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Monday, April 22, 2002
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World record holder wants to be a scribe
Firoz Bakht Ahmed

GursimranTODAY, at 14, certified by Bill Gates as the youngest ever systems engineer professional, she is a perfect 10! Whether you call her a child prodigy or a great wonder, Gursimran Arora, who just appeared for Class 10 board from Delhi’s historic and upmarket Modern School (Barakhamba Road), had made the dent felt on the portal world as she became the youngest MCSE+I (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer + Internet) at 12 when she was a Class VIII student.

She is a topper at school as well. Besides, she is a class writer and a debater par excellence. During the summer vacation of 2001, she was invited by the Microsoft concern to work for them at $ 500 per day but she refused for she has been preparing for her secondary Board examinations.

Gursimran’s charming and cherubic face that appeared on the cover of the most prestigious computer magazine of the USA, passed of unnoticed. The media shy girl likes to lie low. A humble and suave girl, Gursimran finds it tough being a teenager for she manages her hectic schedules and her freelancing Web designing work in a congested time slot.

 


Her passion for exploring the intriguing world of Web designing has now transformed into a business. She spends hours working on high impact flash Websites, introductions, presentations and static Websites, dealing with clients round the globe. "All you need is a spark to light up a fire!" quips a blooming and blushing Gursimran with a glint in her eyes. And that’s true in her case. When she started to build her passion into a skill, it was just a flame; and the fire today, is soaring strong, vibrant and not easily distinguishable.

"Every Website needs to be different from the other. It is mind jostling, boggling and provoking. Building up an interface eats up a lot of one’s hours and it takes more than just spending sleepless nights to come up to a degree of competence accompanied with a satisfying result," opines Gursimran. Who would disagree as in the world of e-business, creativity takes the lead. Bill Gates exclaimed about her, "I am glad that this wonder girl has made her mark in computers!" What he actually implied was that Indian girls merely excel in beauty pageants.

What she laments is that even after all these world records, it is very tough for a few to digest the fact that a 14-year-old is capable of handling big project. "Gur is far ahead of her years and she is a big asset for us," declares Lata Vaidyanathan, her school Principal.

Interestingly, after all this excellence at computers, her cup of tea remains journalism. She wants to become a journalist and she isn’t planning to wait for that any longer. "Why waste time when I can do it right now?" she says. But what about the already full schedule? "Where there’s a will, there’s a way!" is the watchword to Gursimran. She has already made her mark globally in computer journalism.

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