Tathagat Avatar Tulsi, the youngest professor of IIT.

Extraordinary child prodigy Tathagat Avatar Tulsi has once again hit the headlines. After entering Guinness World Record, Tathagat Avatar Tulsi, the Indian child prodigy has set another new record by becoming the youngest assistant Physics professor at IIT-Mumbai at the age of 22.

Born on September 9, 1987, Dr. Tathagat Avatar Tulsi completed his high school at the age of nine and earned his Bachelor in Science at the age of ten and M. Sc. at the age of twelve. In August 2009, he got his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science at the age of 21. He submitted a 33-page long Ph.D thesis on “Generalizations of the Quantum Search Algorithm”. At the age of seventeen, he also co-authored a research manuscript with Lov Grover, inventor of a quantum search algorithm that goes by his name.

He received wide public attention in 2001, when he was shortlisted by the Indian Department of Science and Technology (DST) to participate in a Nobel laureates conference in Germany. Later, the DST officials claimed that it was a mistake to shortlist him, and that he was a “fake prodigy”. Following the controversy, Tulsi suffered from depression, which according to him, cost him a Ph.D. seat at IIT. He decided to “fight back” by earning a Ph.D. and gaining recognition as a scientist.

He entered the Guinness Book of Record after getting Ph.D from Indian Institute of technology at the age of 21 in 2009.

Tulsi is listed as one of the most gifted Asian youngsters by TIME magazine, mentioned as “Superteen” by SCIENCE, “Physics Prodigy” by The TIMES, “Master Mind” by The WEEK and listed by OUTLOOK as one of the smartest Indian youngsters. Tathagat Avatar Tulsi participated in the Stock Exchange of Visions project of Fabrica, Benetton’s research centre in 2007. He was invited by Luciano Benetton for a dinner in honor of Al Gore on Jun. 14, 2007 in Milano, Italy. Tathagat’s story was showcased by National Geographic Channel in the program My Brilliant Brain. The episode named “India’s Geniuses” was aired on 13 Dec. 07 and was hosted by Bollywood actress Konkona Sen Sharma.

He was also offered a teaching position at the Waterloo University in Canada with an attractive pay package but he did not accept the offer.

Tulsi claims to have had deep spiritual experiences “beyond what is normal”, and says that he has ‘special’ abilities.