What connects Aiswarya Raja of Silver Hills Higher Secondary School, Smrithi V Sasidharan of Rahmaniya Higher Secondary School and Krishnapriya Jayaprakash of St Joseph’s Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in the city? All of these smart kids achieved a unique distinction of scoring full marks in this academic year’s Higher Secondary examination conducted by the State Government. That’s not the only link; all of them are talented artists and have bagged prizes in their respective art forms.
Aiswarya Raja, a biology maths student who scored 1200 out of 1200 is a dancer and had participated in this years’ state-level school art festival. She bagged A grade.
For Smrithi V Sasidharan too, honours and achievements are not new. The short, talkative and charming girl was chosen as the best actress in last years’ Children’s Film Festival. Her performance in ‘Thira’, a short film made by the NSS volunteers at the school got her fame and honour in 2012. She played the role of a rag picking girl who befriends a girl of her age belonging to an upper class family. The story which narrated the sentimental relationship between two girls from contradictory circumstances ended with the disappearance of the rag picking girl. “
I was shocked when I received the award for the best actress because it was my first ever acting experience. All my achievements are shared by my family and teachers, as without their heartfelt support I would have got none,” said Smrithi. Smrithi is eying civil services after completing her degree and Masters in rural development and management from any of the best institutes. Her father K Sasidharan is a retired military personnel and at present works as a security guard in the city. She stays at Peruvayal with her father, mother and younger brother.
Krishnapriya Jayaprakash is an expert incense stick maker. She has been a regular participant and winner in incense stick making competitions at the state-level school work experience fairs for the past five years. “I learned incense stick making from the traditional agarbathi makers in the city. My mother learned first and she taught me. One needs patience and a sense of art for making perfect incense sticks,” she said.
Extra ordinary academic achievements are part and parcel of life to this hard working girl too. Krishnapriya had bagged full A+ in the SSLC examination.
“I was surprised when I came to know the result this time. I would like to pursue an MBBS from any of the good medical colleges and have already written the entrance tests,” said a charming Krishnapriya. She stays at the Railway Colony with father Jayaprakash, who is a railway pharmacist, and mother Beena Kumari, a lab technician at the Medical College hospital.