As she lay on an operation table with her badly burnt fingers fused together, the eight-year-old girl was wriggling in pain. But that became the least of her concerns when she saw the ‘surgeon’. It was a boy, a year younger than her.
Surprisingly, the operation was a success. The girl went home happy with her fingers separated from one another. And as the news spread from the tiny village in Himachal Pradesh, the world had discovered another super-kid. This was year 2000. Today, at age 14 the child prodigy Akrit Jaswal is striving to cure cancer.
Throughout history, people have been fascinated by super-kids. Whether it’s the music great Mozart who arranged his first symphony at age 11 or John Von Neumann— who could divide eight-digit numbers in his head at the age of six, told jokes in classical Greek, and went on to co-formulate the famous Game Theory.
By definition a ‘child prodigy’ is someone who has been recognised as a master of one or more skills or arts at an early age. Someone who is academically or artistically doing the stuff adults are supposed to do. A lad too smart for his age.
With such hype associated with the phenomenon, which parent wouldn’t want his or her child to be a super-kid. Or which young boy or girl wouldn’t want to be one. But in fact, that shouldn’t be the question actually.
Can little Akrit, with an IQ greater than Einstein’s, play gilli-danda with his friends when he’s expected to cure cancer. Or can the famous five-year-old distance runner from Orissa, Budhia Singh, spend time hanging around with friends when everyone is counting on him to get us the elusive Olympic gold. Can they be allowed to be kids?

Blessing or curse?
Although some of the kids grew to be natural child prodigies, most of them were made to be one by their parents. Take for example pianist Ruth Slezynska, who made her debut in 1929 at the age of 4. In her autobiography she tells how her father made her practice nine hours every day. He tolerated no mistakes and hit her at the least wrong note. At 15, she suffered a major breakdown that put an end to her career.
On the other hand, prodigies like Mozart and Neumann have been able to achieve a great many deeds just because they mastered their skills at such an early age. 
So is being a prodigy a blessing or a curse?
Many experts say that kids should be allowed to be kids. Although parents can help in devising their children’s future, pushing the kids too hard can lead to extreme pressure that may harm their mental and physical health.
Nature and genes take their own course in deciding who’s smart and who’s a little smarter. Parents can put their best efforts to secure their children’s future in this competitive world, and make their children do that extra bit of hard work. But the powers beyond us decide what will become of them, so no need for that undue pressure. Every kid is every bit that special, whether a ‘prodigy’ or not.