Mahesh named child genius of Australia

Mahesh with other contestants and Susan Carland. Picture courtesy SBS

Twelve-Year-old Mahesh Ravee has won the Child Genius Australia held this year by the SBS -Australia’s multicultural and multilingual broadcaster-this year.

SBS is a national public television network in Australia. The channel is a multicultural  and multilingual broadcaster.“The final of season 2 of Child Genius was broadcast on December 11, with Mahesh winning the competition,” SBS told the Daily Mirror over a Facebook Messenger conversation.  

He won the award in the grand finale which was held early December. Mahesh is a member of Mensa with an IQ in the 99.99th percentile of the population.

Mensa is the largest and oldest high IQ society in the world. It is a non-profit organisation open to people who score at the 98th percentile or higher on a standardised, supervised IQ or other approved intelligence test.

Mahesh is the son of Mr Ravee Namasivayam an accountant in Australia and Rudrani Raveendran an Australian Solicitor. Mahesh’s parents are dual Citizens of Australia and Sri Lanka by which Mahesh is also registered under Sri Lanka’s Citizens Act and will become a Sri Lankan citizen when he turns 21.

He won the award in the grand finale which was held early December. Mahesh is a member of Mensa with an IQ in the 99.99th percentile of the population

Mahesh, who is 12-years-old, was entered into Child Genius Australia by his dad Ravee so that his giftedness can be measured on a national scale. Mahesh is a member of Mensa and wants to overcome the stereotype that all smart kids are nerdy.

Child Genius is an Australian reality competition series, hosted by Susan Carland and broadcast on SBS.

The show involves a group of child prodigies completing a series of tasks to gain the title of child genius. It is based on the British TV series Child Genius.

Initially, Raveendran migrated in 2004 and got married in 2005 after which they settled in Melbourne. Mahesh was born in September 2006 now aged 13 but during the competition filming time, he was 12 years old. Mahesh has a Little brother Kailaash aged nine.

“Mahesh is very proficient in his mother tongue Tamil as well as Chinese and currently learning Latin at school. He understands Sinhala as well,” Mahesh’s father said.

Preparing for the big competition is not easy.

“Sometimes he (Father) irritates me,” quips Mahesh.

“He becomes complacent at times. That’s when I intervene,” says Ravee.

Mahesh attends Haileybury College in Melbourne which is ranked number one school in all of Australia. He went to Mount View Primary School in Glen Waverley for primary school and studied in Malaysia for 3 years in between. Mahesh learns Indian Carnatic music vocal, Western-style (metal) flute and Piano.

SBS is a national public television network in Australia. The channel is a multicultural  and multilingual broadcaster.“The final of season 2 of Child Genius was broadcast on December 11, with Mahesh winning the competition,” SBS told the Daily Mirror over a Facebook Messenger conversation

Mahesh visits his grandparents in Colombo every year and is very familiar with Sri Lanka geographically and loves to spend time in Sri Lanka. He is a grandson of Kathirgamathamby, retired Sri Lanka Additional-Director of Customs and Mrs Sarojini Devi, retired librarian.

Mahesh started his first year of school at MVPS in 2011 and then left the school in the later part of year 1 when his family moved to Malaysia. He had the opportunity to study at Alice Smith School which is the oldest British International School in Kuala Lumpur.

This school provided ample opportunities for Mahesh to further develop his exceptional academic skills. He started his secondary schooling with Haileybury College in 2019. Overseen by Australian Mensa, and Quiz Master extraordinaire Dr Susan Carland, this 4-part documentary competition series brings together 16 of Australia’s brightest kids from all over the country as they undergo a series of challenging quizzes that would stump even the smartest adults. They all showcase extraordinary cognitive abilities in maths, general knowledge, spelling, history, science and memory, according to the SBS’s website.

Child Genius Australia captures the families at home as the children prepare to take on their intellectual competitors, and will shine a light on the highs and lows of being one of Australia’s most fascinating and brightest 8- to 12-year-olds.

“We’re delighted to build on the success of the first season in highlighting what it’s like to be considered a gifted child in Australia today. It’s been fascinating seeing the different approaches to learning and life from the children and their parents,” said SBS Director of Television and Online Content, Marshall Heald. 

“The competition can be dramatic and tense, but it also provides some uplifting and funny moments. We’re excited to discover what this year’s children and families will bring and we’re proud to celebrate some more outstanding children in this unique celebration of cleverness,” it says. 

Mahasenan