4 Year wonder Boy stunns Identifies 225 ALL WORLD FLAGS!

4-year-old Boy can identify flags and names of 227 countries!

Dubai: A three-year-old Indian whiz kid has successfully memorised the names of more than 225countries' flags in 11 days with his parents' assistance in Sharjah.

The outstandingly smart boy, Aazer Hussain, whose parents are planning to enrol him in kindergarten next year, has the ability to identify the names of more than 225 countries from their flag colours. He can also easily fish out the flag if someone asks him to do so by naming the country.

Aazer's father, 40-year-old Hussain Sayed Nabee, from Bangalore, told Gulf News: "I am very astonished by my son's intelligence who is not yet in school or kindergarten. It all happened about two weeks ago when we were in a supermarket and we purchased a big poster of flags. My wife and I taught Aazer to identify the names of each country from its flag. He enchanted us with his incredible capability to memorise the flags and names."

"It all happened in 11 days!" exclaimed Aazer's 28-year-old mother, Nazneen Bano, who comes from Bhopal in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Witnessed

Gulf News examined the boy's capability to verify his father's claim during the family's visit to its main offices. The three-year-and three-month-old identified the flags of New Zealand, Armenia, Belize, Qatar, UAE, Liberia, Republic of Central Africa, Japan, Bahrain, Belgium, Seychelles, Lebanon, Finland, Australia and New Guinea Brazil and tens others.

The toddler also named other countries of which he pointed out the flags and those countries included Uganda, UAE, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kuwait, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iran, Libya and others.

After recognising the name or flag of each country, Aazer claps as soon as his father tells him "bingo! you got the right answer" in Hindi.

Hussain and Nazneen signed an online agreement regarding a record attempt and sent it to the Guinness World Record (GWR).

Hussain, a civil engineer based in the UAE, said his son could also identify tens of brands of cars besides writing the letters of the alphabet in English in capital and small letters.

"I want people to understand and appreciate whiz kids," said Hussain.

Worldly wise

When I heard about 4-and-a-half year old Aazer Husain, who is able to identify all the countries of the world with ease - I was curious.

His father, Husain Sayed, says it all started when they took him to the supermarket earlier this year and pointed out different flags to him.

Although Aazer Husain knows the English alphabet, he does not know how to read and has not yet started school. Yet, he can look at any flag and name the country … just like that. The next day, his parents found out that he had memorised more than 25 flags and within 11 days he knew about 176 of them.

The parents were quite astonished to say the least. After consulting a few specialists, it was concluded he had a photographic memory and a high IQ for his age; so much so that they applied to the Guinness Book of Records. The organisers said they had never seen anything like it, Sayed says. At present, Aazer can identify 225 flags. He can even tell when the flags are turned upside down and spot even the tiniest difference.

Doctors have advised his parents not to pressurise him and instead help him remain self-motivated. The little boy is allowed to watch a few cartoons but the family prefers to involve him in more stimulating activities.

Aazer also likes to look at the stars but his parents will just have to wait to see where his talents lead him naturally.

BOY WONDER

Just over three, Aazer Hussain possesses what experts believe is a unique gift found in only five per cent of children with photographic or flash memory – eidetic memory. Such is his amazing grasp of things, places and numbers that he could easily be a…

THE BOY sits on a sofa, in a small living room with framed pictures of flowers on the wall, a large TV set and a PC in one corner. A coloured 1-to-100 numbers chart is stuck to the wall next to the door. It’s a typical middle-class home in Muwaile, Sharjah.

In front of the sofa on a glass-topped table are scattered tiny postage-stamp sized flags of about 200 countries. As the flags are picked up randomly and shown to the boy one by one, he shouts the name of each country to which it belongs: Estonia, Argentina, Canada, Gabon, Zambia, Mozambique, Chile, Sri Lanka, Malta, Cambodia, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Antigua & Barbuda, Sudan, Hungary, St Kitts, Trinidad & Tobago, Philippines, Bangladesh…. and on and on and on.

At the last count, the boy has learnt to recognise the flags of 194 countries, in just 10 to 12 days, repeated to him by his parents – just once or twice. And the boy, Aazer Husain is not even three and half years old, has not even started nursery or learnt to talk fully. He is so small he cannot even pronounce the names of some of the countries properly. He calls Turkey 'Toorky', Kenya 'Kiniya', Equatorial Guinea, 'Equito Ginee,' North Korea 'North Kolia', Cyprus 'Ciprus'. Malaysia 'Malasi', Dominican Republic 'Domini Republic'.

Changing the tactic, he was then asked to find the flag of Russia, from among the nearly 225 strewn on the table. And as he couldn’t get it immediately, the boy became restless and wouldn’t stop until he found it, all the while muttering to himself, ‘It’s red, blue, white…it’s red, blue, white.” When he finally picked it up, the flag indeed bore the colours: red, blue and white.

A gifted child, Aazer may be in possession of what is called eidetic memory – a phenomenon found in about 5 percent of children who are born with photographic or flash memory. Aazer’s memory is so acute that if a flag is held upside down, he shouts, “Ulta pakada hai” (you’re holding it upside down).

