ISC Class XII Tricity topper is AIR 3, took study breaks to play video games

CHANDIGARH: Chaitanya Gupta of Strawberry Fields High School, Sector 26, scored 99.6% in humanities stream to top the Tricity and stand third in the country in the Indian School Certificate Class XII exams, the results of which the Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) declared on Tuesday.

“I achieved beyond my expectations. I was hoping to score around 97%, but this is great. A national rank is unbelievable,” he said. He lost marks in English and mathematics. He wishes to pursue law from National Law University, Bangalore. His father Sukant Gupta is a lawyer in the Punjab and Haryana high court and mother Ritu Garg is a judge in the district court, Panchkula. He stayed away from social media a month prior to the examinations. He said staying focused and believing in yourself can cause wonders. He has been actively participating in extra-curricular activities, including debates.
Talking about his success mantra, he said he took frequent breaks while studying to play video games or watch movies. His interests lie in international politics and world economy. He is also an ardent fan of Congress leader Shashi Tharoor for his eloquence. Last year, the Tricity ISC Class XII topper had scored 97.75%.
The other stream toppers — non-medical, medical and commerce — too raised the bar, scoring higher than last year’s rank holders.
Commerce stream topper Hritabh Hrishit from St Xavier’s School, Chandigarh, scored 99%. Last year’s topper (97.8%) was also from the same school. Hritabh wishes to pursue BCom honours from Delhi University and wants to join Indian Foreign Services. His father Binod K Sharma is chief manager in SBI, while his mother Rita Sharma is a homemaker.
His teachers and father have been his inspiration as they supported and motivated him. Talking about his success mantra, he said, “Regular studies, seeking help from teachers in clearing doubts and regular questioning helped me score well.” He too used no mobile phone until it was about sharing notes. He believes mobile phones and social media promote negativity.
In non-medical, Tarandeep Kaur of Yadavindra Public School (YPS), Mohali, topped the Tricity with a score of 98.5%. Last year’s topper had scored 97.75%.
Tarandeep, who was the head girl of the school, said her aim is to crack civil services to become an IAS officer and serve as a deputy commissioner. She said her inspiration is her parents. Her father Harvinder Singh is a customs officer and mother Harvinder Kaur an officer with PSEB, Mohali.
Akshit Chhabra of Strawberry Fields High School topped the medical stream with 96.25%. He had also opted for mathematics as additional subject. This makes his success even more special, his parents said.
Akshit said he was expecting a little higher percentage but was satisfied with what he got. He opted for super science to pursue his dream of taking computational biology abroad and he has succeeded as he has already been chosen in a foreign university.
“I got admission into Carnegie Mellon University and aim to pursue computational biology with a pre-med track. My final goal is to become a doctor with a focus on research.”
Both his parents are doctors in PGI. His father Rajesh Chhabra is a neurosurgeon and mother a paediatric surgeon. Akshit is already popular in Tricity for his campaign on organ donation.
Behind his success, Chhabra shared the role of his grandfather, a retired professor who used to teach him mathematics. “For teaching me, he himself used to study for 10 hours. He has been a great source of inspiration or me,” he said.
100% result for all ISC schools
Only three schools in the Tricity offer Indian School Certificate (Class XII) under CICSE. These are Strawberry Fields High School, Sector 26, Chandigarh, St Xavier’s School, Sector 44, Chandigarh, and Yadavindra Public School, Mohali. Out of these, humanities is offered in only Yadavindra and Strawberry Fields. All the schools got 100% pass percentage.