The 12^th grade board exam is treated as a poor cousin of the ‘Entrance exams’, be it JEE / NEET / CUET or any other. Some chaps trying for grad studies abroad, also give the same treatment to the boards, and the others anyway don’t bother!

Anoush secured 99% with a centum each in Maths, Chemistry and IP (Information Practices), 4 marks lapse in Physics and a single in English thus bagging 495 out of 500. A stupendous score mostly overlooked as it was declared on 13^th May 2025, with JEE advanced exam hanging on the head like a sword scheduled for 18^th May and IAT for 25^th May 2025!

It will take no less than a wordsmith like John Dryden from the 17^th century to bring forth the emotions that we felt after these exams that we were slogging for as though in servitude.

Here is an excerpt from his little play “The conquest of Granada”:

Obeyed as sovereign by thy subjects be.
But know that I alone am king of me.
I am as free as Nature first made man,
Ere the base laws of servitude began,
When wild in woods the noble savage ran.

Here Almanzor the character who speaks these lines, acknowledges that the King may rule his subjects, but he asserts that no monarch has authority over his internal will or soul. To Almanzor, organized society is not a step forward, but a fall from grace into a system of “servitude” (slavery or forced obedience)

Now this is so relevant in our times too, and am not talking ‘king’ aka ‘political leadership’ – am talking about our education system.

One is working for one or the other of these exams akin to a bonded labour, some kids as early as grades 5 or 6 or may be even earlier! Giving up on their natural inclinations, be it towards music or sports or literature or anything. So indeed it is liberation from servitude and one feels like a king once the exam is over, successfully!

Anoush was attracted towards the alphabets even when he didn’t know what they were and as time went by it was apparent that he is an avid reader and knowledge seeker. But seeking knowledge and cracking exams are two different ball games all together.

For an exam particularly which tests your skills of not only understanding but speed one needs to familiarize oneself with all possible problems, some of whom are enough to turn your dreams into nightmares.

The final two years are intense, gruelling and like any other goal that reaches achievement – needs commitment, needs sacrifice. But the preparation starts way before, and so did Anoush’s. He went through many competitive exams like SOF Olympiads, NTSE, Neltas, Silverzone, NSTSE, LogIQids to name a few – it was his choice though, we had tried hard to push him towards various kinds of sports and cultural activities, but every child has his/her own inherent talent, passion and flourishes if nurtured accordingly.

These exams gave us a fair idea about where he stood amongst his peers in India, though not exactly as many kids from the hinterlands or poorer economic sections cannot participate owning to lack of awareness, money or both.

That prologue was to create an atmosphere for the narration that will follow: our tiresome, tedious and torturous ordeal and how we survived the phase 2023 – 2025

Till 10^th grade we used to be a year ahead in terms of syllabus thus giving us the leeway to prepare for tougher problems and practice more for the competitive exams. But in 10^th grade NPS Whitefield – the school, wasted so much time in unnecessary projects and assignments, an annual function where participation was mandatory along with a no leave policy and to top it all three back to back pre boards, which did more harm to the kids than any presumed benefit the school might have thought of – that we were thrown off schedule by many months and couldn’t get started with anything other than higher secondary mathematics in grade 10.

Once the boards were done we launched a full scale op – segregating, dissecting, analysing and scheduling the syllabus – Anoush declared it would take him only about 5 years to complete the syllabus and be prepared to compete!

As with every project the wants remained the same but the timelines had to be drastically reduced and unfortunately with the same count of man power – in this case only 1 Anoush. So how could this seemingly impossible task as it looked at the beginning get accomplished? Nothing new; it had been done many times, across many scenarios for ages – with the help of an evil task master, who would squeeze every single waking minute out of the life of the worker, directing, scheduling, monitoring, course correcting and re-doing the entire thing from time to time!

Happy to introduce myself, I am the evil task master – Anoushrayan’s mom – cause ever since he has known me he didn’t want anybody else as a guide!

