BHUBANESWAR: City boy Anvesh Subham Pradhan is on cloud nine. Not only did the 14-year-old win the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar-2021 under the scholastic category but also got the opportunity to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
"Every person of this country dreams of speaking with the Prime Minister. I am elated that my dream just came true," said the Class IX student of DAV-Chandrasekharpur here.
Anvesh is one among the 32 students from across the country who received the award for their excellence in different fields. Earlier in the day, the 14-year-old attended a virtual interaction with the Prime Minister at the Khurda collectorate.
"The Prime Minister asked us to be consistent with everything that we do in life, work for the country and be polite in our approach to life. He told us that the Bal Puraskar is just a beginning of our lives ahead and there is much more to achieve," said Anvesh who has been participating in maths and science olympiads since Class I.
Son of Manas Ranjan Pradhan, AGM of SBI Sambalpur, and Jharana Pradhan, Anvesh has so far appeared for over 600 olympiads the last being the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) in 2020. Of these, he has won in 570 Olympiads and is awaiting the results of IJSO.