Some people’s thoughts can definitely whirl when it comes to Mathematics. Nonetheless, some people genuinely relish the challenge and succeed at it. Some others, though, find all of this to be fairly simple.
We came across one such person, who at a young age overcame the odds. Meet India’s rising star, Tathagat Avatar Tulsi.
On September 9th, 1987, Tulsi was born in Patna, Bihar. Son of Supreme Court counsel Tulsi Narayan Prasad, his parents noted his pace of learning at a very early age. He was actually among the youngest people to ever earn a high school diploma, a master’s degree, and a PhD.
He apparently finished high school when he was just 9 years old when children are only beginning to learn multiplication. At the age of twelve, he graduated from Patna Science College with a BSc in a year and then an MSc. He informed TOI about his abilities: “I think I have a gift. When I was younger, I used to have no trouble solving mathematics problems whereas my peers did.
Completing his PhD from IISc Bengaluru
At the age of 22, he graduated with his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, in August 2009. His dissertation topic was “Generalizations of the Quantum Search Algorithm” for his doctoral work. Along with Lov Grover, the creator of the quantum search method that bears his name, he co-authored a research document (“A Novel Algorithm for Fixed-point Quantum Search”) that was never published.
Even though the research report was only 35 pages long, he thought it held a lot of potentials. In an interview with TOI, he stated, “The thesis is sufficiently novel despite its little duration to be considered a Doctorate dissertation. I’ve always been fascinated by quantum computers and want to create software for them. The development of quantum computers will advance our efforts to improve the planet.”
Winning awards and accolades from an early age
Tulsi has a long history of being in the spotlight. He was selected to attend a Nobel laureates conference in Germany in 2001 by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Indian Government.
He was even named one of the seven most talented Asian teenagers by TIME magazine in 2003. Science Magazine also referred to him as a “Superteen,” and Italian billionaire Luciano Benetton invited him to a dinner in Al Gore’s honour on June 14, 2007, in Milan, Italy.
Assistant Professor on contract at IIT Bombay
He was only 23 years old when, in 2010, shortly after receiving his PhD, he was given the opportunity to instruct students at the esteemed IIT Bombay.
He served in this capacity for eight years before being fired by the organisation in 2019, apparently because he was unfocused all of 2018 due to health difficulties. Although he did request it, the transfer to IIT Delhi was denied.
