On the British show Child Genius: A 9 year-old Indian origin girl

‘Child Genius’ – a British show in which children compete with each for the crown of the brainiest among them all has a special contestant this season. Nine-year-old Rhea who is of India origin will be competing with 15 other kids on the show, which has challenges such as memorising 155 UK train stations. The series kicked off on Channel 4 this week.

Also read: Meet the memory wiz: Vyshnavi Yarlagadda

According to The Sunday Times, Rhea has been preparing for this challenge on TV by studying 10 hours a day. Also as a warm up exercise before the contest she beat 8,000 children to earn a national art prize.  “Doing Child Genius was probably the most incredible experience of my life. It was tense at times but it was incredible. I have made friends with some of the children,” Rhea told the newspaper.

Rhea with her parents ( Picture Credit: thetimes.co.uk)

Her driving force is her mother Sonal who went to university at 16, and believes that Rhea will do well on the show. She shoots down suggestions that such shows put undue pressure on young kids. “The school did not have a programme for gifted kids so they designed one. Now she reads GCSE-level books for stimulation. We are starting to get advice on her taking GCSEs early,” said Sonal.

“Rhea loved doing it. The show gives them a chance to be with kids like them, to be in that room and feel normal,” she added.

Also read: She can name 165 rivers in a minute: Meghali Swain is a child prodigy

For those of you who are unaware of what 'Child Genius' is, it is a brain quest between 20 incredible minds aged 8 to 12 years. A short series of five episodes revolves around the lives of children and their families, exploring ways by which parent raise their 'gifted children'.

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Feature Image Credit: newsdog.today