Put a big blue globe in his hands and he'll tell you the name of every country there is in the world and each of their capitals too! The only problem Arjun Sankadal might have is actually carrying the big blue globe in his tiny three-year-old hands. Yes, this super intelligent three-year-old can identify and recite the names of all 195 countries and their capital cities. Dr Basavaraj Sankadal, who is a physician, got his son some storybooks, colour pencils, drawing books and a globe a few months ago. He recalls, "March 2020 was a difficult time for all of us due to the pandemic. When my wife and I went out to work amid the chaos, Arjun would spend time reading books and colouring pictures in drawing books. But he was curious to know more about the round ball-like object. We told him that it is a globe and one can locate different countries and continents on it. We showed him where India and its capital city Delhi is on this globe. Two days later, Arjun came back and showed me a few more countries he knew and located their capital cities."
Dr Basavaraj didn't expect his son to learn and grasp it all so quickly. He helped him look for more countries and cities. Within a month or so, Arjun learnt the names of 100 countries and their capital cities. "I recorded it on my phone and sent it to the India Book of Records. The office rejected the record saying that he should be able to identify and recite the names of more than 100 countries. So, we sat with him again. While there was no pressure on him, he learnt it all in a short time. Now, he can recite the names of 195 countries and their capital cities," says this native of Hiriyur in Chitradurga district.
Once Arjun was able to identify 195 countries, his documents and the video were sent to the India Book of Records again. Basavaraj says, "Arjun recited the names of these 195 countries in 27 minutes and 21 seconds. So, his name has now been entered into three different books of records - India Book of Records, Asia Book of Records and recently, World Book of Records in the United Kingdom." We can't stop thinking how cool this is! Arjun has achieved so much at just three years of age. Currently, he is being taught the English alphabet and rhymes at home as schools are still shut due to the pandemic.
