After MSc at 12, child prodigy Tulsi completes his PhD in Physics at 21.

A PRODIGY who had finished his bachelors' degree at 10 and masters at 12 amid media hype has now earned his doctorate in Physics from the Indian Institute of Science ( IISc) here, spending around six years like anyone else.

Avatar Tulsi, 21, once known as Tathagat, hoped to get his PhD four years ago and become the youngest professor at 17. But his moment came only on Tuesday.

Mature after the grind, away from media hype and his family that encouraged him to break records, Tulsi now looks forward to continue research. His field is software development for quantum computing, the superfast future of number crunching.

There is an invite from the Institute for Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo, Canada, for post- doctoral work, Tulsi said. " But if I get funding I would like to continue in India -- nothing much, just Rs 5 lakh for an advanced computer." Completing high school at nine, Tulsi was known as a child prodigy back in his native Bihar. He fasttracked through college thanks to court and government interventions, and earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the youngest postgraduate.

Sceptics called him a fraud who craved for publicity. Amid hype, back in 2000, the Department of Science and Technology ( DST) sent Tulsi to Germany for a meet of physics Nobel laureates. Later, it admitted that it was a blunder.

One of the luminaries later told the media that he felt " sorry for the boy" after he heard that his " parents have been grooming him to be a Nobel laureate". He had mugged up a lot and talked well, but was impractical, others said.

Tulsi's father expected him to finish his PhD in two- and- half years, sources said, and Tulsi himself was quite upbeat. " We had taken him for research as he answered questions that any successful candidate would have answered," said P. S. Anil Kumar, assistant professor at IISc's physics department. Tulsi has matured and completing a PhD in Physics in five- seven years is normal, Kumar added.

When he was 17, his research paper had brought him an invitation from Bell Labs, US, and a chance to contact Lov Grover who discovered the ' Grover's algorithm' in 1996. His work draws from Grover's findings.

Spending time amid an array of computers and a boxful of sweets, Tulsi, says he would like to give a treat to his friends now. And he finds more time for gym and walks around the green IISc campus.

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