Medicine, engineering again
getting the center stage amongst the toppers.
Unlike
most years when most of the top ranks in the State Board exams are captured
by Gujarati medium students, this time English medium students dominated
the charts. Five of the top l0 in the city were from St Xavier’s Loyola
High School, something unprecedented.
Most of the toppers, as always,
want to become doctors or engineers. The only exception is Anuj Nanavati
who says his inclination is more towards computer science. Sharvil Sheth,
who shares his 5th rank in the State with Goral Panchal, says he wants
to be a doctor. Not surprising, except that until last year, he wanted
to be an architect.
‘I used to do a lot of sketching
and stuff like that and was really interested in architecture. But when
I talked to a few architects they said the profession is no longer as
rewarding as earlier and that there is a slump in the field. So I decided
to go into medicine," he says matter-of-factly.
What is interesting is that
no one in his family so far has ever tone into a science-related field.
His father Umesh Sheth, a businessman says, "I was clear about Sharvil’s
getting into some professional line, I did not want him to join me in
the business. Our family’s hopes were on him and though we did not expect
him to make it to the Board toppers, we wanted him to perform well."
There is a liberal sprinkling
of aspiring doctors and engineers among the toppers but credit for harbouring
the highest ambition has to be given to Ujjval Gandhi, who holds the 8th
rank in the State. He not only wants to do his lIT but also wants to be
"the leading civil engineer in the country".
Most of the toppers say
they have been studying at least 10 to 12 hours a day after their prelims.
Another cornmon factor seems to be the fact that all of them admit to
have finished their full syllabus at least once by October. Anunay, who
is city 9th, and Goral wear spectacles and their numbers have gone up
by at least .5 each in the past one year — goes to show just how much
of effort they put in. Goral admits to have been studying about 18-19
hours a day. Sharvil Sheth, unlike most students who manage by solving
previous years’ question papers, believes in knowing his entire textbook
from the first page to the last.
From among all present, Anuj
Nanavati was however, the only one to admit that he might not have made
it to the top without tuitions. Sharvil admits that at least in Chemistry
he was glad to have had tuitions as his school faculty was not up to the
mark. All others, though accept to have taken tuitions, deny that tuitions
were either instrumental in getting them the ranks or were the mainstay
in their performance.
While the students were obviously
and justifiably elated, the true extent of joy was seen on the faces of
the parents.
While toppers have different
formulae for success, the bottomline was mentioned by Umesh Sheth who
said, "Without hard work, nothing is possible anywhere, whatever may be
the field. The only true mantra for success is hard work and nothing else."
And all these toppers have proved that.
Compiled from Local News Media
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