'When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the Worldwide Web... Now even my cat has its own page,’ says President Bill Clinton, in his 1996 announcement of the Next Generation Internet initiative. Such is the power of the info highway that everybody is drawn to it. And mind you just for browsing but to create an identity of self. Abhinav Das (17) is no exception, smitten by the internet bug sometime back after being gifted with a lappy. The intelligent kid started to learn by himself the mystery that is unraveled by the info highway.

He pioneered in ethical hacking, but how it all started is a story. “When I was in Class V, my teacher Padma generously allowed me to surf the Internet to learn programming. Armed with a few basic hacking lessons, I played mischief in that very lab and infected over 20 computers, making them restart again and again!” recalls Abhinav. “After a while, I confessed to my prank. Surprisingly, my teacher was only happy that I had learnt something,” he adds. Abhinav recently wrote his Inter second year exams, is an avid badminton player and held a state rank during his school days. He is also encouraged by the CID for ethical hacking.

Recently the teen sprang a surprise on the internet giant Google, by showing ways how the Nepal extension of the website could be hacked. To this achievement Google rewarded the young teen with an honorary mention in the Google Security Hall of Fame. When people more above his age are competing to grab limelight, this teen has excelled with mere interest in innovation. Only proving that work where your heart lies and recognition shall automatically follow. (With Inputs from Internet- Aarkay)