Anoush detests the way coaching centres teach, so we opted for self-study and the school he took admission in grade 11 namely Shri Ram Global School OMR supported him in every way possible – from online teacher/classes to flexi timings for attending Labs, doubt solving opportunities at even odd hours and over all a very school like environment where young curious minds are nurtured.

So timetables were drawn and the preparation began. We intended to finish the syllabus first and then go on to the practice papers from various institutions for the JEE mains and advanced exams. The school followed NCERT and also a couple of reference books, we picked up some that followed the ICSE syllabus too as we wanted to cover as much ground as possible.

Physics we found is chic with intelligent questions, Chemistry is vast and requires a lot of time to both understand the concepts and to keep practicing, reciting and internalizing the plethora of reactions and their nuances. Mathematics is more instinctual, at least some part of it. A certain kind of IQ or wiring is required to come up with a method that leads to the solution, that shortens the time to work them out and also land up at a correct response. Anoush was facing a challenge there but it was not very apparent in the beginning.

School time was productive with learning and socialising happening simultaneously – he made some good friends Shashank, Sameeksha, Siddhi, Adit… to name a few. Anoush was going to school by bus as it was a little over 5kms and the commute ourselves would have also taken the same amount of time.

On 1st July 2023, Bangalore Sahodaya (https://bangaloresahodaya.org/) in association with TVS felicitated the toppers with centum from grade 10^th and 12^th. Anoush with 2 centum in Maths and Science (in grade 10) bagged accolades along with 3K in cash!

The stage was set and the actors started playing the roles well – teachers eager to help, Anoush eager to learn and I excited to be a part of this grand project that would bring fulfilment to a journey that started 17/18 years’ back when the bundle of joy first landed into our lives, enriching it in ways we could never have comprehended. These were the last two years of the way of life we had grown used to – baby and mamma – doing almost everything together – reading studying playing eating sleeping and most of all chatting most part of the day and deep into the night!

Here was the last phase to prepare him for the beautiful world full of opportunities for him to explore while being careful of the malice that always comes with the beauty, as if only to balance! 

Physics chemistry mathematics became the focus of our lives, with Information Practices (IP) as a brief relief and biology as a geyser in Antarctica. Biology was not part of his higher secondary subject list as the aim was to ace the JEE and get through into IISc/IIT Madras and yet Biosciences was what he intended to study in college – and dwell deeper into the cellular level with time.

Time went by, we were on track and happy. My parents visited for a few days. These were days when we hit refresh button by doing something a bit different than study, study and study more!

I wrote a short story that was selected by a literary committee and none other than Ruskin Bond as a winner for the Budding writer category, I was invited to the Dehradun Literature Festival for felicitation, and I took a short break to honour that. This was in October 2023.

In November Anoush met up with his former school buddies, a bit of a change from the monotony of his daily routine.

Late in December 2023, basically the last week of it we went to Kolkata our native; His paternal grandmother passed away on 5^th of Jan 2024, they weren’t close but it was the first death in the family – a reminder that life is fragile for us mortal beings.

We shifted residence in Jan 2024. By this time Rajib had quit corporate life and was planning for the next phase.

Roddur’s 17^th birthday was a small affair, just a visit to a mall nearby, some bowling and a good lunch, that’s all.

24^th Feb 2024 – Anoush and I visited IISc on their “Open Day” – we met some of his school buddies there and spent a wonderful day to reminisce.

Grade 11 went off quicker than we could have wished for, a lot had been covered but a lot remained. In March we had to make a quick trip to Kolkata, In April on Rajib’s birthday we took a ride – to the airport and back exploring a new route. A new express way had come up after Hoskote with a scenic view and smooth long drive. April also saw us visiting a wedding – a long-time friend Patsy’s elder daughter’s grand reception party full of lively dances by family and friends.

My parents came over from Calcutta for my birthday in August and we had a bit of a merry making.

