Ojas Maheshwari had topped the JEE Main as well. (Express photo by Alifiya Khan, Graphics by Angshuman Maity)JEE Advanced 2022: As soon as the results of JEE Advanced were announced, the troupe of dhol and tasha that had been kept waiting for the announcement started playing a celebratory song as Andheri East resident Ojas Maheshwari emerged as the top ranker in Persons with Disabilities (PwD) category.
Such was the confidence of his family in the boy who had also topped the JEE mains that they had reached a day prior to Hyderabad, where his coaching centre is headquartered and a band was kept waiting for the announcement. But it isn’t the PwD category ranking which both Maheshwari and his family were interested in. It was his general ranking that they were waiting for -All India Rank 26.
“Ojas has never asked for any special facilities and he doesn’t like to be put into a special category. We were confident that his ranking in the PwD category will be in the top rankers but we were keener about his general ranking. My son’s years of hard work has been validated. He has proved his mettle. He has created history today by being first amongst the PwD category to be ranked at 26 in the general category. We are so excited and proud,” said his mother Pooja.
In August, Maheshwari had topped the JEE mains in the PwD category when he spoke to IE about his journey.
Maheshwari was between 6-7-years-old when he lost his hearing. A year later, he discovered his love for maths and science. Thanks to help from his mother, Pooja who is an Olympiad teacher herself, Maheshwari started preparing and entering various Olympiads, maths and science exhibitions and competitions from the age of 8.
Today the collection of medals and trophies of the National Talent Search Examination (NTSE) scholar and Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana (KYPY) top ranker is so huge, his mother jokingly complaints of having to buy a new almirah to accommodate them.
“I know people think I may be a nerd because I love studies, especially Mathematics and Physics and spend a lot of time in it. But those who know me closely, know that I love socialising and going out on dinners with friends and I absolutely love football,” said the teenager.
From a young age, Maheshwari whose role models are Sundar Pichai and APJ Abdul Kalam, has pushed himself to do better. With his heart set on IIT, he has studied for over 10 hours a day for the exams.
His disability, a 70 percent hearing loss in both ears, is something he doesn’t like to bring up much. However, he did admit it had created considerable hurdles, especially during the pandemic.