Dance helps ICSE topper express herself better

Pressure of studies did not stop Mumbai’s Juhi Rupesh Kajaria to be a trained Kathak dancer

The success mantra of an efficient student lies in the ability to juggle between studies and other goals, and no one can prove this better than ICSE 2019 topper Juhi Rupesh Kajaria. The 15-year-old Mumbai girl is a trained Kathak dancer – a passion she nurtured for seven years. “I was six-years-old when I started taking Kathak lessons and continued it till date,” says Juhi who is a student of Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu.

Being a shy person, Juhi finds dance as a medium to express herself. “I have been a reserved person and dance helps me to channelise a myriad of emotions.”

Overwhelmed with her results, Juhi says, “My preparation was up to the mark, and I was expecting to score a maximum of 98%. Being a national topper has truly astonished me.”

She scored 100 each in Mathematics, Science, Social Studies and Practical Drawing, and 98 and 99 in English and Gujarati, respectively. Juhi says that she did not allocate certain hours of study in her routine . In fact, she did not follow any particular time table. “I practiced test series thoroughly that allowed me to understand the pattern of questions and the syllabus to be covered. This boosted my confidence and helped me to address the exams better,” says Juhi, adding that she mostly relied on self-studies and only took tuitions for Biology.

Juhi always maintained a distance from social media platforms. “I do not feel comfortable in making anything about my personal life public, hence I never opened an account on any of the social networking sites,” adds Juhi. Now she is in two minds about choosing between Science and Commerce. In case, she chooses Commerce, she wants to become a chartered accountant. Her mother is a tax consultant. “If I choose Science, I want to become a software engineer,” she adds.