Patna boy tops IIT-JEE

PATNA: It was jubilation all around at Patna's Exhibition Road apartment of Shitikanth, friends and relatives pouring in with bouquets since 8.30 in the morning. The Patna lad has topped the IIT-JEE this year — 11 years after Abhinav Kumar had made Bihar proud by topping the prestigious exams in 1997.

The celebrations reached a peak when a call came from the CM house. "Anytime that would be convenient to him, sir," Shitikanth told the caller. He almost banged the receiver on the phone in excitement and turned to his mother to tell her, "The chief minister wants to meet me on Saturday."

"I was expecting a good rank, but not the number one," Shitikanth blurted out even before TOI asked him the first question. While writing the exam, he was sure he would make it. "And when I compared my answers with those of other aspirants after the exam, I became doubly sure," he said.

Unlike many others, Shitikanth does not think IIT-JEE is one of the toughest examinations. "JEE questions are not difficult, they are different," he said and added one has to apply one's mind while attempting the questions. He, therefore, did not burn the midnight oil while preparing for the exam.

"There's no use of slogging away for 17 or 18 hours without the right methodology," he said. In response to a query, added that he never studied for seven to eight hours a day.

Son of Dr Arun Kumar Barnwal and Dr Anita Barnwal — both medical professionals, Shitikanth has been a constant performer. An alumnus of Patna's St Michael's High School, he scored 93% in Class X and 91% in Class XII CBSE exams. For the last two years he had been staying at Kota in Rajasthan where he had joined a coaching institute.

"My son has been bright from the very beginning and I knew he would do well... But that his topping the prestigious exam has come as a surprise, a pleasant one, of course," a proud Dr Anita Barnwal said, adding that this is not Shitikanth's only achievement. He has been selected to represent India in the Physics Olympiad scheduled to be held in Vietnam later this year.