LEWISHAM: Genius four-year-old can remember 700 bus routes

Reporter KELLY SMALE tells the story of an unforgettable youngster.

Ishaan Yewale, has been interested in buses since the age of two but started to study the routes on the Transport For London (TfL) website eight months ago.

His interest began on the way to a day care centre, which his mother took him to while she was at work.

Mum Sonali Jayant, 35, said: “The centre was only two stops away but he liked the buses so much that we took him on them.

He didn’t start with the intention of memorising them but he remembered the route and all the stops in between.”

The Lewisham youngster’s memory is so good he can even help people who are unsure of what bus to get.

Mrs Jayant, of Armoury Road, said: “It’s amazing how he corrects people when they get the bus route wrong.

“He tells them what bus goes where and all the stops along the way.”

She added: “We know he has read all the bus route maps.

“We have quizzed him by asking him at random different routes and he gets them right every time.

“He has had two television interviews and they tested him by asking him different routes and he got them right.”

Ishaan’s parents first recognised their son’s amazing memory when he was three-years-old.

Mrs Jayant, who works at a bank in Canary Wharf, said: “We knew he remembered things well because he learnt the tube map.”

She had previously taken Ishaan to a day centre in London.

She said: “I would take him on the DLR and explain what stop came next and he remembered it.

“When we went home he would tell his dad the sequence of stops he had been on.”

Bosses at TfL were so impressed by Ishaan’s memory that they got in touch with the family and invited him to pay his first ever visit to the London Transport Museum.

Ishaan said: “I had a great time and got to see lots of buses. I really liked wearing the bus driver’s hat.”

Duty Manager at the London Transport Museum, Mike Dipré, said: “It was great to show Ishaan and his family around the museum, although I was a bit worried that Ishaan’s transport knowledge might be better than mine.

“Transport has played a key role in London’s history and it’s great to see someone with such enthusiasm learning all about them.”

The youngster also loves cricket and has memorised the players, their stats and what clubs they play for.

His dad, Jayant Yewale, shares his son’s passion for cricket.

The 36-year-old IT manager is captain of the Old Wilsonian’s Cricket Club in Hayes, Bromley.

Despite being so young, Ishaan has started being coached at the same club with the under-nines, which usually takes children over six years old.

Ishaan is now in the reception class at John Ball Primary School, Southvale Road, Blackheath and wants to be a bus driver when he grows up.

Mrs Jayant said: “We are very proud of him and we didn’t think it would get so much coverage. It was unexpected but its been good for him.”

A science student from Goldsmith University is due to visit Ishaan to find out why and how he remembers so much.

For more feature stories, visit newsshopper.co.uk/news/features