What it takes to be a whizkid

KOCHI: While girls her age keep themselves busy watching films and music channels after school hours, Sreelakshmi Suresh has an entirely different schedule. She devotes her free time working on her new project. This Class IX student is the youngest CEO in the world and the youngest and the only below-18 member of the Association of American Webmasters. She is also the recipient of the Global Internet Directories and the Golden Web awards instituted by the US Government.“I was into computers even as a kid. I learned the alphabet typing on the keyboard and used Paint to draw pictures. All these happened before I started kindergarten. Later, my father showed me a website that was designed by a boy and encouraged me to try it out. That was how I designed my first website,” she says. Sreelakshmi designed her first website while she was a Class IV student and it was for her school, Presentation Higher Secondary School, Kozhikode. The site was launched by former minister Binoy Viswom. One year later she started her own company, eDesign Technologies. “I consider the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement 2008, the highest award for children instituted by the Government of India and the Gold Web Award, the highest award for excellence in web designing, my biggest achievements,” she says. The youngest CEO in the world manages her business and studies with elan and says it’s just a matter of balancing both.“My school timing is from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm. That means even after school I have enough time for studies. Every day I get two to three hours of free time which I use for my web designing work,” she says. Her company has developed over 60 websites and Sreelakshmi says in the future she wants a career in software developing. “As of now I am handling a couple of projects and I have two staff members who take care of things other than designing,” she says. Sreelakshmi says right now she is completely engrossed in developing the website, www.stateofkerala.in. “It will be an encyclopedia on Kerala covering all aspects of the state. The work is progressing and I expect to complete it very soon,” she says.