By this time our syllabus was sort of through and we started doing the practice papers for JEE. We bought test papers from different online institutions like Unacademy, Allen, MathonGo etc. Anoush would sometimes go looking for explanations to the solved problems from Vedantu or Physics Wala too. He would occasionally listen to a lecture on Youtube on a particular topic. He got some excellent teachers arranged by the school without whom he would not have been able to understand many concepts which are core to problem solving.

Attempting various practice papers and the test series helped Anoush understand the pattern of the exam paper. It also gave him the feel and stamina of being able to concentrate for 3hrs to work out the problems and solve them efficiently.

Except for food/sleep/bio-breaks Anoush didn’t have anything on his schedule but for solving the practice papers, going through their solutions and revisiting the syllabus, memorizing the formulae, reactions, procedures and many things that needed continuous revision. 

1^st of November he started attempting previous years question papers for JEE mains. For the first session Anoush attempted some 52 odd papers.. with an average score of 236/300.

Pre-boards went past like a breeze followed by the Board Practicals.

On 24^th Jan 2025 we went to this lovely place called Reva University – this was the venue for Anoush’s 1^st JEE mains session. The grounds, the buildings everything about the place was serene and we felt a peaceful vibe. Anoush walked into the exam arena with poise and confidence – there weren’t many surprises that the paper could throw at him. I and Rajib had a very good time waiting for him, loitering around, chomping on small bites and cooling down with ice-cream. We found that loose jeans, very loose jeans actually were in fashion. We watched NCC cadets practice and get punished. We watched young people having fun and the parents like us sitting around scattered all over the place.

Finally, it was time for the baby to come out and out he came jubilant. The paper was good and he did fairly well. When the scores came later he had secured 248, which was quite satisfactory.

On 7^th Feb 2025 – Anoush turned 18! Nothing changed though – he didn’t get wings – a bit of good food – a bit of fun and laughter and then the new adult went back to his old routine.

Boards swooped in between the two sessions of JEE mains – We loitered around taking some time off as we waited for him to finish the papers and emerge.

21^st Feb Physics, 27^th Feb Chemistry, 8^th Mar Maths, 11^th Mar English and IP on 29^th Mar. Anoush did well as expected, he had practised CBSE board papers, read NCERT and of course preparing for JEE gave him an edge. He scored a whopping 495/500 with 99%.

The second JEE session was on 3^rd Apr, this time we had to go to Cambridge College, that was almost stone’s throw from our residence. It was a rainy day and though the college is nice and big it didn’t have the abundance of Reva university. Once again Anoush came out victorious having done better than the last, he had practiced another 26 previous year’s papers between the last time and then. He scored 276 in the second session – and together NTA declared his JEE Mains rank as 607 AIR with 99.9663911 percentile.

This was good enough to be eligible for JEE Advanced cause for us it wouldn’t have served any other purpose as IISc had stopped considering JEE mains score for admission from 2025 itself!

18^th May was the D-day and preparations were in its ultimate lap. Along with brush up on some advanced topics a daily chore was to attempt one previous year paper with exceptions on days when Allen scheduled a national test – online as Anoush had opted for.

Now, the scores were not so satisfactory or even consistent. In some Anoush managed above 280 but he also went as low as 106 (that was on 4^th of May) – he was averaging at 225. Maths was the culprit! Some topics he aced but some he just couldn’t get a hold of or fight – and these were advanced level questions none less than Gundanad wargs in bite or Rhosgobel rabbits in flight!

It was at that moment that I felt a doubt that whether all this was worth, the tedious hours of practise, the midnight motivational sermons and crazy fights to keep Anoush on track and away from reading fanfic or watching shorts (my efforts towards that failed miserably btw). We could have simply opted for IAT exam – which is at best JEE Mains level or a notch lower and tried for IISc and the IISERS – after all Anoush was anyway going to study BS Biosciences which didn’t require him to go to an IIT!

Well we had come this far and as with any decision, taken with a good intent after careful consideration, the results could always surprise one! Thus believing in Nishkama Karma Anoush kept up his practice, we kept up his spirit and we all kept our fingers crossed. His performance and thus scores would depend heavily on the type of paper.

