Bravehearts overcome personal losses, Covid with grit to ace board exams

KOLKATA: They faced losses and suffered through Covid, and some couldn’t open their books till days before the examinations. But these ICSE and ISC candidates fought through their troubles and came out with flying colours.
When Rongit Bhattacharya was preparing for the first-semester examination last November, he was also fighting a challenge that life had thrown at him.He had lost his father to Covid after a prolonged battle a few months earlier and both Rongit and his mother were still trying to reconcile themselves to a future without him. But Monday’s results showed that the science student of Future Foundation School aced the challenge, scoring 93%.

“My father was a fighter and he taught me to never give up without giving my 100%. For a son there is perhaps no loss bigger than losing his father, and I was clueless about life after his demise. But then I remembered what he had said and started studying for the exams. I know he is appreciating my work from where he is now,” said Rongit.
Ishan Ghosh, who scored around 84%, lost his mother last November, a few months before the examinations. “I was devastated, but I knew I couldn’t let my mother down. Initially, it was very difficult to focus on studies, but I did not give up,” he said.
When first semester examinations began in November, several students themselves were either recovering from a bout of Covid or had just tested positive.
“I had very high fever and immense weakness, but what was really scaring me was that I did not want to pass it on to anybody at home or school. It is difficult to explain what I went through both mentally and physically, but I knew I had to focus on my preparations too,” said Rudrasom Biswas, who has scored almost 90% in ICSE.
Soumili Poddar, who scored 75%, could not even open her books till a few days before the examinations. “My mother was hospitalised with Covid and we were in quarantine. After that, I tested positive. Till even a few days before the examinations, I did not have the energy to focus for even a brief period of time,” said the student of Rammohan Mission High School.
Srijani Saha has scored 97.8% in the exams. She had tested positive in November, just before the examinations. “Everybody at home tested positive and some were even hospitalised. My mother’s condition was a little serious. It was a very trying phase for me,” she said.