Gurugram boy tops CBSE 10th board, feels ‘shocked’, ‘overwhelmed’

CBSE Class 10 result: Prakhar Mittal, one of the four joint toppers, wants to be an engineer.

education Updated: May 29, 2018 16:47 IST

The first rank has been shared by Prakhar Mittal from Gurugram, Rimzhim Agrawal from Bijnor, Nandni Garg from Shamli, and Sreelakshmi G from Cochin, who scored 499 marks out of 500. (Twitter/parveenkumar_ht )

Prakhar Mittal, 16, is overjoyed. And why wouldn’t he be — this Gurugram teen has topped the Class 10th board exams, scoring 499 out of 500!

Mittal (from Delhi Public School, Gurgaon) is the highest scorer in the country along with Rimzhim Agarwal (from RK Public School, Bijnor), Nandini Garg (from Scottish International School, Shamli), and Sreelakshmi G (from Bhavan Vidyalayas, Cochin), who have all scored 499 out of 500.

Mittal is “shocked” and “overwhelmed”. He tells us, “It’s really overwhelming. I can’t believe it and I am really happy. All my hard work has paid off. My first reaction was no reaction, as I didn’t know how to react. I obviously didn’t expect these many marks.”

Prakhar Mittal’s marksheet.

The teenager says that he his schedule allowed him enough time for pursuing hobbies. “[My interests] didn’t take a back seat [for the exams], I’m not someone who is just into studying; I enjoy extra-curricular as well. Throughout the year, I’d take out one hour every day to play cricket and table tennis,” he says.

“I studied regularly throughout the year, studying the NCERT [books] thoroughly. I studied hard in the one-month study leave that we get before the Boards, studying about eight-nine hours everyday. My parents didn’t pressure me at all. I was very relaxed with the preparation,” adds Mittal, whose interest lies in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) and music.

Talking about the inevitable — all the memes and jokes which will now be shared on social media about his feat — he says he is ready to laugh along. “Jokes are just for entertainment. And even I laugh on other jokes, so that’s completely normal (smiles).”

As for anyone aspiring to score the maximum, he advises, “Study with a relaxed mind. My message to other students would be to not take the pressure of studies too much. In that process, you’ll end up feeling not good about yourself.” Mittal plans to take up the Science stream, and pursue Engineering later.

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