Cheers rang out across schools on Monday as the ISC and ICSE results came out. And deservedly so.
There were some who had fought an unequal battle for much of their lives, scaled a mountain of odds and came up trumps.
Among many such stars, here are four who fought every challenge that life had thrown their way and emerged successful.
Jancy Joseph
89 per cent (ISC)
St Thomas’ Girls’ School, Kidderpore
She had brain surgeries thrice in three months during the Covid pandemic
When she came back home, the 15-year-old could not recognise her mother. Jancy Joseph’s father was a more familiar figure because he visited her in the hospital every day.
But her parents were relieved because Jancy was alive. “Even the doctors had lost hope of her survival,” said father Joseph Chacko.
“In October 2020, Jancy had an arteriovenous malformation of the brain (a bunch of abnormal blood vessels), which ruptured and caused a haemorrhagic stroke. The first operation lasted about nine hours. After a few days, she developed an infection and we were on the verge of losing her. The third time, water accumulated in her brain, requiring another surgery,” said Debarshi Chatterjee, neurosurgeon, Institute of Neurosciences, Kolkata.
Jancy was in the hospital for 42 days at a stretch.
Gradually, her memory came back. Her parents would play nursery rhymes and singer-songwriter Taylor Swift’s songs to help her.
She scored 83 per cent in English and environmental science, 90 per cent in political science, 95 per cent in sociology and 88 per cent in home science.
“I have got a second life and I need to make the most of it,” Jancy said on Monday.
She had to miss school for a year. But when she went back, she had the same spirit. “She did not allow the prolonged illness to make a difference.... She was always independent and did not want anyone to make any exceptions,” said principal Rachel Elias.
Lakshya Khowala
92.25 per cent (ISC)
Sri Sri Academy
Muscular dystrophy has confined the 17-year-old to a wheelchair but has failed to limit his aspirations
Lakshya Khowala has scored 85 per cent in English and chemistry, 93 per cent in mathematics, 95 per cent in physics and 96 in computer science.
“It was after lockdown that I got onto a wheelchair as the disease progressed. But I have adapted,” he said.
Lakshya aspires to be an engineer. “He is aware of his medical condition but he does not complain about it. He does not like to highlight his problems,” said his father.
Lakshya’s father would drop him to school every day. “I used crutches to get into the car and then again to get on the wheelchair that was kept in school. I can use the crutches only to manage a few steps, not more,” he said.
“My friends and the school staff would help me with the wheelchair,” he said.
How does he keep himself motivated? “I have got used to this life. There is nothing to motivate,” Lakshya said.
Reshmi Mondal
82.75 per cent (ISC)
Shaw Public School
A month before the ISC exams began, the 17-year-old fell from the third-floor terrace of her house
What followed was a spine injury, surgery, a prolonged period of complete rest and persistent pain.
But Reshmi Mondal decided not to miss her exams. “If I didn’t write my exams, I would miss a year and I was not ready for that,” she said.
She would go to school in an ambulance and be shifted from the stretcher to a wheelchair. She managed to sit up for two hours to write her papers.
Her marks: 92 per cent in English, 90 per cent in Bengali, 67 per cent in economics and math, 82 per cent in commerce and 53 per cent in accounts.
Kripa Singh
81.2 per cent (ICSE)
MP Birla Foundation Higher Secondary School
Her appendix ruptured in the middle of her ICSE exams. She had written four papers and four more were left
Kripa Singh pleaded with the doctor to postpone her surgery. But the doctor refused. “He said if I was not operated on, it could become life-threatening,” said the 15-year-old.
Kripa had to miss her physics paper. But nothing else.
Her marks are 87 per cent in English, 92 per cent in Hindi, 79 per cent in history, civics and geography, 57 per cent in math, 46 per cent in science and 91 per cent in computer applications.
“In ICSE, the science marks are the average of physics, chemistry and biology. Her marks went down because she could not write the physics paper. But she has taken commerce. So, instead of thinking about an improvement exam, she said she will focus on her ISC,” said principal Purnima Chatterjee.
