A 10 year old girl of Indian-origin was given Britain's brightest child tag, after she won a popular television quiz competition. Six correct answers gave Rhea a one way ticket to the final of 'Child Genius 2016' on Channel 4, after which she drew with her opponent Saffy, also 10, with nine points in the final round. The 10 year old became the youngest winner in the show’s four year history.
"It meant getting up early, going to sleep late, studying. It just feels really, really great," she said. Rhea correctly spelled the word 'eleemosynary' meaning charitable, to claim the title at the end of four weeks of the contest. Her mother Sonal however, invited some social media backlash as people called her 'pushy'. Twitter posts that read 'Rhea is such a smart young lady but her mother is shocking! This isn't about you' and 'Rhea's parents are ridiculously pushy, poor kid', targeted the mother who gave up her profession as an obstretician to train her child.
The source of controversy was Sonal's intervention and objecting to a question about Florence Nightingale which she said was too broad and general. The independent adjudicator agreed and gave Rhea an extra point, putting her ahead of fellow contestant Stephen, with whom she would have to face a tie break round to proceed into the finals.
Unbrazed, Sonal said, "Rhea loved doing it. The show gives them a chance to be with kids like them, to be in that room and feel normal." Host Richard Osman called the competition "the greatest final in the history of Child Genius". The finals drew in an audience of 1.3million viewers.
Audience behind TV sets were bemused by the fact that both Sonal and Saffy’s mother Sophie, a former accountant, sacrificed their careers to prepare their daughters for the competition. Like many Child Genius parents of past competitions, they were living through their children.
Before moving to Britain, Sonal, 41, and Anish, 42, lived the US, where she worked 100 hours weeks including weekends and nights. However she cut down her hours after Rhea and now eight year old Rohan was born. It was Anish’s work for a pharmaceutical company that brought the family to London when met Sonal would have to retrain to continue practising, a prospect so unappealing she decided to stop working, although she takes annual exams to keep her US qualifications valid. Sonal says “I didn't quit work for Rhea’s education, but because the two of us working endless hours was not what we wanted for our family.” The couple, both from Indian backgrounds, agree that education is probably more highly valued their culture than in Britain.
Rhea, who was in reception when her teacher recommended that she apply to join Mensa. The intelligence test showed she was in the top 0.1% of the population. However Sonal says “You saw a carefully edited version of our reality that made it seem like we drive Rhea to study. Rhea is very headstrong. She does exactly what she wants to do.”
Does Rhea this her mum is pushy? "I think Mummy could push me harder" she says.
