ISC Class XII topper Ananya writes poetry, is a pianist and wants to study psychology

Monday morning at the Maiti house witnessed unbridled joy and happiness as news poured in of Ananya topping this year's Indian School Certificate (ISC) Class XII finals, 2017.

A promising pianist and creative writer, Ananya's flair for the arts was recognised during a workshop on creative poetry writing conducted by British poet Luke Kennard at the British Council in Kolkata last year. Her short story, Choices, made it to an anthology called The World I Write In, published by Nivasini Publishers.

Ananya, a student of Heritage School, Kolkata, secured the first position with an aggregate of 99.5 percent. She secured 398 marks out of 400. She also loves creative writing, reads a lot of literature and wants to study psychology in college.

Ananya, a student of Humanities stream, managed to score 98 in English, 99 in History, 100 in elective English, 100 in Psychology and 100 in Political Science.

Dinesh Lakhotiya of St Xavier's Collegiate School in Kolkata has secured the second rank in the ISC examination with 99.25 percent aggregate. He shared the rank with two others — one from Lucknow and the other from Mumbai. Two other students from St Xavier's Collegiate School have jointly secured third rank in the ISC examination. They are Anant Kothari and Sougata Chowdhury. Three more students have bagged the same position.

Meanwhile, in the Class X ICSE examination, two students from Kolkata secured the third position in all-India ranking. Arka Chatterjee from La Martiniere for Boys and Oindrila Bhadra from Vivekananda Mission School, Joka, secured the third position with 98.80 percent aggregate.

In the ICSE examination, Debashree Pal of Auxilium Convent School in Barasat in North 24 Parganas has secured all-India second rank while she has come first in Bengal. Sukriya Chakraborty from Burdwan has ranked second in Bengal. The pass percentage in case of ICSE stood at 98.05 percent and ISC stood at 95.95 percent.

Ananya's father, Chinmoy Kumar Maiti, who is a doctor, said she had an inclination for creative writing and even loved to play the piano. She devoted a couple of hours to study and has never been hooked to Facebook.

After the result was published a senior official of Heritage School said that Ananya was not only brilliant in academics but also in creative writing. Ananya said her principal first broke the news to her. She said she never expected that she would rank first. She has always been very well-behaved and matured.

Dinesh Lakhotiya, who ranked second in the ISC, said he used to study for four to five hours every day. He added that success can only be achieved through hard work. He had two private tutors to help him in his studies — one for English and another for Mathematics. He used to manage rest of the subjects on his own.

"I never expected that I would rank second in India. It is a great feeling. My family and friends supported me greatly. I want to pursue MBA. Apart from studies, I love to play indoor games. I also like watching movies, and read books," Lakhotiya said.

Anant Kothari who lost his father months before his examination fought back tears and challenges to secure third rank. "It's a great feeling. Immense support and hard work has helped me attain this feat," he said.