On 17^th May he attempted 2024’s papers and scored 280!

On 18^th May 2025 (the one that mattered) the papers fetched him 162!

In JEE advanced, two papers each of 3 hrs are to be attempted. Anoush did badly in the first, and the second too, thus the score was justified.   

We went the previous night and stay put in a hotel near the venue, as it was quite far from our residence. The centre itself was a nightmare. A building and nothing else, no basic amenities – not even a restroom. We walked down from the hotel to the venue, which is about a 10 mnts walk through winding narrow lanes lined with shops and houses as parking space near the venue was non-existent.

The very next Sunday 25^th May was IAT – that too was far and we did the same, boarding at a hotel near the venue the previous night, but this time we went to the exam centre in our car as it wasn’t at a walking distance. This was the ACS college of Engineering – once again beautiful grounds, good parking lot and a decent canteen. This college is off Mysore road.

Once again Anoush came out beaming, he had done well and according to expectations. SciAstra an edu platform online had been a great help for this particular exam pattern and the biology syllabus that he was otherwise managing on his own. There weren’t many previous year’s paper and there was hardly a week’s gap between JEE Advanced and IAT, yet Anoush attempted some 5 of them and the actual paper was in line with them.

That was it!

End of the ordeal, end of an era, end of the torturous routine, end of what seemed to be a life time of preparation!

The next morning Anoush felt uncomfortable not having any practice papers to write, no portions to go through… I felt a huge sense of relief, a job done – done well!

According to the previous year’s rank/score list and 2025’s expected rank/score list Anoush was supposed to secure 3k to 5k in JEE Advanced which was expected to get him a seat in BS biosciences in IIT Madras. Otherwise his IAT exam had gone good enough to get him a seat in the IISERs, which are wonderful upcoming institutions of good repute.

IISc was definitely not achievable through JEE Advanced scores anymore but there was a faint chance from IAT score/rank; the exam had gone well and he was hoping for a full score in Phy Maths and Chem but Bio he could not do in totality as he did not have the scope to study it evasively.

Meanwhile we didn’t do anything – we just relaxed and basked in the freedom! And ofcourse dinned at home and outside, Anoush’s second love (first is… guess!)

Anoush started taking driving lessons from 27^th May onwards, well actually we have been giving him hands on training since we came to this new locality in 2024 and he picked up well, but a mandatory 10 days training from a driving school has to be taken in order to apply for a license for driving a four wheeler and a two wheeler. Ever since he came to Bangalore he had been riding with me in the car and scooter, discussing driving among many other topics along the way. He turned out to be a natural with the wheels driving with confidence albeit caution!

Then came the 2^nd of Jun 2025 – JEE Advanced rank – 3268 – that did it!

Shri Ram Global OMR, his school invited Anoush and us to a beautiful function and dinner where the kids were felicitated for their achievements in the board exams and the competitive exams. The principal Mukesh Sir presented them with mementoes and cash prizes.

JoSAA opened seat allotment and we filled in our choices. IIT Madras BS Biological Sciences was definitely the first on the list followed by Biological Engineering IIT Madras, Biological Sciences and Bioengineering IIT Kanpur and Biosciences and Bioengineering IIT Roorkee. Anoush was particularly opposed to BTech and wanted a BS degree only, also the syllabus of BS Biosciences offered by IIT Madras was very close to what Anoush wanted to study.

Anoush got the desired seat in the “First seat allotment” itself, so we paid and froze the choice.

12^th of June Anoush got his LL and applied for a Driving License soon after.

Anoush met his best buddies.

All this while we were eagerly waiting for the results of IAT to be out and it took till 24^th of June to surface and it was stupendous! AIR 69!

But IISc is very competitive – and its cut offs are way up! For general category, it was 2263 from JEE Advanced and 43 from IAT.

We said no sweat – IIT Madras it is! The best institution in many ways and NIRF rank 1 was just one of them.

