Two years ago, Simran Sesharao was one among lakhs of students who wrote the SSLC exams amid the raging Covid-19 virus. On Saturday, this Bengaluru girl from RV PU College in Jayanagar topped the Science stream by scoring 598 out of 600 marks.
The Arts stream was topped by two girls from Indu Independent PU college Kotturu in Ballari — Shweta Bhimashankar Bhairagond and Madivalara Sahana — with 594 marks.
In Commerce, four students shared the first place — Neelu Singh of BGS PU College in Bengaluru, Akash Das from St Claret Composite PU College in Jalahalli (Bengaluru), Neha B R from SBGNS PU College Jayanagar (Bengaluru) and Maanav Vinay Kejriwal from Jain PU College Jayanagar (Bengaluru) — with 596 marks.
Of the top 10 students in the Arts stream, eight are from Ballari.
Neelu hails from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. "We are in Karnataka for the last 13 years. I was expecting good marks as I did well in the exams. I used to dedicate 2-3 hours to studies every day," she said, adding that she would like to pursue Bachelors in Computer Application.
Akash Das hails from West Bengal and is settled in Bengaluru for the last 15 years. "I want to become a Chartered Accountant. Though I had prepared well and done my best, I never thought I'll become a topper," he said.
Vinay Maanav was expecting 90% but was surprised by the 99% he secured. "These results exceed my expectations. All credit goes to my teachers who helped in clearing my doubts," he said. He also wants to take up a career as a Chartered Accountant.
Madivalara Sahana, a daughter of a photographer from a financially backward family, said that she joined Indu PU college mainly because of the low fees. "My parents were not in a position to afford the fee at other colleges so, I joined this college and stayed at the hostel. I must thank my teachers." Sahana wants to take up Civil Service and decided to prepare from her first year of graduation itself.
Shivaraj Durgappa from Yalaghatta in Raichur, who works as a migrant labourer, came second in the Arts stream with 593 marks. When the results were announced, Shivaraj was working at a bridge construction site in Tumakuru. Ninganna Siddanna Agasar, son of daily wage labourers in Yedrami of Kalaburagi, also came second in the Arts stream (593).
Shweta, a daughter of a Mathematics teacher, aims at civil services.
Simran Sesha Rao said the results were surprising. "Though I had put all my efforts, topping the state was surprising," she said. Simran wants to become an engineer in computer science.
'Don't lose hope'
After releasing the results, Primary & Secondary Education B C Nagesh asked unsuccessful students not to lose hope. "The supplementary examinations will be conducted in a month's time. Examination is not the end of everything and those who could not sail through must take the results in a sportive manner," he said.