ISC

SUBARNA KOLEY 

Aggregate: 98.5% (English + top 3) 
Scorecard: English 95, political science 100, sociology 100, psychology 99, geography 94, Bengali 94
Resident of: Mahishgot, Kestopur
School: Our Lady Queen of the Missions

Preparation time: I never studied 10 hours a day. Even during the study leave I studied for about four-five hours. I would read story books and play with my cats and dogs to stay calm. I tend to panic otherwise.

Moment of reckoning: I knew I would not leave home on the day of the results. If I did well I would be too excited to go out. And if I did badly I would stay cooped up in my room. I had decided not to check my results immediately.  So even when it struck 3pm, I patiently fed all my cats and dogs. It was only around 4pm that I went to my room and logged in. Only my mother was there, with fingers crossed. I was expecting around 96 per cent. So initially I could not believe my eyes, so I kept checking my unique identification number. Then I started screaming, so much so that my father, who was sleeping in the next room, came up and was about to scold me when he saw tears in my mother’s eyes. Then he too got emotional. Neighbours who came over were treated to sweets.

Future plan: I don’t want to leave the city. It will be difficult to adjust elsewhere. And I depend on my mother for everything. I want to study English at JU, St. Xavier’s or Presidency College. 

Play time: I love to read novels. My favourites are Charles Dickens in English, and Bankimchandra Chattopadhyay and Saratchandra Chattopadhyay in Bengali. I go to the public library at Rabindrapalli regularly. I love creative writing and am also learning classical music besides which I sing Rabindrasangeet and Nazrulgeeti. I also teach our domestic help’s daughter and now that my exams are over, I am guiding a couple of kids in the neighbourhood.

Advice to juniors: It’s no use sitting for hours with books. It is better to focus completely when you do and let the knowledge sink in.

MIHIKA BANERJEE

Aggregate: 98% 
Scorecard: English 98, computer science 100, physics 99, chemistry 95, mathematics 94, Hindi 89
Resident of: FE Block
School: Our Lady Queen of the Missions

Preparation time: There was no fixed routine. I studied for 12 hours with breaks in between. I would use the breaks to catch forty winks, discuss the syllabus with friends or watch TV. I had three tutors and went to a coaching institute for physics. I like all the science subjects. Even in school, I used to figure in the top three. 

Moment of reckoning: My mother, grandfather and I simultaneously tried to check the result. My grandfather saw it first on his mobile and there was such disbelief that I checked independently. Then we sat down to do the calculations. I was delighted with my English marks. I expected around 90. But I could have done better in mathematics and Hindi. But I am not complaining. Cousins and relatives came home and we had dinner together.

Future plans: I want to do research. The competitive exams are on now. I am appearing for JEE, BITS Manipal, BITS Pilani, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology and SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai.

Play time: I go to swim at Calcutta Club and play the synthesiser. I have cleared grade VII of the John W. Schaum piano course. Two grades are left which I plan to take up now.

Advice to juniors: Do not ignore English. It will always count in the total. And try to get concepts clear.

OYESHI GANGULY

Aggregate: 97.5%
Scorecard: Political science 100, psychology 98, English 96, Bengali 96, geography 92, sociology 88
Stays in: AK Block
School: Our Lady Queen of the Missions

Preparation time: I did not have tutors. My father helped with English and mother with Bengali. I studied seven to eight hours a day during study leave. My mother worked harder than me for my exams. When I would study till 2.30-3am, she would stay up with me though she had to wake up again at 6am to get my sister ready for school. She also had to bear my pre-exam mood swings. My father works in Mumbai. He used to mail me grammar worksheets which we used to discuss over Skype.

Moment of reckoning: I shrieked on seeing the result. Then I started calculating the aggregate on the phone while my mother did it on paper. Then my 11-year-old sister hugged me tight and stood in silence for a long time.

Future plan: My grandfather wants me to be an IAS. I also want to sit for UPSC. My first aim is IFS. I am grateful to my parents that they did not get pressured by advice from all around to make me study science after I got 93 percent in ICSE and allowed me to pursue a stream of my choice. I did well because I am passionate about the subjects. I am preparing to take the entrance test to study international relations at JU. The test at Presidency University is over and I will also apply at St. Xavier’s College. I would have liked to study at JNU in Delhi but my parents are opposed to that under the current circumstances.

Playtime: I collect stamps and coins. I also love reading story books. My favourites are Jhumpa Lahiri and Neel Mukherjee. I have read his The Lives of Others five times. I also like politics-oriented books. Right now I am reading Sagarika Ghose’s Indira: India’s Most Powerful Prime Minister. I also read a lot of Saadat Hasan Manto.

Advice to juniors: The period before the Boards exams is very stressful and one needs a support system. Confide in someone on a regular basis, be it a friend or a family member. That helps you to stay calm. Remember, it’s just an exam. 

DISHA GUPTA

Aggregate: 97.5%
Scorecard: English 95, Hindi 95, political science 100, sociology 100, economics 92, mathematics 75
Stays in: HB Block
School: Our Lady Queen of the Missions

Preparation time: I didn’t push myself for the Board exams. During the study leave, I studied as much as I did before school exams. My focus was on the NIFT entrance. For that I had enrolled in Class XI at a professional institute in BC Block to brush up English, logic, mathematics and drawing skills, which are the requirements there.

Moment of reckoning: I was nervous through the week. My parents had more confidence in me than I had. My mother and I checked the result together online. Two 100s in a row! I was shocked. The result looked weird as I did not expect to do so well. But then I thought I did study consistently through two years so that must have paid off. My brother, who is in Class II, was sulking in a corner. He later said he was worried that he would have to do as well as I had. At night, we went out for dinner together.

Future plans: I have cleared two rounds of the extrance exam at NIFT and will soon appear for the counselling. 
Advice to juniors: Pay attention in class and listen to teachers. They know best how to answer questions. 

Playtime:  I love the fashion industry and follow the Paris and New York fashion weeks. My favourite designers are Tarun Tahiliani in India and Ralph & Russo internationally. I like sketching perspectives and figures.I am trying to get myself to read more books.

RHYTHM MANDAL

Aggregate: 97.5%
Scorecard: English 91, history 99, sociology 100, political science 100, psychology 96, Hindi 94
Stays in: Hudco Housing Estate, Ultadanga
School: Salt Lake School

Preparation time: Since Class XI, I have not had a tutor. I liked all the subjects I took so I thought I could manage by myself. My mother helped with Hindi. I was down with dengue before my selection test and was in hospital for five days. I was depressed thinking it might spoil my one shot at the Board exam. I recovered with barely two weeks to go for the test but surprisingly still got 90 per cent. Maybe the fact that I was a good student throughout helped. During the study leave, I studied for seven to eight hours a day. 

Moment of reckoning: My mother was checking my result on the laptop while I went online on my phone. I could not believe my eyes and started leaping in joy. Both of us also wept a bit. But celebrations are on hold till I get admission in a good college. 

Future plans: I want to study English so I am worried that my marks in English are not as high as in the other subjects. But in the long run, I want to be a filmmaker. 

Advice to juniors: If you are confident you can manage without tutors go ahead and study on your own. The school teachers are always there to help out. At one point, I was wracked with self-doubt. But my results are proof that it could be done.

Play time: I love watching films. My favourite directors are Alfred Hitchcock, Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatak and among the current ones Anurag Kashyap and Meghna Gulzaar.

ICSE

SOURAV SEN

Aggregate: 97% (English + top four)
Scorecard: English 91, mathematics 100, computer science 100, science 98, history-civics-geography 94
Stays in: BD Block
School: St Joan’s School

Preparation time: I would study for around 9 to 10 hours during the study leave and a bit more on the day before the exam but never beyond 11pm. I had tutors for mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry and English. When school was open, I would study from 7am to 8.30am before heading for classes. After school, my tuitions would be from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. I would come home and study again till 11pm.

Moment of reckoning: My mother and I checked the result together. I was a bit upset about my English marks but on calling up friends I learnt that everyone had got five-six marks short of expectation in the paper. I was the second boy in school. That was the case in the Board results too. There was no scope to celebrate as I had to study at night and attend tuitions the day after. Our school reopened long back on April 16 and classes are on in full swing. 

Future plans: I am preparing to seek admission in a JEE coaching institute. My favourite subject is math. 

Advice to juniors: Some students get scared by the continuous pressure in school of class tests round the year. I had felt that too. But if you are studying all year, all you need to do before the Board examinations is revise. There would be no pressure. I realised this during the study leave.

Play time: I watch films, sports and factual shows on TV. I am following IPL too but I get to watch only the last couple of overs. The latest film I watched is Avengers: Infinity War.

ASMITA MAJUMDAR

Aggregate: 97%
Scorecard: Biology 98, mathematics 97, physics 97, English 96, chemistry 91
Stays in: BJ Block
School: Salt Lake School

Preparation time: My urge to study was roused when the ISC schedule was announced on January 10. That was when I drew up a proper studies roster. Before that, the only concerted effort worth mentioning that I put in was during the study leave before the selection test. I did not have any tutor except one for English. All the science subjects were taken care of by my mother, an engineer who has taken voluntary retirement from her job. I can’t stay up late or wake up early. I am also used to a post-lunch siesta. So I studied from 9am to 12.30pm and again from 6pm to 10pm. 

Moment of reckoning: I was too tense so my father took leave that day and checked my results at home. I stood at the other end of the room with fingers plugging my ears as my mother calculated my aggregate. Once I saw their smiling faces I knew I had done well. Then my elder brother and grandfather (Biswajiban Majumdar, a former chairman of Bidhannagar Municipality) came in. Celebrations are still due. The extended family will be treated soon.

Future plans: I want to pursue biology and have applied to St. Xavier’s College, Lady Brabourne College and Presidency University. Though I am applying to Delhi University too, I have no plans to leave my mother behind.

Play time: I love to read story books, especially thrillers by Dan Brown. I used to learn Odissi till Class X. Now my favourite pastime is hanging out with friends and watching movies with my mother. We have already watched Raazi. 

ANUBHAB MANDAL

Aggregate: 96.6%
Scorecard: English 89, Bengali 91, science 98, mathematics 100, computer 98, history-geography-civics 98
Stays in: Samarpally, Kestopur
School: Sri Aurobindo Institute of Education

Preparation time: I had tutors in physics, chemistry, mathematics and English. I put in focused effort during the study leave and increased about eight per cent marks from what I got in the school selection test. 

Moment of reckoning: My father checked my result in office as our computer at home does not have internet connection and I did not want to do it on my phone. He called to inform us. None of us is excitable. So though my mother and I were happy, we took the news quite calmly. In fact, in the evening itself I sat down with text books. The next day, there was mutton for lunch in celebration.

Future plans: I have enrolled in the same school with science. I want to do research in chemistry.

Play time: I watch sports on TV when I can. I am watching five-six overs of IPL matches when I have dinner around 10pm. It is not possible to watch till the end as the TV set is in my parents’ bedroom and they go to sleep early. But that does not bother me. I watch the highlights the next day. Now I am spending time playing cricket with my brother who is in Class V or helping him with art and craft projects.