SHAEENABH AGRAWAL A prodigy in the making!

Child prodigies have been with us, always. However, many of them have had their genius questioned, as to whether or not a parent or a mentor was behind their amazing skills. It is only when their talents were authentically established that people around them could acknowledge them as prodigies. Sixteen-year-old Shreenabh Agrawal from Nagpur is one such amazing kid who proved the skeptics wrong and consistently displayed his precocious genius after he unfurled it at several acclaimed forums.

- MOIN QAZI

Shreenabh’s mother realized her son’s potential when she noticed his stunning memory and creativity at age three. She found he could memorize lengthy scriptural passages and paint like an artist. “As a child prodigy, he seemed to have emerged fully formed at birth, his talent already developed, his gifts fully ripe,” recalls Tinu who has obsessively coached him all along and shown enormous patience and discipline in her desire to nurture and foster Shreenabh’s natural abilities. It began with the toddler smearing paints and dripping splatters around, but the nimble fingers soon started turning out pictures with the proficiency of an artist.

His parents began noticing changes in him and started understanding his special needs. They bought him books because he announced that he preferred them to toys. He seemed to have a natural affinity for painting and figures. Later on, in Class 5, he showed a flair for figures. He cleared the Gauss Contest conducted by the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India. The test is aimed at discovering and encouraging students who have the capacity for original and creative thinking, readiness to solve unfamiliar and non-routine problems, exhibiting a general mathematical ability appropriate to their level.

True to a genius’ stereotype, Shreenabh was not endowed with robust physical health but displayed several uncanny traits and a remarkable aptitude for logical thought-building at his young age. His mind is like a sponge with a high capacity for soaking up knowledge. He has been a star student and high achiever at his school, Chanda Devi Saraf School, and secured All India Rank 3, scoring 99.2% in the ICSE examinations.