Agency :
Sharik Sazzad can recognise more than 30 country flags, identify what vitamins are in which fruits and name the Prime Minister New Zealand – he’s two years old.
The brain box celebrates his third birthday in October and can already read, write and tell time.
Tauranga two-year-old Sharik Sazzad is a child genius, according to his parents. Photo: Ross Brown.
His Bangladesh-born parents Shamima Akter and Sazzadul Karim call
him their future scientist. This is because their son has an extraordinary memory, picking up his knowledge from reading books almost 12 hours a day. “We never tell him to read books, he just loves it,” says Sazzadul.
“Sometimes he says words we didn’t teach him. He picks them up just from reading books. He memorises everything.”
Sazzadul says his son’s depth of knowledge is very high for an almost three-year-old.
“I think adults underestimate their kids. With my boy, I treat him as if he’s as adult as me.”
Holding up hundreds of yellow library receipts clamped together with a paper clip, Shamima says Sharik’s read more than 1000 books, including ‘Bob the Builder’, ‘The World Atlas’ and ‘The Guinness Book of World Records’ since mouthing his first word ‘book’ nearly two years ago.
Ask him what he wants to become when he grows up – the toddler confidently says “a scientist”.
“He wants to become a scientist and he’s always praying ‘oh God make me a scientist, and not just a scientist, a world famous scientist,” says Shamima, who’s confident there’s no pressure on Sharik to become the next Albert Einstein.
“Every mother is proud of their babies and I’m also proud of mine.”
