AVINANDAN BOSE

WBJEE rank: 1
Resident of: AE Block
Student of: South Point School

When the results of WBJEE were declared, no one could reach Avinandan Bose. He was virtually quarantined in the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education in Mumbai where he has made it to a two-week orientation cum selection camp for the top 35 after clearing two rounds of the Physics Olympiad. The top five chosen from the camp will represent India in the international meet. Their classes are day-long, often continuing into the evening, and mobile connectivity is also uncertain.

“It was only when I checked the phone during a tea break between classes that I saw numerous missed calls from parents and school teachers,” says Avinandan, when The Telegraph Salt Lake managed to speak to him after days of hunt for an elusive mobile signal at Avinandan’s end. 

He expected to do well in WBJEE “but not top”. In CBSE, he scored 95 per cent. Other than a coaching institute, he depended on teachers in school for help. “If you understand the basic subjects well you can succeed in any examination since the syllabus is almost the same. All you got to do is sit for a few mock tests to understand the pattern of an exam,” says the AE Block boy.

He has hardly been able to take a break since his Board exams with the competitive exams following on its heels. The camp started on May 23. “I like sitting for such contests. It lets me explore interesting problems. I have also appeared for Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search and Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana.” Selections for the Indian Institute of Science are made on the basis of the latter and he plans to appear for the counselling in Bangalore.

Despite the pressure, he is enjoying this stint too. “We are doing group work among friends after the lectures and practicals. That helps clear concepts.” They will take three theory tests and three practical tests at the end, on the basis of which the top five will be chosen. 

If he is missing something, his mother Satarupa suspects it is non-vegetarian food. “It is all veg at the camp. He hates veg food,” she says of her son who is particularly fond of biryani.

Avinandan, who settled in Salt Lake when his parents returned from Jeddah when he was in Class III, used to play cricket at Pankaj Roy Cricket Coaching Centre in BF Park. “But one day their pitch was destroyed after some dispute. He was very upset then. But since he was already in Class VIII, we did not try to enrol him elsewhere. Since he does not have too many friends in the block, he used to play badminton with his father,” says mother Satarupa.  
There is another sport that Avinandan follows — Formula 1 racing. “My interest grew after the races took place in Delhi once,” says the fan of Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

His race right now is now to reach the top five. The results of the camp will be declared on June 4. 

DEDEEPYO RAY

WBJEE rank: 2
Resident of: AK Block
Student of: Hariyana Vidya Mandir

The WBJEE results were announced on Wednesday at just a day’s notice and Dedeepyo Ray had already left for his grandparents’ place in Khardah on Tuesday where he did not even have access to the Internet. ‘I had decided to check my result after we returned on Thursday. Who knew something like this would happen and I would be rushing back to Calcutta?” said Dedeepyo, speaking over phone from the taxi, trying to make himself heard over the traffic din.

His father Saurabh Ray, a ceramic technologist working in Sector V, was still in office trying to wind up early for the day. “Dedeepyo means ‘illuminated’. I taught him till Class X. For the past couple of years, he had a chemistry tutor other than classes at a coaching institute,” said the resident of AK Block. 

The 18-year-old, who grew up in the block ever since his parents settled in Calcutta and enrolled him in Hariyana Vidya Mandir in Class II, gives as much credit to his teachers in school. 

He insists that he never followed a routine when it came to studies. “I studied as much as I wanted to and only when I wanted to. At other times, I thought about what I had studied. Otherwise, I relaxed by cycling around the block or doing yoga.” The latter, he says, has stood him in good stead.

“I have been doing yoga since Class III. It increased my concentration as well as my appetite.” 

Though there is talk of abolishing the West Bengal joint entrance exam, Dedeepyo is in favour of retaining it. “It maintains the individuality of the state. Also the math paper of WBJEE is a standard one, between JEE Mains and Advanced in terms of difficulty,” says the boy who can’t choose between physics and mathematics as his favourite subject. 

A fan of the adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the Lord of the Rings series, he is also interested in serious non-fiction. “I like reading anything — motivational books to treatises on the origin of language.”

To add icing on the celebration cake, his CBSE results too have come out where he has scored 96.4 per cent. “He had focused on competitive exams. So it’s a bonus,” his father smiles.

Dedeepyo wants to study mechanical engineering. “I like fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics and rotational mechanics which are all part of the mechanical stream.”

But he is unsure where to study. Though Jadavpur University is an option, he would wait for the JEE Advanced results to come out. “My JEE Mains score is 500. But I don’t want to enrol in the NITs,” he says. “An all India institute carries weight. But there are 23 IITs now. We would prefer the old established ones,” adds his father. 

For now, he wants to take rest and go back to his grandparents’ house to make amends for the visit cut short.

DEBAJYOTI KAR

WBJEE rank: 5
Resident of: BG Block
Student of: Apeejay School, Salt Lake

If you spot crows hovering over a roof in BG Block in the afternoon, that is likely to be Debajyoti Kar feeding his flock. “I know each of them,” smiles the 18-year-old, tossing leftovers from lunch to a dozen crows on the terrace of his three-storeyed house. This has been his habit since he was in Class III. 

Another habit that has sustained is playing tennis ball cricket with his father on the terrace. It acted as a stress-buster when he was preparing for his exams. “When school was on, I studied after school from 3.30pm to 5pm. I would have tuitions from 6.30 or 7pm for an hour and half or two. Then I would sit again with my books before retiring for the night before midnight. The only break would be the time on the terrace playing with my father or a bit of television in his absence.” During the study break, the hours of studies by himself went up to around eight. He also had tutors in chemistry, biology and English other than classes at a coaching institute.

When the results were announced, the Apeejay School boy was upstairs. “It was my mother who called me, saying they were naming me on the news. My grandparents were also in the room. Within 15 minutes, the media was in our house,” says the 18-year-old.

He did expect to be in the top 20 of WBJEE but not in the top five. “I do not think I will use this rank. I do not intend to study in Bengal.”

He has topped his school in CBSE too with 97 per cent. His JEE Mains rank has come to 1,343. Before the JEE Advanced results come out, father and son are off to Bangalore. “He had appeared for Kishore Vigyan Protsahon Yojana in both Class XI and XII, with a national rank of 12th once and 28th the second time. He is getting admission in Indian Institute of Science because of that.”

But if his JEE Advanced rank is good, it would be IIT calling.

Till the last weekend, the Kolkata Knight Riders supporter, who trained at the Videocon School of Cricket from Class V to VIII, was busy following IPL. And once KKR got knocked out, he was rooting for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings. “Dhoni coming back to form is good news for Indian cricket,” he smiles as the team of his choice lifted the trophy.

What is your message for these meritorius students? Write to The Telegraph Salt Lake, 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta 700001 or email to saltlake@abpmail.com