Arkya Chatterjee, one of the toppers
A proud day for Kolkata. Two toppers - of the Class 12 ISC exam and the Class 10 ICSE exams - are both from this city. And with stunning scores. Arkya Chatterjee of Vivekananda Mission School in Behala aced the Class 12 boards with 99.75 per cent and Sougata Chowdhury of St Xaviers Collegiate School topped the Class 10 exams - along with three others - with 99.20 per cent.
Neither expected to top and when they heard their names on TV they couldn't believe their ears. "We were opening the website to check the results when they started saying Sougata Chowdhury of St Xaviers, Kolkata, had topped ICSE. And for some moments I wondered, who is he? And then I realised it is me!" said Sougata.
Arkya Chatterjee's experience was heart-stopping. In the press conference aired live from Delhi, the board CEO Gerry Arathoon said "Arya Chatterjee" from Vivekanada Mission School, Kolkata had come first. "And I was wondering who is Arya Chatterjee," said Arkya. "And then realised it was me he was talking about. He had just mispronounced my name which is a little difficult to say," he laughs.
Another thing the two toppers have in common: 10 to 14 hours of study, including tuition, for about a month before the exams, limited Facebook, no movies and no pressure from parents. "He was always serious about studies so we never had to tell him anything," Arkya's mother Monideepa Chatterjee said. "My contribution was buying the books and setting targets," his father added.
Shubhagata Chowdhury, Sougata's father, echoed the "no pressure" line. "In school he mostly stood second. So I used to pull his leg, that you are a perennial second boy. There was only one way to go for him, and that's up. And he has done it," he said.
Arkya, who was feted at his school this morning, has miles to go before he sleeps - IIT exams are just round the corner. And he regrets he lost one mark in English, else he would have got a 100 per cent.
Sougata has other ideas. He plans to go out for dinner with his parents and then catch a movie. He is a Big B fan. So no prizes for guessing which one.