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Software Engineer-to-be at 16! Imagine this: a sixteen-year-old schoolboy, with a plum job offer at hand? Hard to believe? It was for us too - till we met Arvind Thiagarajan, an unassuming standard XII lad from DAV Chennai with an impressive title - Bell Labs Scholar 2000. This Chennai lad is one of the 655 Indian students who took the exams conducted by The Lucent Technologies India. Of these only 8 students were selected and all of them were from the South! Three of these students are from Bangalore, three from Hyderabad and two, from Chennai! (The other lucky chap is Sundeep Venkataraman from PSBB). Arvind has been provisionally offered a post at the Indian offices of Lucent Technologies, where he'll don the garb of a Software Engineer. He has also been awarded a scholarship of Rs.25,000. Arvind's biggest ambition in his life at present is to get inside the IIT. Easy to understand, especially as both his father and uncle have IIT-IIM background. He is the only child and his mother is a homemaker. What attracted Arvind to computers and software at this young age is, in his words, his love for solving problems. And surprisingly, he is no avid web surfer! Anyway, here's wishing you the very best of luck for a fantastic future, Arvind. Prince of a Royal game
Like any other chess playing Indian boy, Naveen too aspires to become a Grand Master like Vishwanathan Anand. But first, he wants to go to IIT and complete a bachelor's degree in Engineering. Naveen proudly says that his parents are great sources of inspiration. His dad, an engineer with Ashok Leyland, accompanies his son for all his tournaments and cheers him from the sidelines. His mother, who's a doctor, also spends a lot of time with him, playing chess. Good luck to you, lad! To rule the courts
But first, he wants to finish his undergraduate studies. 'Engineering most likely', says this wiry lad. 'Why', I ask. 'I am scared of becoming a doctor - I might give the wrong medicine!' This cheerful boy is an all-round sportsman. He has won a badminton tournament in Vijaywada. He is the school's individual champion. Though he says that his parents force him to bury his nose in the books, he is confident that they will support his decision to turn pro, someday. He surprised me with a grown up remark 'My mom doesn't like losing; but I don't mind it. Losing is a part of the game too'. Lavanya |
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Budding software engineers, Vishy Anands and Leanders in the making.
Chennai has a budding Vishwanathan Anand in the making. Naveen R, of Standard XI, of DAV Chennai, was placed fourth in the under-14 category in the Asian Chess Championship. This tournament was held at Ahmedabad and 23 participants took part in it. He has won many prizes at the State and the National levels. Naveen played his first chess game seven years back. His mother was his first tutor. That year, the school announced a chess tournament, which also included a coaching camp. This was his first camp. He has attended many such camps since then and has won around eighty prizes.
Seemingly shy Vasudevan also from DAV Chennai, with a bubbly personality that shows him like an unlikely candidate for an Amritaraj or a Paes-to-be. But his impressive list of wins confirms that he is an ace tennis player. He participated in the All India National Tournament and was declared the runner up in the under-14 category. He was also the doubles semi-finalist in the same category. He has played many tournaments in the national and international levels and has won many prizes. It is not surprising that Vasudevan wants to become a professional tennis player. To him, tennis comes first, though his parents 'make' him study! It is his dream to win the Wimbledon some day!