After a screening of about four lakh kids from 450 schools across ten cities, Neha Jain, a student of Class VIII, won the “Nat Geo Junior Hunt”. The results were announced in the second week of February.

The winner gets a fund for his/her future education and a chance to host Nat Geo Junior shows on the channel for three months. The channel executives said the programme will be aired in April. And there is also a meeting scheduled with the President of India, Pratibha Patil, which is expected to take place shortly.

Fourteen-year-old Neha keeps herself informed. She has cultivated a reading habit since her childhood. These two factors, she said, gave her an edge over her peers.

Neha, who always comes first, aspires to be an astrophysicist. But she also loves the Harry Potter series and books by Agatha Christie and Robin Cook. She is equally adept at playing keyboard and guitar.

The selection process for the talent hunt involved rigorous rounds of innovative “Think again” tests in the initial stages. These were followed by rounds of games, puzzles, debates, out-of-the-box challenges, an adventure camp and grooming sessions.

As a part of the adventure camp, 40 students from ten cities were tested at Sitlakhet in Uttaranchal from November 13-18 last year.

The four shortlisted candidates were taken to Delhi and tested on basis of a module devised by the British Council. Neha was found to be the best of all.

The idea behind the contest is to choose candidates with intelligence, logical thinking and mathematical and articulation skills, said Karan Tandon, Assistant General Manager, Marketing, National Geographic Channel.

“At the final stage, we test the presentation skills -- how well the candidate can present him/herself in front of the camera,” Tandon added.

Navaratan Jain, Neha’s father, says the family did not put any pressure on her.