It seemed like business as usual at a Worli residential society on Monday, September 15 evening. Ground floor resident 10-year-old Jaden Marzy Parakh, a Std V student, was outside his Poonam Apartments, D Wing home when he noticed smoke originating from the ground floor flat next to his.
Number genius
Jaden’s father, social worker Marzy Parakh, said, “It was 6.30 pm. That is Jaden’s playtime, and he was outside the house. His nanny, Sunita Ram Ghule, was with him. I was in my room on the upper floor of my home and did see some plumes, but I thought it was fogging, pest control.” Reneey M Parakh, Jaden’s mother, interjected, as this is a vital part of the background of the account, “Jaden is exceptional when it comes to remembering numbers, dates.
A thumbs up from brave little Jaden
Tell him a phone number or a flat number once, and he will recall it three years later. He has an elephantine memory.” Marzy added about his son, “He has always had the ability to memorise numbers elaborately; he has a one-of-a-kind memory, remembers over a couple thousand phone numbers, song lyrics, birthdays, what he wore on which date from the time he was two years old!”
Number whiz
Super saviour Jaden in front of house he saved
On that September evening, Jaden’s parents heard his voice from outside the house shouting, “Fire, fire!”. The little boy, a student of an international school in Parel, then took his nanny’s phone and dialled his neighbour, Raumil Sanghavi’s cell phone number.
“I did not have the number stored in my phone,” explained nanny Sunita Ram Ghule. “Jaden took my phone and called Raumil mama, as he calls him, because he recalled his number,” she said. “He was extremely fast and very courageous too,” Jaden recalled his neighbour’s mobile number, a number he had memorised after asking for it only once. He remembered that and called to alert him of the fire.
Little Jaden with a rare gift and a unique memory (right) V stands for victory says Jaden with Raumil outside the home that caught fire. Pics/ASHISH RAJE
Not only did Jaden’s call alert Raumil, who was in the vicinity and rushed to his home, but he triggered a warning and alarm by shouting “fire, fire.” Residents evacuated immediately and were able to call the fire brigade. Jaden said with a proud smile, “I shouted, fire, fire, I saved people.”
Awesome, amazing
Raumil arrived at his home, opened his apartment, which was empty, and saw the fire. Raumil explained, “I tried to put it out initially with a small fire extinguisher. I could not, and we called the fire brigade. They were here in minutes and doused the fire. I have to revamp the space. Yet, the most important aspect is that there were no injuries, casualties. Jaden is a wonder kid with an awesome memory. Besides calling me, he recognised it was a fire and flagged that danger. That is an exceptional response of awareness and alacrity from a 10-year-old.” The source of the fire was not established.
Jaden’s parents said, “Children are taught in school how to recognise danger and fires. Jaden remembers all that very well, that classroom teaching was translated to solid action in real life. This also shows us the importance of listening to children, paying attention to what they say. If we had been dismissive of Jaden that day, his shouts of fire, fire, may have gone unheeded, and we may have witnessed a huge tragedy. Many adults are flippant about what kids say, brushing it off as insignificant or some kiddie chatter.
This is a classic example of how wrong we are to do so. Jaden is a big brother in his school class, too, a support and guiding light to so many kids. He is also extremely empathetic and has a sense of responsibility and maturity that belies his years.” Jaden’s confidence and self-belief were evident when one interacted with the little hero, one who used his rare gift and coupled that with daring to become a saviour. One can only say: make some noise for this sunshine boy, who displayed grit and poise.
