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5 reasons why Indian children are smart

Is the reason genetic or purely cultural?

Written by Sandhya Raghavan | Updated : November 14, 2017 6:53 PM IST

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Indian Children

There is no doubt that Indians are cerebrally blessed. The undisputed champions at spelling bees, Indian children are neck-and-neck with their other Asian counterparts at overall academic brilliance. Indian society has churned out some of the sharpest minds like Aryabhatta, Chanakya, Amartya Sen, Ramanujan ,JC Bose, Homi Jehangir Bhabha and more recently, Satya Nadella. This has made the world question whether there is a reason why Indian children are so blessed. Here are five possible reasons.

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Hindi-smart-kid

Innovative mentality: Life in India is tough. Most of us don't have a cushy life and our daily living involves a lot of struggle. With limited means to satisfy their needs, Indians often have to take recourse to innovative or offbeat thinking. This is the reason why we are masters of 'Jugaad' mentality and ace problem solvers when the going gets tough.

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Mom And Daughter

A culture that compels us to excel: Indian children are brought up in a highly competitive environment, where parents constantly push them to do well in studies. Academic excellence is the only sure fire way to climb the ladders of class in a mostly middle class society. When children are steeped in a culture that makes them place academics over everything else, it's only natural that they end up using more of their intellectual capacities and end up being smarter than their peers. Also Read - Pregnant Women Request Delivery On Ram Mandir Consecration Day: Why This Can Be Dangerous For The Baby?

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Reading

Complex educational system: Indian children are subjected to a tougher academic syllabus than their western counterparts. It's touted to be one of the toughest in the world. From a very young age, nimble Indian minds are trained to perform difficult cognitive tasks as part of their curriculum. India is also home to three of the toughest competitive exams in the world -- UPSC, JEE and CAT.

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Jugaad

Theory of incremental intelligence: Indians by and large reject the theory that intelligence as a quality is fixed and cannot be changed. Instead, we believe that cognitive capacities are malleable and can be improved or mended. This is reflected in the way children are made to bring in better grades by encouraging them to do better with ever test or exam. Belief in this notion helps Indian children constantly work on their cognitive abilities, sharpening their intelligence. Also Read - AYUSH: A Treasure Trove Of Herbal Supplements And Natural Remedies