"How many corners are there in a brick?" asks nine-year-old Kannan M to the elders around him. They stated the obvious, "Four." "No, there are 16 corners in a brick," he said, much to the surprise of teachers who were taking evening tuitions for him.

"Kannan is one among the many children who, though brought up in a slum, is smarter than children from financially stable families. We were surprised when he asked us that question and doubly amused when we were told our answer was wrong," said Aditya, an activist who works for the NGO Janastra. The organisation has been conducting spoken English classes for children from slums since November, 2006.

"Most children brought up in slums will have a capability of endurance which is stronger than that of children from well-to-do families," said Aditya, who grew up in a slum himself. 

There are more than 150 children from nine different slums in the city who attend the evening tutorial held by Janastra. "We teach them personality development skills, drawing and painting. These children enjoy storytelling sessions. Teaching English has not been very successful as most of them are school drop-outs. Most of them can not come regularly for evening classes also," said Aditya.

According to Dr Sulatha Shenoy, a child psychologist, children from slums develop a higher power of resilience as their upbringing requires them to face social and financial hardships. "In a slum, nuclear families are comparatively fewer. Children grow up in circumstances where they share everything they have. They develop a tendency to care for each other without becoming sensitive towards anything," she says.

"Such children will be bread-winners of the family and won't hesitate to face any circumstance. Since they constantly face challenges in life without familial back up, they develop the ability to think independently at an early age, unlike other kids," observes Dr Sulatha.

According to her, in families which are financially sound, the parents mean well when they are overprotective about their children. This makes a huge difference. Kids from affluent families remain timid and diffident about facing the challenges of life. 

Dr Bhupendra Chaudhry, a child psychiatrist from Manipal Super Speciality Hospital, states that the attitude of a child does not depend only on the socio-economic conditions, but rather, it depends largely on the temperament of the child, the environmental conditions and his/her personality traits.

Sunitha Rao R/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication