Indira Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya in Hazaribagh; (above) Anjali Kumari. (Vishvendu Jaipuriar)

Hazaribagh, May 31: Very few schools bag six ranks out of the state’s top 10 in Class X board results, but Hazaribagh’s Indira Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya did just that. And very few fathers get the same joy twice over, but Ajay Kumar Tiwary has that rare luck.

The Daltonganj resident and garments shop owner was overjoyed to know that his daughter Anjali Kumari had topped the state in Jharkhand Academic Council’s matriculation examinations this year, getting an average of 91 per cent.

In 2009, Tiwary’s son Kumar Saurav had performed the same feat.

Jubilant Anjali, a student of Indira Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, said she was only following bhaiya’s footsteps. Talking from her Irrigation Colony Chowk home, she said that instead of counting hours, she clocked her concentration. “It was in my mind that hours never count. How well you grasp the subject and write your answers, do,” she told The Telegraph. Clearly, with 95 in Sanskrit, 89 in English, 93 in math, 96 in science, 82 in social science and 91 in music, she proved her point.

Anjali also has an offbeat ambition. “I want to become a forensic scientist,” she said.

The second topper of the state Shipra Shalini, Anjali’s classmate, scored 90 per cent. “I studied six hours minimum daily. I was also guided by my teachers and my dad who coaches students in Dhanbad,” said the girl who wants to be an IAS. Shalini secured 87 in Sanskrit, 91 in English, 99 in math, 89 in science, 84 in social science and 95 in music.

For Indira Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, it was time to cheer as six out of 10 state toppers were from this school.

But the celebrations were not without drama. Principal Ananda Devi, retiring today, got her suspension letter yesterday from the state government for dereliction in duty. She broke into tears. “I was punished by the government without any reason. But I will cherish my girls’ success for the rest of my life,” she told The Telegraph.

According to her, besides Anjali Kumari and Shipra Shalini, Darshini Sinha secured 5th position in the state followed by Saumya Amritanshu and Sonam Kumari Singh, who were a joint 6th, while Kumari Ankita was placed 10th.

According to Ananda Devi, it was discipline and hard work which brought students their success and the school its glory. “All the six toppers are also good in extra-curricular activities,” she said.

New principal Alice Tirkey said two students, Darshini and Saumya, had secured 100 in mathematics. “Of the 66 girls who sat for this examination, 63 came in the first class and only three came in the second class,” she said.

Then chief minister of Bihar, Chandrashekhar Singh, inaugurated the school, established in 1984. It runs classes from Classes VI to XII.

But all’s not well. “We face scarcity of teachers and other resources for which higher-ups are informed from time to time. We got the go-ahead to start Plus 2 but need teaching and office staff as well as infrastructure,” said Devi.