Meet the gifted 3-year-old from Apeejay School, Noida with prodigious retention skills

A Nursery student at Apeejay School, Noida, Nivaan Sharma has a sharp retention span. As he recalls and recites the names, capitals and flags for about 50 countries, his incredible knowledge is ever-growing.

Early signs of his sharp memory were on display when his mother Tanvi Sharma’s sister began to show him flags of different countries a year ago. After a few days, as she revisited the same with him, Nivaan could accurately retain the names and capitals of countries as difficult to pronounce as Azerbaijan and Armenia.  

With a keen interest in cars and technology, the child prodigy is as much aware about companies such as Hyundai and Toyota, their origin and history. While children his age learn by observation and association, Nivaan loves to indulge in games such as Jenga and Dominoes. “We like for him to play games which require thinking so that his focus is improved,” says Tanvi Sharma, a Human Resources Specialist with Koenig Solutions Private Limited.

Noticing his father’s interest in music bands such as Imagine Dragons and Coldplay, Nivaan is also fond of performing songs. At 3, he is able to form creative associations at stories verbalised to him by his grandparents. “If a story is left at a certain point, he would take it further and make it reach an end with his own imagination,” says his father Ankur Sharma, a senior Manager with Ubiquiti Networks. He further wishes for Nivaan to engage in mental math exercises and Abacus problems so that he develops critical thinking at an early age.