KOCHI: Every child grows and develops at his or her own pace. Two years and seven months-old toddler Saathvik Sarath has already achieved a milestone at this tender age. Young Saathvik is now a record holder for having recalled maximum antonyms in one minute. The Ernakulam-native retold 52 antonyms.
While kids his age are busy listening to lullabies and learning nursery rhymes, Saathvik was intrigued by words. “We understood that he can grasp words easily, he only has to hear it once. Once, when I was going to feed him, I asked him to come to me by waving at him. After that I waved him to go away too. The next day, when I said come, he quickly responded with ‘go’. That’s when we realised he has a sharp memory,” says Saathvik’s mother Reshma Sarath, a teacher at Dawn Public School.
Though the young prodigy started by recalling 12 antonyms, he moved on to remember 11 states and its capital cities, days of the week, identify body parts, names of cars and parts of a computer. The words his parents use in their daily lives also became a part of his vocabulary. “We got him a book that had several images. When he was a year and a half old, he could identify the pictures in the book. Before winning this title, we had made him compete for a place in the India Book of Records. Since he could recollect more than just antonyms, he was part of several categories. So, IBR appreciated him,” says Reshma.
According to Reshma, Saathvik could have bagged the title when he was younger if only he was patient enough to sit down for a video. An inquisitive child by birth, Saathvik is eager to learn more about things that are new to him. “We have never taught him anything forcefully. He asks questions himself and in the course of explaining the answers to him, we would try to bring in other related topics to the conversation,” says Sarath V S, Saathvik’s father. The youngster will also be participating in the Asia Book of Records shortly.