In response to a question about his childhood, Acharya Prashant explains that there wasn't a single, memorable, or epiphanic incident that began his journey. Instead, it was a process that was happening almost all the time. He was constantly looking at the world around him—people on the streets, in houses, at school, and on the playground—and many things would strike him as odd. This continuous observation and processing involved seeing suffering, discord, disharmony, and fakeness. As a child, all of this was getting registered, questioned, and even disliked, which created an urge to change the shape of things as they were. Acharya Prashant describes himself as a voracious reader who was hungry to suck in whatever came his way, from comic strips to PhD theses, without being confined to any particular genre. His father, a government officer, would plan visits to bigger cities just so he could purchase books from prominent bookstores. Alongside being a studious child who held positions of responsibility like class monitor and house captain, he was also very mischievous and often found himself being punished. He describes himself as a hesitant, shy, and introverted kid. When he witnessed suffering—such as overcrowded trains, poverty, or animal cruelty at butcher shops—he would be engrossed and stunned. These experiences would stay with him and turn into a "quiet silence within." He clarifies that he did not confide in anyone about these observations, not even his family. He describes the experience as a "continuous process of passive stunning." He did not pretend to understand things that were beyond his comprehension; he would let them stay there. The process of gaining clarity was laborious, demanded patience, and is still a work in progress. He was not in a hurry and did not have a definite plan of action early on. His decision to pursue engineering at IIT was a strategic one, influenced by the fact that many civil servants came from there, which he saw as a way to be in a position to do good. He also fondly recalls his father's knack for simplifying complex issues for him.