A 10-year-old schoolboy and under-11 yoga champion from the UK has been honoured with the Global Child Prodigy Award 2020 for achievements in spiritual discipline yoga.
Ishwar Sharma, based in Kent in south-eastern England, was chosen from the UK for the awards which honour child prodigies from across 45 countries and 30 different categories such as palaeontology, biking, choreography, fitness and martial arts, among others.
"I am honoured and humbled to have been selected for these Global Child Prodigy Awards from 15,000 applicants from 45 countries. I strongly believe that yoga is very important for physical and mental health, especially amongst the students," said Sharma, who received his Certificate of Achievement at a special event attended by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi and Dr Kiran Bedi, Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry, in New Delhi earlier this month.
He said, "I started an e-petition with the UK government to include yoga in national school curriculum and nearly 20,000 people signed. I hope it will be done soon.
"My aim is to promote yogic lifestyle to combat climate change and help yogic methods to improve mental health among children and adults. This award gives me an opportunity to be an ambassador for yoga and spread the message."