In August, the precocious lad received the title of “Grand Master” from the Asia Book of Records for identifying the exponential powers of 10 from 10⁰ to 10¹⁰⁰ and recalling 101 number names – quadrillion, untrigintillion, googol – in 3 minutes and 35 seconds.

Earlier that month, he had been recognised by Kids World Records for “the most exponential power of 10 number names” identified in the 4- to 6-year-old boys’ division, again with 101 numbers.

During FMT Lifestyle’s visit, Kaarthikeya demonstrated his unique ability despite being under the weather. “I like numbers, and I like to count!” said the preschool student of Eduwis Eco Grandeur, Puncak Alam.

According to his parents M Desigan and S Kanageswary, he learnt to identify the numbers on his own from watching an animated series called “Wonderland”, which teaches these complex numbers in a fun way.

“He has very good memory power, so he catches things quickly. It’s not only in mathematics; he also learns to read very fast,” explained Kanageswary, a lecturer at Segi University.

Still, mum and dad were astonished upon discovering their son could identify 10⁰ to 10¹⁰⁰ accurately. Kaarthikeya, they shared, had earlier developed an interest in maths after watching a British animated television series for preschoolers called “Numberblocks”.

“He would ‘torture’ me every night by asking, ‘Appa, can you tell me what is 20 plus 30?’ But we wouldn’t ignore him,” recalled 35-year-old Desigan, an assistant manager at a glove manufacturing company.

Given that Desigan and Kanagewary are both mechanical-engineering graduates, one can’t help but wonder if their son inherited their aptitude for numbers!

And fun fact: these aren’t his only records. At 20 months old, Kaarthikeya was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records for the “youngest to speak expressive vocabulary” and the “most number of expressive vocabulary in 5 minutes by a toddler”.

By that age, Kaarthikeya was already able to speak 500 words.

Still, the proud parents are careful not to pressure their son. “There’s no allocated time for him to read or do maths,” Kanageswary said. “We allow him to play, and we’ll talk. For instance, when he’s playing, we’ll ask, ‘If I give you RM1 and you buy candies for 20 sen, what is the balance?’”

“Education is important, but achieving high marks is not our priority,” Desigan added.

Nevertheless, they decided to submit Kaarthikeya to the two record books to recognise his talent, believing these awards could benefit him in the future.

In both cases, they submitted a video of Kaarthikeya identifying the entire sequence from 10⁰ to 10¹⁰⁰. Kids World Records also required an additional video of him identifying these numbers randomly.

The couple never told their son the purpose of these videos and, even today, Kaarthikeya isn’t aware of his records. Instead, he thinks he received two medals for taking the initiative to learn these numbers on his own.

“While we praised his achievement, we chose not to emphasise it too much. We want him to focus on playing, not on creating and breaking records. That’s not our priority,” Kanageswary said.

So, what’s next for the boy? “I want to have three medals when I’m five years old, and four when I’m six!” he exclaimed, adding that he knows up to 100¹¹³ now.

Kanageswary added: “As parents, if he has a talent or interest in something, we want to encourage that and help him to find a way to be better. But we will never force him to do anything.

“Along the way, if he does something great, that’s amazing and awesome. We would love to encourage him. If he doesn’t, it’s still great. As long as he’s happy with his life, he’s a healthy and polite child.

“For us, more importantly, we want him to be a good human being,” she concluded.