Left From Above: Malhar Kamalapur,. Aneeha D’Souza, Shivani Sane
Sixteen-year-old Malhar Kamalapur enjoyed a plate full of sheera prepared by his mother to celebrate a perfect score of 100 per cent in his SSC examination, results of which was declared Wednesday. Malhar said he was confident of scoring well.
“It is with regular study and practice that I was able to achieve the score. Apart from the written examinations, I also had the added marks for arts to get a perfect 100. I am a percussionist and have been practising the tabla since my second grade,” said Malhar. He added that playing the tabla and sometimes listening to music helped him de-stress during the examinations. “I continued with my music classes, which helped me relieve any stress I had from my studies,” he said.
The student from Bal Shikshan Mandir English Medium School said that while he is unsure of his ultimate future plans, he will begin by joining the science stream in his junior college. “I have already started with online coaching classes so that my concepts and ideas are clear from the start,” he said.
“We were confident that Malhar will score above 90 per cent, but we are overjoyed with the ideal score. Despite that, we are planning to make sure that there is no pressure from our end for his future endeavours. He has a keen inclination towards Maths and we support it completely. Apart from his studies, Malhar will continue his tabla and since he also likes to trek, we hope that he is able to participate when situations permit,” said Pravin Kamlapur, Malhar’s father.
For the U-14 national table tennis player Aneeha D’Souza, it is a dream come true to score a perfect 100 in her 10th standard exam. “It is every student’s dream to score a full 100 and I am grateful that I could achieve it. I was consistent in my preparations since the beginning of the Xth grade. Moreover, I have been a table tennis player since I was six, which added to my score. I balanced between my studies, table tennis and music classes until the time the exams were near,” she said.
She added that though the Covid-19 pandemic has cast a pall over her regular extracurricular classes, she is using the time to study Science and reading. “I want to pursue science as Biology interests me and ultimately I want to become a doctor,” said the 16-year-old student of S P M English School.
With a score of 99.80 per cent, 15-year-old Shivani Sane said that her path towards a successful career has now become easier.
“I am very happy with my result and so is my family. With such an excellent score, I am more confident when it comes to making choices for my future. For now, my first step after 10th is to opt for the stream of science,” she said.
Sane, who is a Kathak dancer and a badminton player, said that while her dance added onto her result, a game of badminton with her brother helped her take breaks from her studies.
“I am very proud of her. For her 10th, we tried to keep the environment of the house as tension-free as possible.
While the television is shut for six years now as we do not want the children to watch unnecessary television serials, Shivani played badminton with her brother whenever she wished to take a break. Apart from that she loves to read books and engages a lot of her time in that,” said Swaroopa Sane, Shivani’s mother.