Board Exam Result: These Toppers Share How They Fought The Odds

Hard work never fails.

Punjab topper Nehav verma

There is no alternative to hard work, and no incentive greater than your passion.

The success stories emerging after the board exam results were announced, are a good reminder of just that.

Take the Punjab board exam topper for class 10, for example.

She Couldn’t Afford Private Lessons, But Topped in Exams Anyway

Neha Verma, Punjab state board exams topper(Photo: Twitter/ANI)

Neha Verma,16, from Ludhiana scored a whooping 99.54 percent in the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) exams. Amid celebration for her fantastic result, there is also pride for having made it this far without any extra private tuition classes, reference books or other aids.

Verma’s father, a truck driver by profession, had failed to enroll her into tuition classes as he couldn’t afford it.

Verma clarified in an interview to The Indian Express that she was fine without private lessons. “One really does not need coaching if they follow the school syllabus religiously.”

This 90 Per Cent Scorer Was Asked to Quit School

K Bharathan from Chennai and a fellow 10th grader, would second that. Bharathan too is celebrating his 90 percent score, when until very recently his father wasn’t sure if he could continue to put Bharathan through school.

His father, a person with disability and a lift operator didn’t have money to run the family. In fact his mother, who is daily wage labourer, was away working when the results were announced. They are thrilled to know how well Bharathan has done, of course.

Bharathan, who scored perfect in computer science, had not seen a computer until he was in class V. “I saw a computer for the first time in Class V. We do not have a computer at home. But I somehow managed to with the help of the teachers,” Bharathan shared in an interview to Times of India.