Around 10,000 examinees appeared for CBSE 2010 from Bengal. Metro salutes some little bravehearts

Venkat Raj Khandelwal

The student of Birla High School for Boys suffers from albinism, a congenital disorder that has rendered him partially blind. “I cannot see the blackboard and so I relied on what I heard in class,” says the boy who managed an 81.5 per cent in commerce. Venkat had to keep the answer script barely two centimetres from his eyes while writing, but that did not stop him from scoring 96 in economics and 94 in accounts. “I could only study for an hour at a stretch. After that my eyes started watering,” says Venkat, eyeing economics honours in St Xavier’s.

Surabhi Sultania

In June 2009, this Class XII student of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School was detected with a cyst in her brain. “Some days, she would faint three or four times,” says mother Rani. Her parents wanted her to skip her boards but Surabhi was determined not to waste a year. “I could not study for more than 15 minutes at a stretch, as my head would start aching,” she says, after scoring 62 per cent in commerce.

Arshita Sharma

The student of Apeejay Park Street suffers from cerebral palsy. So what? “It wasn’t very difficult for me. I had confidence in myself that I could do well and so I did it,” she smiles, having scored 65 per cent in humanities.

Mehek Adhikary

The student of Aditya Academy Senior Secondary in Barasat lost her father during her board exams. “I had my history paper the next day. I was in no condition to take the test, but I did because my father would never have wanted me to skip it,” she says. The girl who topped the humanities stream in her school with 84 per cent was “over the top” when she saw her marks but was reduced to tears when she realised she could not share her joy with her father.

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