The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
360/360 at JEE mains, son of a school teacher, a Dalit
HE DIDN’T need any help from the coaching centres of Kota, he didn’t have to “drop a year” to focus on the entrance test, and he started preparing seriously just over a year go.
And yet, his JEE Mains result? 360/360.
Creating history, 17-year-old Kalpit Veerval, the son of a male nurse and a school teacher in Udaipur, became the first ever candidate to top the exams with hundred per cent marks to ensure a seat in any of the country’s National Institutes of Technology, Indian Institutes of Information Technology and Centrally Funded Technical Institutes.
The confirmation came Thursday morning with a call from CBSE chairperson R K Chaturvedi. The applause followed.
“Kalpit is the first student to score a perfect 100% in the JEE Main competition. Rajasthan is proud of you,” posted Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on her official Twitter account.
Kalpit, who appeared for the exam from the SC category, had topped across categories. But then, that was of no surprise to his parents. He had already topped the Indian Junior Science Olympiad in 2013 and the National Talent Search Examination a year later.
“We are very proud. He would wake up at 6 am every day and after finishing his school and coaching classes by 5 pm, would start studying again after a small break,” said Kalpit’s father Pushpendra Veerval. His mother Pushpa is a government school teacher.
Kalpit says that despite his rigorous 17-hour daily study plan, he found time to play cricket and badminton, and enjoy his favourite music by Coldplay, Linkin Park and Ed Sheeran.
Kalpit enrolled in a coaching institute when he was in Class 8. “I did that to understand the examination and the effort it requires. But I started preparing seriously for JEE Mains only in Class 11,” he said.
However, he chose to stay away from Kota, a favourite destination for entrance hopefuls.
“Staying at home was a conscious decision because I wanted to stay away from all the pressure at Kota. The results of my institute in Udaipur have been very good, and staying with my parents obviously had its advantages,” he says.
A student of MDS senior secondary school in Udaipur, Kalpit is now awaiting his Class 12 exam results. But his eyes are already set on the next target: the JEE (Advanced) examination for IITS on May 21.