At 13, he's a collegian

At 13, Venkatesh Suvarna joined junior class while the rest of his batch mates went to Class 9. Bhavya Dore reports.

At 13, Venkatesh Suvarna joined junior class while the rest of his batch mates went to Class 9.

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Suvarna, a student of Utpal Shanghvi School, is one of the youngest to have appeared for the Class 10 IGCSE exams in May this year.

He scored three A stars, one A and one B.

“When I was younger, I would get bored in class because I used to finish what was given to me faster than anyone,” said Suvarna, who was promoted from Class 6 to Class 9 directly, two years ago.

“I was moved two classes up because of my academic excellence.”

Suvarna is now studying at a junior college in Andheri and preparing for the IIT entrance exam.

“He was always ahead of the others,” said his mother Harsha, a chartered accountant.“He would ask lots of questions and remember all the answers.”

While academic life at a higher class was at first slightly daunting, social life was the real challenge. “My classmates would crack adult jokes and tell me I was too young to hear them and some made fun of me at first,” said Suvarna.

“The girls in my class still pull my cheeks, but I don’t mind that.”