Tap. Tap. Tap.

Rain trickled in slow, deliberate paths down the windows of Coppell High School junior Sahasra Kalakonda’s childhood home in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the comfort of her home were just two people: herself and her nanny, Conelia Weza, or “Connie” as Kalakonda lovingly called her.

With both her parents out for work, the house was theirs.

Wrapping themselves in blankets near the window, Connie goes on to tell Kalakonda stories of her family.

“Her family lineage came from farmers,” Kalakonda said. “She worked in the city, but her grandparents and parents grew up on the farm mostly into crop yielding.”

South Africa endured several droughts throughout the years, straining food supplies of the nation. Connie had heard several stories about the hardships farmers had endured which she now passed to Kalakonda. Connie explained during certain seasons, there were periods lasting days or weeks when crops failed to produce enough yield. This was devastating to farmers, including her family, as they did not have food to serve the nation.

To Kalakonda, these stories were not just tales that put her to sleep but lessons that would become stained into her artwork and mold her morals.

“They’ve learnt to be more resilient, learnt more farming techniques trying to protect what they have and it’s something that Connie always taught me about,” Kalakonda said. “Just as these farmers share crops with people, I have to share the work and knowledge I gain with everyone else.”

Kalakonda gained interest in art at age 6. After her parents realized her interest, they provided her with all necessary resources.

“She wanted to color, that’s what we observed,” her father, Raghu Kalakonda, said. “I used to drive more than an hour to an art studio, wait there for one to two hours, and then bring her back.”

In 2020, after winning a national competition, Kalakonda was invited to Japan to represent South Africa at the Toyota Dream Car Art Contest. Unfortunately, COVID-19 canceled the event.

Kalakonda moved to Texas in 2024, but South Africa never left her.

“I wanted to show my passion and love for South Africa here in Texas,” Kalakonda said. “I know that being from somewhere else, people don’t realize what a beautiful place and country South Africa is, which is why I love to represent my people through my art.”

Kalakonda’s recent piece “Harvesting Hope” emphasizes the same lessons Connie’s stories engraved in her: resilience, empathy and enlightenment. Highlighting the drought, she painted the vision for the future of the nation that farmers work towards through the eyes of a woman.

Another piece, “Taste of Home” is her ode to home, highlighting Connie as her second mom while threading in South African elements she misses. She uses this piece as a tribute to the woman who helped raise her.

However, South Africa does not only serve as her muse for art. As someone interested in computer science, she hosts several workshops there to teach app development to kids in underprivileged communities.

“She helps students in a way that would not degrade them, but would help them feel like ‘Hey, I can learn this. It’s like I can do that too,” CHS engineering teacher Nicholas Brown said.

When she was in South Africa, hosting the workshops was more efficient. With the seven hour time difference, Kalakonda made significant changes to her schedule to continue these workshops.

“Whenever she doesn’t have school, like Thanksgiving breaks, she’s getting up at 4:30 in the morning for one of those workshops to compensate for the time difference for them,” Brown said. “It’s just really crazy dedicated.”

Kalakonda transitioned to Texas seamlessly. To her father, the shift is a reflection of something much deeper.

“She identifies herself as South African, so it probably gave her a global citizen identity,” Mr. Kalakonda said. “Without losing her personal identity, she’s still trying to accommodate other faiths and people that belong to other nationalities. She is managing it well, she is moving well along with other nationalities.”

Even as she adapts effortlessly to the Coppell community, one thing remains evident: you can take Kalakonda out of South Africa, but you cannot take South Africa out of her. For her, that lasting bond is rooted in a key reason:

“I realized South Africa gave me something I can never forget, a multi-perspective understanding, and it’s something that’s instilled within me forever,” Kalakonda said.

This story was originally published on Coppell Student Media on April 23, 2026.