Parents have to spend quality time with their children so that their special talents are identified early. This is what R. Bhanu and D. S. Rajesh say. They have a reason: their children R. Arjuna, (10) and R. Diya (4) have developed multiple skills that belie their age.
The brother and sister can identify flags of countries. That is not all. The duo can hold forth on any subject and they have thrilled audiences with their in-depth knowledge of health-related issues and a wealth of information about historical places around India.
Said Arjuna, “From a young age, I was driven by the passion to learn something new. Though, I am interested in learning everything under the sun, my favourite subjects are mathematics and moral science. Since I was one-and-a-half years old, I sharpened my general knowledge skills, and learnt about places around the country that are imbued with historical significance.”
The duo rattles off definitions of medical specialities, speaks at length on wildlife issues in India. Arjuna often has his nose buried in books, yet manages to catch up with his favourite sports – table tennis and carrom. The siblings have secured first position in story-telling competition held recently in their school, and want to take up medicine as a career.
Other facets to his personality are just as interesting. “I am a scale model car collector. I have a unique collection of 72 cars across the world. I can identify the make, name the model and year of a car, by a mere look,” said Arjuna, who calls Swami Vivekananda and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam his role models. Says Diya, ‘I learnt a lot from my elder brother. He is my role-model. I am more interested in health, geography, general knowledge, space, science and veterinary sciences. At present, we are learning about countries, their capitals, and identifying countries on the world map.’
