Kadesh Berlin aged 12 years, studying in class 7 in The Frank Anthony Public School.

Not often does one find a child who loves family so. Everything about Kadesh circles around his siblings and parents. Even an ideal Children’s Day, for him, is about spending it all with his family. “This one is really special, for it’s on a Saturday. Both my parents are free all day. My younger siblings have their sports day on the 14th. We will go cheer them,” he says. He also hopes for a lunch-out on the day.

His parents — mother Parizaad Berlin, facilitator at parenting class Mommy’s Helper and father Stanley Berlin, director of Berlin Consultancy — treat him like “a grownup, of course,” he says. “I like to look after the babies (his younger siblings), pick them up when they fall, play with them,” Kadesh says. He has another favourite — his pet dog, a boxer named JD (“after Jack Daniel’s”, his mother says with a laugh).

He finds Physics “easy to learn and loads of fun”. He takes football lessons and also likes table tennis. Television is another pastime. “I watch too much of it, actually — Star World, VH1, Pogo, everything,” he says.

Kadesh aims to “do well at whatever I eventually choose. I want to be prosperous,” he says.