November 14, Children’s Day is celebrated across India to pay tribute to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who believed that every child is special in some way or the other and we just need to identify their talents. While kids with incredible skills earlier couldn’t be noticed, the advent of digital technology coupled with the evolution of social media has brought to the fore many kids who have achieved unimaginable feats. They have made the quote – Big things come in small packages – about themselves a reality. On Children’s Day, Sunday POST highlights the achievements of a few child prodigies who have made Odisha proud with their achievements.
—Venkat Raman, the Jack of many trades
The world runs on software but mastering software coding is no child’s play. However, 10-year-old Venkat Raman Patnaik from Bolangir made it so. Recently, he has cleared the Microsoft Technology Associate Examination in Java, Javascript, Python, HTML, CSS and database administration fundamentals. It is a globally recognised certification for those who want to embark on a career in technology. Already identified as a master computer programmer, Venkat had developed an app Let’s Reward Kids for shaping a desired behaviour among kids when he was barely six. Soon after, he won Silicon Valley Challenge and travelled to Google’s head office, California for developing apps. He was also certified by WhitehatJr, an organisation that offers online coding classes, as a mobile app developer and complex coder in just eight months. That apart, his name is registered to India Book of Records as the youngest child to develop Gas Leakage Safety alarm tool to avoid accidents due to gas leakage. Venkat was also in the limelight after his 45 minutes lecture to 450 first year engineering college students of CIT in a bridge course called ‘CATAPULT 2020’ programme held October 9, 2020. This event was conducted online by Chennai Institute of Technology.
Of late, Venkat has cleared the Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Examination, a globally recognised certification sought by those interested to pursue a career in technology. He also has bagged the Citizen Scientist award by NASA.
Venkat’s father Kuldeep Patnaik, an ex-banker, says, “When Venkat was five, he started taking interest in learning different languages and remembered them quite easily. Now he has proficiency in five languages – Odia, Hindi, English, French and Spanish. He also showed keen interest in computer programming. So, I arranged for his training in programming. Meanwhile, I came to know about Tanmay Bakshi, the youngest IBM programmer and TEDx speaker who, at the age of seven, had set-up a channel known as Tanmay Teaches which explained the magic of decoding programming and about careers on it. When I shared Tanmay’s story with Venkat, he was pretty curious. He started with the basic programming language, and then learnt C, C++ and Java. Later, I enrolled him in WhitehatJr and it helped him to reach where he is today.”
Kuldeep continued: “I was amazed to learn that his teachers often struggled to solve his queries on computer science and programming. From Grade I Venkat was passionate about computer science which was not part of his school syllabus. We always wanted Venkat to pursue his passion apart from education. So, we homeschooled him so that he could follow his passion along with education.”
This year Venkat participated in Astro Space Camp organised by Dhruva Space, a national award-winning space technology startup. Besides, he got a chance to visit Skyroot Aerospace in Hyderabad and meet its COO Naga Bharat Daka which he calls one of his joyous moments in life. Venkat wants to be a space scientist in future following the footprints of renowned space science entrepreneur Elon Musk and his father says he is sure the dream will come true some day.
—-Sriyank – the Youngest Proficient Recaller
At a time when most children under 10 often find it difficult to spell names of countries properly, seven-year-old Sriyank Padhi from Jeypore can tell the currency names of 157 countries in just two and half minutes. For his incredible memory power, Sriyank has got place in India book Records, Asia Book of Records and Magic Book of Records. Apart from this unique ability, he remembered names of folk dances of all Indian states and Union Territories in 34 seconds when he was seven.
On grooming Sriyank, mother Swapna Hota, a primary school teacher, says, “He could memorise difficult things at an early age. It was then I decided to groom him under my tutelage. I used to spend my leisure time with Sriyank asking him to remember currencies of different countries but not putting him under pressure. He memorized the currency names in a span of one and half months. I also asked him questions on general knowledge at my leisure. His sharp memory made him earn Grandmaster Certification from Asia Book of Records for reciting the folk dances of all Indian states and Union Territories in 34 seconds and bag ‘Youngest Proficient Recaller Award’ by the Magic Book of Record in June in 2021 at the age of seven years.”
The Class II student aspires to become a doctor in future, adds his mother.
—-Spring Girl Priya Priyadarshini
Four-year-old Priya Priyadarshini Nayak from Nayagarh is the youngest yoga prodigy of Odisha. She can perform difficult postures such as Bhunamanasana, Vrischikasana, Chakrasana, Padahastasana, Paschimottanasana, Sadhana Pada Sanchalana and Padahastasana with ease. She can do as many as 40 asanas. Her extraordinary physical ability has been certified by the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records.
Known as Spring Girl in her village Rajsunakhala, yoga has been Priya’s passion from her early childhood. However, it was his father Bijay Kumar Nayak who spotted Priya’s talent and honed the skills. The efforts paid off and she made it to the Asia Book of Records and India Book of Records. Bijay says, “I always wanted to make a name in the field of yoga and gymnasium. Due to several constraints, I couldn’t realise my dream. I wanted my elder daughter to learn the skill but she too seemed disinterested. However, Priya, the younger one, took interest in yoga when she was barely one. Seeing her interest, I trained her and she lived up to my expectation by performing complex asanas without any difficulty. I used to give her oil body massages to increase her flexibility and make her practice yoga every day for half an hour. That, perhaps, has made her master all difficult asanas by the time she turned three.”
He says, “I work in a private company apart from taking forward my forefathers’ legacy of weaving. My meager earning is not enough to shape Priya’s future. We all live in a single room and Priya often faces space crunch to practice her yoga session. After Priya shot to limelight, I met district collector, Nayagarh urging her to grant me a little bigger house under government scheme Priya’s better future. The collector, however, said the administration can provide gymnastic equipment for Priya but not a house. Had the government provided a house for yoga, Priya could have added more feathers to her cap. Due to lack of space, I made her practice yoga on the verandah. Meanwhile, I have contacted a Japan-based yoga instructor Palido who is guiding Priya.”
—-Spending time with grandparents a blessing
Raghavendra is a little boy but his achievements are not small. As both of his parents are working, he usually spends most of his time in the company of his grandparents. However, living with his grandparents turned out to be a blessing for Raghavendra. During the lockdown, he listened to mythological stories from her grannies apart from watching Ramayana and Mahabharata and learning hymns from them. And in no time, the four-year-old made his way to the India Book of Records. Raghavendra, at the age of four, made the record as he recited 11 hymns and two Hindi rhymes, answered 18 general knowledge questions, sang two Hindi film songs, answered 20 questions on the Ramayana and 17 on Lord Krishna in just two minutes.
His mother Kalpana Sahu, a professor at an engineering college in Dhenkanal says, “Our son has the ability to memorise things easily and the credit for this goes to his maternal grandparents. I am a job holder while my husband too works in a multinational company. We hardly get time to spend with our son. But my parents are always there for him. They tell him stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana. It won’t be wrong to say that spending quality time with his grandparents has proven to be a blessing in disguise for Raghavendra.”
Raghavendra, a nursery student of Grace KidZee pre-school, loves enchanting hymns and listening to songs sung by playback singer Jubin Nautiyal. “As Raghavendra is very good at reciting hymns, we worked on his skills. I believe that letting kids showcase their talents in their area of choice often helps them show their true potential. That apart, people who dump their parents should realise that grandparents always play a big role in shaping the future of their children,” says Kalpana.
Rashmi Rekha Das,OP