Meet Sanya Gandhi, the CBSE Class 10 joint-topper in special category

Sixteen year old Sanya Gandhi loves singing songs by singer Arijit Singh. The Class 10 student from Uttam School for Girls, Shastri Nagar – Ghaziabad is a joint national topper with 489 marks in CBSE’s Class 10 result declared for the differently-abled category. The girl is the only child of her parents and has damaged optic nerves since birth.

‘Study hard during the day and chill out with friends at night,’ is the mantra she followed while pursuing her studies. Her disadvantage helped her stay away from the social media, which she says is a major distraction for students of her age.

“I studied the entire day till 9pm. Thereafter it was masti (chill) time by listening to music and chatting with friends till late night. The issue with vision did not distract me and kept me away from the social media which could have consumed a lot of time. But my parents never stopped me from pursuing anything I like. My teachers have been very supportive. I cannot believe that I could get such high marks as I was aiming for 90% marks. Becoming a country topper is dream come true,” Sanya said.

She has now opted for psychology, history, English, political science and music as her subjects for the next class. She wants to become an IAS officer and wants to serve people.

Regarding her preparations for the Class 10 exams, she said, “I aimed to complete my entire syllabus by September and then started with solving question papers of last 10 years and thereafter I started revisions. I want to serve as an IAS office because the country needs better people to serve citizens and I want to see my country emerging very strong.”

Sharmila Raheja, her school principal, said that Sanya opted for scribes in two subjects while she wrote her remaining papers through a computer software allowed by the CBSE.

“Two girls from Class 9 raised hands to help her out writing her examinations. We took permission from the CBSE for her two subjects in which scribes were attached to her. Although the special category students are given additional 45 minutes time, Sanya finished all her exams in three hours span,” Raheja added.

Gandhi secured 99 in English, 100 in social science, 97 in Hindi, 95 in Mathematics, 98 in science and 92 in IT.

Sanya’s mother Sarika and father Anil Gandhi were left stunned and cheerful at the same time as their daughter emerged as a country topper. Her father is a businessman in Ghaziabad.

“She had issues with Mathematics, but she overcame those. We never stopped her from pursuing what she wants. A day before her exams, we also took her out for dinner. She used to be very tense ahead of her exams. But she studied daily and set daily targets which she completed at all cost. We are happy that she made us proud,” her mother said.

Sanya gives motivational speeches to her fellow differently-abled children in school and enjoys a special camaraderie with them.

“I wish to tell younger students not to consider themselves lesser than anyone. Their parents should not force them from pursuing their ambitions and should trust them. I would request all parents to let their children pursue their ambitions,” she added.