A young prodigy from India is attracting the world's attention with his intelligence and creativity.
In 2023, Rishi Shiv Prasanna, an 8-year-old boy from Bengaluru was honored with the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar National Children's Award by President of India Droupadi Murmu for his exceptional achievements as a Android app developer, according to The Indian Express.
Prodigy Rishi Shiv Prasanna with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rishi is not only an application developer, book author, YouTuber digital content creator, but also a boy with an intelligence quotient (IQ) of 180, higher than the eminent physicist Albert Einstein. He is also one of the youngest members of Mensa International, the oldest and most prestigious association for people with the highest IQ in the top 2% in the world.
Rishi has developed 3 mobile applications, including “IQ Test App” for children, “Countries of the World” and “Bangalore Covid Helpline”. The boy has published 2 books, and is currently planning to complete another book.
A native of Nanjangud town of Mysuru district, Karnataka state, India, prodigy Rishi currently lives in Uttarahalli town in Bengaluru with his family. Father is a professor at a technical college, and mother works as a software engineer.
His genius was revealed from an early age. Rishi's teachers in kindergarten noticed that he was far ahead of his seniors in his ability to understand and grasp problems. At age 3, he started talking about the solar system, planets and the universe while other children his age were just starting to learn the alphabet and numbers.
From science, Rishi became interested in technology and by the age of 5, he learned to code and researched computer science, and finished reading 7 volumes of the Harry Potter series.
Rishi told The Indian Express that he was honored to meet Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The Prime Minister asked me about the applications I have designed and their uses. She briefly explained and also asked leaders for help to realize ideas and innovations. They responded positively,” Rishi said.
Rishi Shiv Prasanna was awarded the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar award by President of India Droupadi Murmu.
With an IQ of 180, Rishi is the “youngest certified Android app developer” in Indian history. His IQ is even higher than scientist Albert Einstein (at 160) and much higher than the usual standard of 85-115 for most people.
When asked about people around him with lower IQs than him, Rishi said: “Everyone has some other ability or potential. Everyone needs to explore and not worry about other things. Each person's abilities need to be encouraged."
“You can only get knowledge by reading many books. As you study, you will get answers to all the questions and will no longer be afraid of answering any type of question. I want to become a scientist in the future and want to contribute to society and the country”, the boy said.
Rishi said he really likes zoology and wants to become a scientist in this field. The young innovator also said he has also written a book about science.
While Rishi was praised for his extraordinary achievements, this also presented a challenge for his parents in raising their child. “He is very active and meeting his intelligence level is a challenge for us. The family has been instructed to encourage Rishi in whatever he wants to do.”
Even though they were advised to send their child to a higher class, Prasanna's family still let their child develop naturally. “Bonding with kids his own age as classmates was important for Rishi's development.”
