Blinking nervously from the shy façade, those two eyes hide a wonderful brain behind them. Ready to withdraw from public gaze, Master Sri Krishna Vadlamani should perhaps learn to cope with plenty more attention in future.
By winning the top prize of Rs.10 lakh in the HDFC Meritus Scholarships — 2009, this 14-year-old has stood out from amongst the 4.2lakh students who registered themselves for the four-round test from all over the country.
The scholarships instituted by the HDFC Bank aim to “bring more opportunities to talented and deserving students”. The screening test constitutes four rounds, the first two being Interactive Voice Response in telephonic or online mode. The third Intermediate Round has to be taken online while the final written test is conducted across different centres in the country. Also taken into consideration are the students’ performance in the school for the previous two years, and extra-curricular activities and sports.
Sri Krishna has done his parents and the Little Flower High School in which he studies Class X proud by going through the rigorous procedure to emerge the champion. While nearly 2,500 scholarships were announced by the Bank ranging from Rs. 2,500 to Rs.10 lakh, Sri Krishna was the only one to win the highest amount. Little Flower School also bagged the distinction of winning the highest number of scholarships from the state, totalling to nine.
“The boy had shown spark when he was as young as four years. He would learn things very quickly, often making his mother wonder if he was a child prodigy,” says Sri Krishna’s proud father Vadlamani Ravi who is the Assistant Professor in Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology.
Sri Kirshna won at least 15 awards and prizes earlier, which include Young Botanist Award in Singapore in 2004, National Talent Search Examination scholarship in 2008, and the first prize in the regional level of ‘The Hindu Young World Quiz’ in 2007. He also plays chess, and takes interest in swimming and cycling, his doting mother V.V. Padmavathi Devi says.
Both the parents credit the school for bringing out the best in the boy, by involving him in extra-curricular activities.
Sri Krishna wants to study in IIT Bombay and proceed to Massachusetts Institute of Technology to pursue research in Physics — rare ambition among the Gen X.
“IIT Bombay offers many lectures by internationally renowned professors,” Sri Krishna says beaming from behind his bashful countenance.
