Multitasking, much? This 17-year-old from Tirupur does ten tasks at a time and has won awards for it

Many of us here are multi-taskers, take for example a reporter, she can talk over the phone, write or draw something and convey messages through hand gestures all at the same time. But most of us are forced to multi-task at least once every single day. Now, what if I tell you that Oviya K from Tirupur does ten tasks at the same time with perfection. This multi-tasking is called Dasavadhani in Tamil, which simply means doing ten tasks at a given point in time.

Oviya K receiving the Dasavadhani award in the year 2018 (Pic: Karthikeyan K)

As the name suggests, all these 'tasks' are connected to concentration and Tamil language. I reckon it's not just a memory game or IQ test but something related. "To perform a show of Dasavadhani, we require at least 25 minutes. I have been practising it for the last four years now," says the 17-year-old.

But what are these tasks, you may wonder. "Two minutes before the event, the organiser should give me a list of ten things which I look at for two minutes. I start by writing something in Tamil with both my hands, later I will slowly start writing them in mirror images and upside down. While doing them, I would be singing some song. When this activity is in progress, someone is asked to disturb me by tapping on my back. Meanwhile, people are asked to ring a bell, call out nine consecutive numbers, three numbers from Thirukkural and tell any number of dates with their respective month and year. Once I am done with the writing, I recollect the 10 names given to me in the start, in the same order, recite the corresponding Thirukkural, recollect the number of times I was tapped and the number of bells which rang during the event, recall the day of the dates called out, arrange the nine numbers in nine boxes such that the added value would give the same result horizontally, vertically and diagonally," she lists. Phew! That was too much brain work!

Oviya K receiving Thirukkural Award from Plato's Academy Matric Hr Sec School

But how did she master all these skills? Her father, Karthikeyan R shares, " She started to recite and recollect the Thirukkural from the age of eight. In 2013, we attended a programme in Ooty, where a person was performing Dasavadhani. Oviya was intrigued by it, and hence I started training her one skill at a time. We slowly added one after the other. Now, she is the only person among school kids to perform Dasavadhani. Others who are performing Dasavadhani are much older to her."

A student of Class 12, Oviya is interested in participating in anything that has to do with her oratorical skill. Talking about her dream, she says that she wants to become a doctor and later an IAS officer. "To date, I have won 16 awards both nationally and internationally. While participating in such inter-school events, my school took my travel and other expenses. This strong support is the reason for my success," says the student of Plato's Academy Matriculation Higher Secondary School.