Chennai: “I did not think I would get 497 marks out of 500 in the CBSE class 12 exams, for which the results were announced Thursday. I expected only between 475 and 490 marks,” said G Karthik Balaji, the Chennai region topper and third rankholder at the national-level.
“When I returned home after attending coaching class for IIT entrance, my father R Ganesh, retired from the national insurance company, said, I had scored 497 marks. I was shocked and thought he was kidding. I personally went through the CBSE website and only then felt happy,” said Karthik, a student of PSBB School, K K Nagar.
At the national-level, two Uttar Pradesh girls, Hansika Shukla from Ghaziabad and Karishma Arora from Muzaffarnagar, scored 499 marks and clinched the top spot. Three students secured 498 marks. Eighteen students scored 497 marks and of them, Karthik topped the Chennai region. He scored full marks in Mathematics and Chemistry, 99 in Physics, Computer Science and English.
Karthik has balanced studies and sports as he loves to play cricket and watch football. He is a fan of M S Dhoni and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“Till class 10, I captained the PSBB cricket team. When I entered class 11, I wanted to focus on studies and gave up playing; instead I watched sports. If I studied for three hours at a stretch, I would take a break for one-and-a-half hours, when I used to watch games,” he explained.
Asked about how the school helped him, the K K Nagar resident said, “I will give 200 per cent credit to my alma mater. I was part of a 12-member team that came second in the Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition, after having won the Indian National Space Settlement Design Competition held in Gurgaon during November 2018-February 2019. The school did not put pressure on us. Instead, they put in double the effort to cover the missed classes. Also, the revision exams helped me a lot to correct my mistakes.”
On his plans for the future, Karthik said he was interested in pursuing computer engineering and also has an eye on pure sciences. “I have secured all India rank of 584 in Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana scholarship for pure sciences. But the final decision will be taken once I appear for JEE (advanced) exam to get an IIT seat; for entrance test for Chennai Mathematical Institute and BITSAT in the coming days.”
His word of advice to youngsters – “Identify your interest. God has given you a gift and put 100 per cent effort with it.”
For Karthik’s father Ganesh, the results were on expected lines. “My son was a consistent performer from kindergarten till now. In class 10, he secured AI grade. He studies by understanding the concepts of the subjects. This led him to score high marks.”
Karthik’s mother G Bhargavi works as regional manager, south zone, LIC, and his sister G Roshini is an architect.
The family resides at Flat No. 3L, Block 2, Ramaniyam Kamadhenu, Ponnambalam Salai, K K Nagar.
Ganesh can be reached at 94442 84212.