City girl finds pride of place in India Book of Records

BHUBANESWAR: Meghali Malbika Swain, 10, entered the India Book of Records on Sunday by naming 165 rivers of the world in one minute. She also attempted to create a unique record by uttering the names of 1000 rivers in eight minutes, the result of which is yet to be declared.
"She is an extremely talented girl with a razor sharp memory. We recorded her voice and a team of experts approved her entry into the record book," said adjudicator Biswadeep Roy Chowdhury.
Asked as to why she selected rivers for the record, the 10-year-old said, "The names of rivers are easier to pronounce. Therefore, I can utter the names of more number of rivers in a given time."
Apart from naming rivers, she can also show the flow route of all major rivers of the world on a blank map. She can also name all major straits, channels across the world and the seas they connect and land masses they separate.
"I acquired all this knowledge from intensive map study. The atlas has been my main source of information. I don't forget things easily. There is no trick in it," she said.
That is not all. The Class V student of SAI International School has memorized the names of 196 countries, their geographical features like neighbouring countries, sea, ocean or gulf adjacent to the countries, mountains, rivers, plateaus, deserts, their capitals, currencies, languages spoken there and can recognize their national flags too. She also has a fair knowledge of the geological time period from Precambrian to Mesozoic, the evolution of life form and other major developments during the periods.
"She took a keen interest in things from the age of four. She remembered names of countries in the football World Cup . Then I gave her an atlas and she started remembering almost everything and recalled them spontaneously, said her father Prafulla Kumar Swain, an OAS officer.
Her parents said unlike other children of her age, Meghali does not watch television much. She can play violin and also paints. "She gives her 100% in whatever she does," said her mother Nabanita.