These young girls represent the changes that the modern society is going through, and they reflect the ideals that the world is striving for. Girls as young as six years old have made great gains in sports, technology, business, politics and more, leaving the world amazed at their intelligence.

Don’t believe me? Check out this list that might leave you a little depressed about your mediocre teenage years.

1. Pari Sinha, 6

In a country of prodigies, the 6-year-old Pari is one step ahead of us all. She is a chess sensation from Bihar and has checkmated opponents twice her age in various State Level Championships. Pari has been the youngest ever contestant to play the game of chess this good. Don’t you think, she is the sportswoman we’re all waiting for?

2. Ishita Kaytal, 11

Ishita Katyal, an author, a public speaker, an avid reader, a dancer is just 11! She added a feather to her cap when she became the youngest Indian to speak at a TEDx Event, New York. In 2015, she delivered a talk at TED Youth Conference where her agenda was ‘What Do You Want To Be Now?’ Her speech challenged the system which thinks that children as young as 10 and 11 are not mature enough to make a difference.

3. Shalini Kumari, 13

Shalini’s grandfather loved spending time on the terrace garden but unfortunately became dependent on walking aid when he met with an accident. Moved by the difficulties, her grandfather faced, Shalini invented a walker that would help physically weak people to climb stairs. This invention landed her in NIF – India’s league of winners. She was only 12 then.

In an interview, she said, “The walker he used could not be used on stairs, and he had to stay on the ground floor only. I felt really bad when I saw this and I wondered if I could adjust the walker in a way that it could be used on the stairs as well.”

4. Priyanshi Somani, 16

Priyanshi who is now 16, won the overall title in the Mental Calculation World Cup, in 2010. She was the only participant to have achieved 100% accuracy, in addition, multiplication, square root in all the five Mental Calculation World Cups, and is now called the Human Calculator. The challenge includes experienced mathematical wizards from 16 different countries, the oldest being 61 years of age, did not deter Priyanshi from her goal. She went on to solve the assigned tasks in precise 6.28 minutes beating all the remaining 37 participants. Looks like she has eaten too many Badaams. #JustSaying.

5. Kiara Nirghin, 16

Kiara, the Indian-origin South African teen, won a scholarship worth $50,000 and a grand prize for Google Science Fair for her exemplary work. The 11th class student submitted her project titled ‘No More Thirsty Crops’ aiming to tackle the situation in severe drought hit South Africa. Her solution to fight drought was the usage of orange and avocado fruit peel which we usually discard. The idea was to develop a “super absorbent material” that helps retain soil water.

6. Meghna Reddy, 17

The 17-year-old Meghana Reddy is the founder of Limbs with Love, a non-profit organization that creates and provides 3D-printed prosthetic hands free-of-cost to children all over the world. The idea struck her when she was on a family trip to India and was volunteering in a local NGO; she realized that the prosthetics are expensive and out of the reach of such children. That is when she connected with a computer workshop in San Diego that helps her with the designs that are printed and assembled using plastic and 3D printer technology.

7. Maya Burhanpukar, 17

Maya had always been passionate about climate and environment and during her expedition to the Arctic she witnessed the devastating impact of climate change. Initially willing to make a documentary about her personal experiences, the 17-year-old Maya now decided to give a firsthand experience of the devastation she has witnessed. The documentary film, 400 PPM, has been produced by STAMx Youth Inc, an NGO that she founded to encourage like-minded youngsters to take action on the climate change.  Since then, the compelling documentary has reached out to an audience of over 2.2 million students. Whoa!

 

8. Aditi Ashok, 18

We know who P.V. Sindhu and Sakshi Malik are, but not many of us know Aditi Ashok, the 18-year-old Golfer who played for India in the 2016 Olympic Games. Did you? The girl made history by being the youngest and the first Indian to win the Lalla Aicha Tour School and that is when she secured her Ladies European Tour Card, 2016. Aditi is the first and the only Indian female golfer who played the Asian Youth Games (2013), Youth Olympic Games (2014), Asian Games (2014) and Rio Olympics (2016).

Happy Children’s Day!