Meet Mohammad Ismat: CBSE's unsung number one

New Delhi -Most persons with a family income of Rs 2,000 per month and eight members would probably first lament their lives and then blame their circumstances for any failure they may face.

Then there are the rare others like 20-year-old Manipur boy Mohammad Ismat, who despite a seemingly doomed destiny, stretch themselves to break through the barriers of their circumstances.

On Monday, Ismat, a candidate from the 'economically weaker section' trumped all other candidates across the country - most better off than him - to take the top spot in CBSE's class 12 exams and secure an aggregate score of 99 percent in the Science stream. This despite the poor educational facilities in his village of Lilong, only 2-3 hours of electricity each day and almost not appearing for his class 12 exams because he did not have money to fill his exam registration form.

Ismat's mentor and director at Imphal's Zenith Academy, SM Singh, eventually paid his fees and was rewarded handsomely by way of his results.

Singh described his star pupil to the Times of India as 'as an ambitious, honest and simple student'. He told the newspaper, "He (Ismat) stayed with me most of the time and I tried to give him whatever help I could. He is physically weak and I had to keep telling him to take a break as he would study for hours together."

The only boy among seven siblings, Ismat is not new to the rankings. He passed his Class X CBSE exam from Sainik School in Imphal, scoring 94.2% and standing second in the state. However, money was always a constraining factor. "Even after doing well in Class X, I could not get admission to any good school because of this," he told the TOI, adding, "I had to work really hard. I belong to a very poor family. Getting even the most common reading material was a challenge."

Son of a primary schoolteacher, Ismat, is aware of the role his school has played in his success. And, while he himself put in eight to ten hours of daily study it is "thanks to the support of my school I managed to come out successful," he said, adding, "Sir SM Singh accepted my admission application without charging much. It is with his guidance that I have come out with flying colours".

Ismat's teachers say his sincerity and discipline have enabled him prevail over his difficulties. "He scored 100 in the subject due to his clear mathematical concepts," the academy's mathematics teacher, Kangabam Ningthem Pishak, is quoted by TOI as saying.

And what next does the boy who is the first topper from the North east want to do next? He wants to go to the "best" college, St Stephen's to study Physics and then "make a difference" to his state.

And while he aspires to appear for the UPSC exams, he is also confident of topping them. "I will appear for the civil services and top in the whole of India," he told CNN-IBN.

For the part of India that usually merits newsprint and footage only when there are incidents of discrimination and crime against students from the North East as has been seen in the Dana Sangma and Richard Loitam cases, it's a reprieve to have the hope of a silver lining.

And, Mohammad Ismat, has given the North-East and the whole of India just that.

Ismat personifies the saying: "Where there's a will there's a way" - by taking it from being mere words to effective action.