Eleven-year-old Indian girl rated with highest IQ in the world

On the face of it, she is no different from other children her age – she loves riding her bicycle, watching cartoons and playing her favourite games. But K. Vishalini of Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli isn’t your average 11-year-old.

Blessed with exceptional IQ, the Standard 8 student is an IT whiz kid who can come up with solutions to the trickiest of technical problems. Yes, she spends three hours a day learning about computers. But that is no big deal.

Vishalini has the highest IQ in the world, but she will be eligible for an entry in the Guinness only after she turns 14 (Photo: The Sunday Indian)

Vishalini has just returned home from an international seminar held at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Mangalore, where she was a special guest. Such invitations are pretty routine for her these days.

Her syllabus has been wrapped up well in advance. So this child prodigy has the time to visit engineering colleges to deliver lectures to B.E. and B.Tech students on the intricacies of computer science.

At seminars, many an IT expert has been foxed by this chit of a girl who has answers to complex questions.

Her amazing achievements include cracking the Microsoft Certified Professional and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) courses with ease.

Vishalini’s IQ is around 225. It is higher than that of the Guinness record holder, Kim Ung-Yong, whose IQ is around 210.

“She did not find a place in the Guinness Book because the minimum age requirement is 14 years,” says her electrician-father, Kumarasamy.

Vishalini’s mother, Ragamaliga, and the girl herself had to struggle to tide over a speech impairment that the latter suffered from as a small child. Today, Vishalini is a wonder girl that her parents can be immensely proud of.

An anchor with All India Radio at Tirunelveli, Ragamaliga says: "Vishalini’s speech impairment caused us great consternation.”

The irony was that the mother spoke incessantly on radio while the daughter had difficulty in articulating herself. “People would point that out to me all the time,” says Ragamaliga.

A local doctor came to her aid. “Dr Rajesh advised me to talk continuously to Vishalini in order to help her improve her speech ability,” says Ragamaliga.

She was preparing for her Group-1 exams at that point. So she began reciting questions and answers of the syllabus in front of her. “Moreover, I used to recite religious verses as well,” she adds.

“All this might have looked a little pointless but I persisted. Suddenly one fine morning, after nine months, Vishalini started speaking."

The girl’s parents heard of a boy who had secured admission in an engineering college after his Standard 8 exams.

"We approached Kalasalingam Engineering College. They asked us to bring a certificate from CCNA. Vishalini took the exam and got 90 per cent marks. It was a world record. She was only 10 years old. Earlier the youngest student to pass this exam was a 12-year-old boy from Pakistan, Irtaza Haider,” says Kumarasamy.

Both NITK of Mangalore and Kalasalingam Engineering College are now more than ready to welcome Vishalini. But her parents want the girl to enjoy her childhood for the next three years before thinking of entering a college campus.

Their only disappointment now is that the state and central governments have failed to recognise and appreciate Vishalini's extraordinary achievements.

By special arrangement with The Sunday Indian