Child prodigy bats for homeschooling

“Currently,the education system takes a year to teach ABCD. But if you want,you can teach that to a child in a week,” Verma said during a felicitation ceremony organised for her by Sulabh International.

In a message to students her age,she advised them against blindly listening to and following their teachers,which,she says,children do because they are not aware of their potential. They should,instead,“ponder over what is being told to them in their own minds.”

“When my name went into the Limca Book of Records for being the youngest person to pass Class 10 at the age seven,I didn’t even know what a record meant then. I don’t remember anything from that part of my life,” she said.

Expressing her unhappiness with parents comparing their children with others’,the child prodigy says everyone has got some talent. “A newborn is like a blank paper. It all depends on how parents nurture their child. And if you want to nurture your kids’ talent,you have to take some time out of your routine,” she said.

But what really stole the show at the ceremony was Sulabh International founder Bindeshwar Pathak’s citations from religious scriptures,philosophy and mythology and his ultimate assertion of a personal realisation that he had during one of his mediatational sessions.

Before he would go on to say that children like Sushma have an aura about them,he recounted to be holding a karz (loan) that he had taken from her in his fifth life and that it is time he paid it back.

While asking the audience to look “closely for a halo” on Sushma and another child prodigy,Tathagat Tulsi (supported by Sulabh since age six,and also present at the ceremony),Pathak said he is ready to extend all possible help to her in future. From his visit to Sushma’s house a day before,Pathak was left in no doubt that Sushma’s current environment is not conducive for her education.

For the 13-year-old,however,the end to the perfect day was still far from being called over. During the felicitation ceremony,the teenager was handed over an iPhone,an iPad,an HP laptop,a desktop computer,a digital Sony camera,an LED television and a printer,besides Rs 8 lakh for her education.

Another sum of Rs 3 lakh is due to be given to her in six months’ time,pathak said. This should help the family tide over financial hardships and meet its daily requirements,besides enabling the father to move to a better place,believes pathak.

Sushma recently took admission to MSc in Environmental Microbiology at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University. She passed Class 10 in 2007 at the age of seven and Class 12 at age 10.