Hetansh Pratik Haria,9, finished ‘Crash Course on Python’ within just 20 days
to become India’s youngest coder to do so
BILKULONLINE
By Rafat Quadri
Ahmedabad, June 8: Some children are extraordinary. Meet one such little boy Hetansh Haria, who is hardly nine now and has been writing history with his little fingers. For India, he has created such a moment when as his parents announce he has been adjudged as the youngest child to have cracked the Google organized courser ‘Crash Course on Python’.
This beginner-level, six-course certificate, developed by Google, is designed to provide IT professionals with in-demand skills — including Python, Git, and IT.
Hetansh enrolled himself and was expected to complete it within six months. But, Hetansh found it so interesting that he completed it within just 20 days.
Hetansh lives in Ahmedabad with his parents Pratik and Krutika. He is the only child of the couple and sets an example for others of his age to “attempt and excel in the field of your liking, age is no matter” as Hetansh himself believes.
BILKULONLINE spoke to him in an informal interview and the excerpts are below:
“It was during lockdown when I learnt that the medical field struggling, I wanted to help them in some way. I was like many other friends of mine undertaking some courses besides school studies.
But lockdown provided lot of free time, hence my parents suggested that I could pursue further into the field of my choice and love. I got my first laptop then as I started feeling interested and inquisitive about coding. Thus, it all started from there. Pranav Sir is my teacher who has taught me entire coding with Python both online and offline”.
Now Hetansh is nine (9). He has totally fallen in love with coding and it is just the beginning, as he says “now I can do coding for games and small items, you can say some advance steps into the Python way of coding but I know I have just scratched it on surface, I have to go long before realizing my dream of assisting my country and being part of the team of NASA one day”.
Hetansh wants to be a data scientist and the roadmap is clear in his mind he wants to follow the path to achieve it. He says at times I used to feel tired and sad when the questions I was handling were too tough but then my Sir would cheer me up and motivate so was my Mom who would sit next to me doing her work and giving me company. After achieving a record at Google course completion within just 20 days, Hetansh also completed the same with IBM also.
Well sorted, fluent in English, this little boy who will enter class 5th this month is a student of Eklavya School (CISCE) at Ahmedabad. The school which is famous for enabling an all-round development to students, laying emphasis on academics, sports, music, fine arts, communication and mathematics, through an innovative curriculum designed to make learning enjoyable.
Hetansh’s Mom, Krutika an educated, well-versed businesswoman herself gives full credit to Hetansh’s Eklavya school when she says “his school education helps inculcate among students ‘a sense of purpose’ in whatever they do and make the learning process a pleasure and adventure, so that they acquire knowledge to weigh and consider outcomes with reason and discrimination. It has definitely helped Hetansh find and discover himself with what he likes and then the fact that he has to sharpen his talent and expertise on it even as he should concentrate on his studies as well as sports.”
Krutika as a disciplined mother sees to it that Hetansh sleeps by 8.30 in the night and gets up early. She applauds Pranav Sir’s teaching and guidance for Hetansh. Her husband Pratik she says “is ‘the backbone’ of the family who keeps Hetansh and me motivated and reminds us of our next day schedules”.
Just like other boys of his age Hetansh loves and enjoys the laughter time with his school friends and does cycling and plays with his house society friends.
Already different schools are extending invitations to Hetansh to address their students about his achievement in coding. His own school authorities are proud of him and are eager to have him with them and share his experience, as soon as the school reopens after the summer holidays.
(Rafat Quadri can be contacted at : editorbilkul@gmail.com)