‘It was amazing,” said the boy’s father Husain Syed Nabee, 40, a civil engineer who works for a Contracting firm in Dubai. “We were showing him the flags and telling him the names of the countries and he’d remember them, while we ourselves can’t recall more five or six.” Husain said Aazer’s only requirement is, after a couple of his correct answers, everybody should clap, and he himself joins in the clapping, shouting triumphantly, ‘Heyyyyy…

The boy recognised the flags of 194 countries, naming each and every one correctly to this reporter. When asked how he remembers the flags, Aazer suddenly became shy, pouted his lips, buried his head in his father’s arm and said, “Smile…why don’t you smile…”

Husain and his wife, Nazneen Bano discovered their son’s unusual gift during the last fortnight by accident. “Last month after the schools opened we went to a supermarket and saw all these school books, stationary and different charts for children,” said Husain, who hails from Bangalore and has been in the UAE for the past ten years. “We thought we’d teach him something to keep him occupied. So we bought a 1-to-100 numbers chart and about 3 dozens of flags of different countries.”

Aazer mastered the numbers chart in just a day, after it being read out to him just once. “Then we started showing him the flags and telling him the names of the countries. And he surprised us by memorising like 25 to 30 names in a day,” said the father.

When the parents saw he was learning so fast, they bought more flags and also a chart listing flags of 165 countries. “And he himself was very enthusiastic to learn more. He’d pester us to tell him more flags,” said Nazneen. “What surprised us was during the day anytime, he’d stand in front of the chart, look at the flags and shout the names of the countries he was taught. So out of curiosity we checked the names and they were all correct.”

Husain said it was when Aazer had mastered about 100 flags in just 3 or 4 days that they realised it was unusual. “And that too, for a boy who’s just a little over 3 years old and who has not even started his KG classes,” said Husain.

Added Nazneen, who has done her M. A. in ancient history, “The funny part is we read out the countries’ names to him and even today I can recognise only just a few. I don’t even know if I’m holding some of the flags correctly. And he’s so confident in saying the names out aloud.”

Aazer’s phenomenal memory is not restricted to just flags and numbers. He can recite the full English alphabet, days and months of the year and scores of nursery rhymes. “When driving, we used to tell him the names of passing cars. He now recognizes a whole lot of them and names each one correctly. You tell him anything just once and he remembers it,” said Husain.

Aazer was born in Dubai on May 15, 2004, a Caesarian birth, and weighed 2.1 kg at birth. He will start his KG classes in January 2008.

When asked whether there were any earlier indications of Aazer’s singular gift, Husain said, “There were incidences but we didn’t think too much of them.”

He recounted that when Aazer was a little over one-and-half-years-old, they were invited over to one of their friend’s house, a Sikh gentleman. The Sikh friend’s brother, who looked exactly like him, was also there. During the evening, one of the brother’s ID card happened to come into Aazer’s hands. The boy looked at the brothers and the ID card for a long time and then handed it over correctly to the one to whom it belonged. “This astonished everybody, including the brothers, because they were almost identical,” said Husain.

He added that about the same time when Aazer was just one-and-half-years-old, he showed the boy how to start the PC and open the paint programme. And the boy mastered it. “Then he surprised us by not only starting the computer but also moving the mouse and drawing lines on the screen. So we realized that he had exceptional motor skills, too, for his age.”

Another incident happened when Aazer was just two-years-and-three-months-old. One day he began writing the English alphabet, both small and capital letters, just by looking at the letters and drawing them ditto.

“We used to wonder about these things, and one day we even asked our family doctor in Dubai. I mean…the boy was so small and was doing things that were not normal for his age,” said Husain. “But the doctor told us it was nothing unusual and that today’s kids are smart and learn things quickly. So, we didn’t think much of it.”

When asked whether there is any genetic explanation for Aazer’s extraordinary memory, Husain, who himself was a topper in college, said modestly, “If there’s any genetic connection at all, I’m sure it comes from my wife’s side. All her four brothers are scholars and they were brilliant in college with distinguished academic records.”

After Aazer’s extraordinary memory feat became known, Husain has written to the Guinness Book of World Records, as well as to the Limca Book of Records. He has received acknowledgement and is waiting for further development.

When told about Aazer’s phenomenal memory, Evelyn Seika, educational psychologist at Dubai Community Health Centre, said, “Some kids are gifted in one area, visual, auditory or conceptual. Aazer may have a photographic memory. But he may have to be formally tested, to see if his gift reaches others areas. His I.Q. will have to be assessed.”

Aazer also gave a demonstration of his computer prowess to this reporter, starting the PC, opening the paint programme and drawing a picture. “But we don’t allow him to operate the computer now because it might harm his eyes,” said the father. “We keep him engaged in more physical activities. We also discourage him from watching too much TV.”

When asked about his plans for his gifted son, Husain said, “We want to support him in whatever he chooses when he grows up. He’s very self-motivated. We don’t want to put unnecessary pressure on him to do anything.”

Dr Seika echoed exactly the same sentiment. “Parents need to be mindful that he’s still just 3 years old and his emotional and social needs are still at that level. Sadly, many parents forget this and put unusual pressures on such kids,” she pointed out. “Let him experiment; teach him academic skills. Free play is very important at that level, not much organised play. It should not be regimented. Let him explore the world.”

Meanwhile, Aazer showed that otherwise he is like any other normal kid. He wanted to play with the computer and when his father shut it off, the wonder boy sulked, cried and created a racket. Said Nazneen, his mother, with a sigh, “He’s very obstinate.”