Neel Aryan Gupta with his family in Chandigarh Sunday. Jasbir Malhi
ON MARCH 15, Neel Aryan Gupta was diagnosed with a serious health ailment in the middle of his CBSE Class 12 board examination and preparation for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). Now he has defied the odds to secure All-India Rank (AIR) 10 in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced 2018, the results of which were declared on Sunday.
Another student from the city who cracked the top 100 was Aneesh Garg who secured AIR 52. He is a student of Bhavan Vidyalaya, Panchkula, and a batchmate of all-India topper Pranav Goyal. A first-year student of metallurgy of Punjab Engineering College (PEC), 19-year-old Sahil Sood, also secured AIR 36 with 294 out of 360 marks in his second attempt.
Neel Aryan said he could not even sit properly due to the pain from the ailment, but surgery was not an option before sitting his mathematics, physical education and JEE Main papers. The pain will be too much to handle, doctors told him. “So, I decided to take these three tests and then undergo surgery. My father, a property dealer, was able to take care of me as my mother was working the whole day and my teachers sent me revision papers that I solved lying down on the bed,” he said, adding that he got AIR 182 in the JEE Main.
Aneesh Garg with his family in Chandigarh Sunday. Jasbir Malhi
On April 16, he was operated on and was under post-operative care till June 16. Thankfully, he said, he could fully concentrate on the JEE Advanced.
“I’m feeling great as my hard work has paid off, but I am extremely tired too. I want to go to IIT-Bombay to study computer science engineering as I don’t like research work,” he added. When it comes to his career, he is inspired by his cousin who was home-schooled throughout. His cousin was programming all the time and was invited by a Canadian firm three years ago to be rewarded for his “elegant work”.
“I love mathematics. My brother told me programming was like mathematics and you have to do elegant work in one or two lines. Advanced programmers kept their solutions short. I’ve been attached to computers since childhood,” he added. He draws strength from his mother, Renu, who is a banker. His father, Shankar Gupta, and mother fill in for each other to care for their two children.
“After working for eight to nine hours daily, she comes home and finishes all household chores. There are things my father cannot help her with. I realise how tired she must be when she asks me to massage her feet,” said Neel, who originally belongs to Mansa. He was in Class 2 when the family shifted to Panchkula. It was his mother who taught him everything from scratch as Mansa did not have good schools and he lagged behind.
“The pressure at IIT will be not be as much as JEE preparation. Everyone I’ve spoken to has told me the same thing,” signed off Neel, who completed his Class 12 from Sri Guru Gobind Singh Senior Secondary School, Sector 35. Aneesh, who secured AIR 52, scored 96.4 per cent in Class 12 CBSE board examination, but his JEE Main rank was 548.
“He was only focusing on the JEE Advanced, so he was not too concerned with his Main result,” said his father, Deepak Garg, who is a government employee. His mother, Tinu Singla, is a science teacher at a government school. “He was always good in studies right from the beginning. He is a consistent and honest worker and studied for 8 to 10 hours daily,” said Deepak Garg. The family originally belongs to Moga, but has lived in Sector 40 in Chandigarh for the past five years.
“I’ve always wanted to be an engineer and want to go to IIT-Bombay to study computer science. I would talk to kids as I found it relaxing or read when I had some free time,” said Aneesh. He added that he had not yet decided his future course of action, but wanted to dedicate his present success to his teachers, parents and friends.
Sahil Sood wants to pursue computer science engineering from IIT-Bombay or Delhi. He was a student of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 35, when he first attempted the JEE last year, he could not get a good score. “It was my dream to go to IIT since Class 10. I couldn’t get through last year, but I was lucky this time.” His father Sanjay is a manager with Punjab National Bank, Sector 17, and mother Preeti Sood is a psychology lecturer at GMSSS-35.
This year, 18,138 candidates qualified the JEE Advanced. The Joint Seat Allocation Authority will start the registration process for counselling and seat allotment from June 15 which will be conducted in seven consecutive rounds.