Is it even possible that one could compete with Kevin Mitnick in hacking? I found one. He is a tech genius, programmer, hacker, and rocket scientist, but most importantly, he is just 12 years old.
Pratik has been interested in programming, science, and rocket science since his childhood. He has taken a lot of inspiration from Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. He also is passionate about programming and hacking, skills he developed by watching tutorials on YouTube.
His journey from a paper rocket to research on a chemical rocket is really interesting.
He aspires to build an electronic rocket, which made him inclined towards coding. With the support of his parents, he is able to attend competitions that are held far away. His marvelous victories in the World Space Week Competitions held by ISRO got him the opportunity to witness the launch of the PSLV C40 Rocket in January 2018.
In his opinion, in this digital age, it is crucial for children to get exposed to coding as it expands their thoughts. The rapid growth of technology in the past decade has led to a world of electronics and gadgets.
He is also interested in hacking. His biggest inspiration for hacking is Kevin Mitnick, who is one of the world’s best hackers who hacked one of the biggest companies in the United States.
Most parents discourage children from playing video games and using gadgets. But they are unaware of the fact that children learn about the deepest details, and can use that information in the future. They might even develop into a professional gamer or an app developer.
On the other hand, children should not look only to the extent of playing or using the app. They should also try to gain more knowledge from them. Pratik has developed numerous apps and even published one called ‘Salad PDF Tools’.
Pratik, an aspiring computer engineer, is working on a fully secure search engine. He is working on it and will soon launch it.
About his victory of an award from NASA, he said, “The moment I received the Galactic Problem Solver Award was the proudest moment of my life!”. He also said, “Always follow your passion. If you are good at it you would never get distracted”.
Pratik’s imagination, dreams, and achievement do not have boundaries. Working towards something you don’t have passion for is like blindly walking towards an end never knowing when we would fall. Talent rests in everyone. Before studying anything, study yourself!
Interviewed by: Hasini Lakshminarayan
Written by: Subiksha S Vaidhyanathan
Edited by: Akshath Jaganmohan