American reality shows involve marrying off little people and eating offal.

Indian reality shows focus on finding “India’s smartest kid“.

No, no stereotypes anywhere… 😉

A 12-year-old boy from India’s poorest and most lawless state, Bihar, is celebrating being named India smartest kid after winning a nationally televised quiz.

Subham Prakhar won the title of “India’s Child Genius” after several rounds of stiff competition between some 16,000 schoolchildren.

Both of his parents are currently unemployed and Subham had to depend on generous relatives and the internet to gain access to the books he needed to prepare for the competition.

Finding India’s child genius required quite a process: 16,000 students, aged 10-13 (who had done well in the past two academic years), telephone interviews, tests, ten months, 27 episodes, countless smacks upside a sleepy child’s head if they weren’t studying hard enough… 😉

All in the pursuit of a glass trophy, an Encyclopedia Brittanica CD, some pens and a cash prize of one meeel-ion rupees. bragging rights for the parents of the winner: priceless.Sounds like his family was bragging about plenty, even before this achievement:

Shubham had won every competition he entered before applying to take part in India’s most prestigious and popular brain game show.

Want to feel utterly worthless and lazy? Check this:

He struggled hard to download the application form in a town in which the internet connection trips every few minutes and there are frequent power cuts.

“I’ve never stood second in life and that’s how I wanted to be,” he says. But he faced an uphill task in his latest challenge.

The child genius was kinda busy before the competition:

Shubham prepared for up to 12 hours a day during his holidays, and five or six hours while at school.

“I read 70 books, including classics, between April and August – but not a single question was asked on them in the final,” he says.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the Charles Dickens classics, A Tale of two cities and David Copperfield, were among his favourite reads.

“I like stories written in [the classical style], but these days good classics are difficult to find.”

If you aren’t sickened by sweet perfection yet, listen to what the boy wonder plans for the future:

…He dreams of becoming a professor of computer or mechanical engineering to “serve his state and country”.

“I’m just proud of my home state – which of course has recently earned a bad name for some wrong reasons – but I’d love to do something for it,” promises Shubham.

Story from the BeeB.

Snark from the insomnia. 😉