

KOCHI: Unlike most toppers who dream of becoming doctors or engineers, Rishabh Vinod and Sivendu Pai M S, two students of Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir in Elamakkara who scored a perfect 500 in the CBSE Class X examinations, want to pursue research in medicine and mathematics after Class XII. For Sivendu, nothing is more interesting than mathematics.
“I want to clear JEE-Main so that I can get admission to BTech mathematics and computing course at IISc Bengaluru,” Sivendu told TNIE on Thursday. The four-year programme is designed to bridge the gap between abstract mathematics and modern computing, AI and data science.
Sharing his study routine, Sivendu said systematic studies helped him score top marks despite no tuition.
“I plan to take physics, chemistry and mathematics as core subjects for Class XI. I will have to get a very good rank in JEE-Main to get into the course of my choice in IISc,” he said.
As for Rishabh, becoming a researcher has always been his dream. “It was something that I had dreamt of since my childhood. Research, especially in the health sciences. So, I aim to take up physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics as my core subjects for Class XI and then appear for NEET,” he said. Though he has decided to take ‘PCB+M’ for Class XI, Rishabh’s main goal is clearing NEET.
On his choice of specialisation in medicine, he said, “It is something I will decide later. To understand the various departments, I will have to get acquainted with the branches and what they deal with. However, whatever the branch of medicine may be, research will be my top priority.”
He also said he will be pursuing higher studies in India. “I am not interested in going abroad. I want to study in India and do my research here,” he said.
CBSE schools in Kochi showcased exceptional performance with nearly all institutions recording a 100% pass in the Class X board. This year too, the Thiruvananthapuram region, comprising Kerala and Lakshadweep, topped the chart with 99.79 per cent.