytelling platform that became a thriving worldwide community .
THE WORLD IN STORIES
Creative insight into the lives of millennials
BY RACHEL MCNELLIS ’ 18
As the world tries to understand the minds of millennials , Lakshya Datta ’ 11 created a window into those minds , and a venue where their thoughts , feelings and experiences become stories shared the world over .
But Datta didn ’ t always have a passion One year after graduation , Datta opened for stories . Before leaving his native India for UC San Diego , his experience with the stories he saved back in college . “ I
his laptop and discovered a folder of
creative writing was a single SAT essay . asked myself , ‘ Why is this just sitting The writing bug hit in his sophomore in my computer ? Why isn ’ t this on a year , after he asked his Sixth College website , somewhere where people can writing professor if he could pen a short tell me if it ’ s any good ?’” This simple idea story for his final exam . Throughout his led him to create Launchora , an online college career , Datta became interested community of storytellers where anyone in the different modes of storytelling , can be a writer and benefit from telling taking courses in film and playwriting their story , regardless of background or and letting fiction writing become an important aspect of his daily routine . “ It ’ s in playwriting to tell a story ,” says Datta .
experience . “ You don ’ t need a master ’ s
how I process life ,” he says , “ how I press “ We let people come and tell us what ‘ save ’ at the end of my day .” kind of storytellers they want to be , and then we build a unique journey for the different paths they want to take .”
Originally intended for American users , Datta ’ s concept was transformed when he decided to launch the site from India . “ It instantly made me think globally ,” he says . “ I hoped to create a global community that is positive , inclusive , nonjudgmental , supportive and collaborative .” And as an international platform , Launchora soon fostered connections all across the globe from about 150 countries each week , with the most users coming from India and the Philippines .
What Datta did not expect , however , was the distinctive demographic of those who would participate on the platform . A majority of creators on Launchora are between the ages of 13 and 26 — the enigmatic millennial generation . A read through their featured work reveals
44 TRITON | WINTER 2018