18^th July Anoush had his DL test and on 21^st of July he got his License to be able to drive! The license expires on the 6^th of Feb 2047, when he turns 40 and me 70! I also got my license renewed as I turned 50.

24^th July saw us in Chennai in the IIT campus, amongst many other lively kids and parents beaming with pride.

The campus is a one of a kind place, it took away our breath from the moment we entered. The greens, the deer, the speed limit and of course the expanse!

We had driven down from Bangalore, checked into a hotel nearby the previous day and were quite early to the campus.

All day long Anoush had psychometric tests and verification of documents etc. My tension started growing when I was not able to pay his fees, institute or hostel, no matter as many times as I tried – I had tried at home too!

There were multiple anti ragging forms to be filled through different websites and that took a while. After all the formalities were done I had still not been able to pay! Finally, a gentleman, a father helped. The date of birth was entered wrong in the database – the day and month were swapped and thus I was unable to login which was a pre-requisite to pay. Simple thing yet caused a ton of anxiety. Once I swapped the day/month I could login and voila!

But then the bank site started acting up and I ended up paying the hostel fees twice, through two different banks. The hostel boarding would close soon, we had to get physical copies of the receipts but thankfully we had the car to run around.

Anoush was possibly among the last few to be boarded that day.

Mandakini a huge imposing building with two wings A and B was to house the new joiners. It is named after the beautiful Mandakini river. At one of its gate on-boarding was going on and at the other a pavilion was set up where shops were selling essentials for the boarders – from mattress to clips – everything that might be required was available.

We bought a mattress, a bucket and mug, and a broom, most of the other things like sheets and clips etc I had packed from home. We were not allowed inside the hostel building so Anoush carried it all with the help of the shop boys. We waited for him to settle his things and then went out for dinner. We needed a big one as none of us had eaten much all day.

As we dropped him back to his hostel and drove off in the silence of the night through the campus it was a strange empty feeling. A feeling that was to become a reality for the rest of our lives. My baby was on his way to find his place in this world – the little birdie had grown n flown!

The next morning, I called Anoush not less than 20 times before I called the warden. He assured me that I’ll soon get the whereabouts of my child. Anoush called soon enough – he was sleeping!

We bought Anoush a cycle as that is the only means of private transport for a student within the campus. A cycle “Mela” was going on in an adjacent ground where the kids could ride and choose their bikes. College buses ply to and fro and have scheduled timings.

After a bit more of settling him up, as in giving instruction over the phone – we were not allowed inside the hostel; we went on a city tour of Chennai, Rajib was keen on showing him the railway station, the metro stations and we did the commute in public vehicles, auto and metro so that Anoush gets a feel of it. He wasn’t a guy who was used to travelling alone and that too in a public transport – thus the apprehension.

Next day 26^th July was orientation day for the children and the parents, time slots were given and we attended them eagerly – and then when I heard director Prof. V. Kamakoti speak at the dais with that burst of exuberance and charisma – I was extremely satisfied that my boy is in the right hands. In one of the sessions Anoush made a beautiful memento!

All the professors who spoke were jovial and humane, it was a delightful day being around academia and bright students. We had a good dinner as again the day didn’t find us eating much.

Next day 27^th July we went around the town again, to the beach and some places where we had been a very long time ago – when Rajib was working with Satyam Chennai.

When we said goodbye to our child that night we were all choking, we were leaving him in a secure premise amongst some of the best brains and compassionate people – we had wanted this, he and us – we had been preparing for this, spending days and nights wrestling with problems that were made to torture and yet it wasn’t what we wanted at that moment! We didn’t want to part. We didn’t want to leave our child and he us. Next morning, we went back to Bangalore.

Anoush had many departmental orientations to attend, they were given time to familiarize with the campus, with their batch mates, roommates, mess and everything that would be theirs to enjoy, embrace and enhance for years to come.

The first Year || The journey till the 12th year || Entering the Teens || The 14th year ||Year of the board 22-23 – 10th || The momentous moment of JEE Advanced rank reveal!