SSC Toppers Prove Success Beyond Textbooks: Kathak Dancer, Chess Player Balance Arts And Sports With Academics For Perfect Scores

As Maharashtra’s SSC toppers list continues to highlight academic excellence, several students are proving that success in board examinations is not limited to textbooks alone. From mastering classical dance forms to excelling in competitive chess, students like Eesha Sonawane, Chinmay Iyer and Jaanhavi Kulkarni balanced demanding extracurricular pursuits alongside rigorous study schedules to secure outstanding scores. Their journeys reflect how discipline, creativity and mental balance can play an equally important role in academic achievement.

1. Eesha Sonawane

Eesha Sonawane, a student of Sau Laxmibai English Medium School, combined academics with classical dance to secure a perfect score in the SSC examinations. A trained Kathak dancer, Sonawane earned additional marks after successfully clearing five levels of Kathak examinations.

Coming from a middle-class family, Sonawane credits the art form for helping her maintain emotional balance during the stressful board examination period. Her mother works as a yoga instructor, while her father is employed in the IT sector.

“Kathak helped me maintain my mental health through focus and meditation. I never stressed excessively about the exams and continued with my extracurricular activities and hobbies throughout the year,” she said.

Although she took a short break from Kathak during the examination period, Sonawane resumed practice soon after the papers ended. “Kathak has helped me build confidence and shape my personality,” she added.

Sonawane now plans to pursue chartered accountancy or a career in economics. “I was expecting above 95%, but scoring a full 100 came as a bonus,” she said.

Chinmay Iyer: Competitive Chess Player

2. Chinmay Iyer

What began as a lockdown hobby eventually helped Chinmay Iyer secure a place among the SSC toppers. A student of Indian Education Society’s Chandrakant Patil School, Iyer balanced academics with competitive chess and secured extra marks through his achievements at the state level.

Iyer, whose mother is a homemaker and father works at a private company, said his parents encouraged him to pursue the game seriously. “I started playing chess online during the lockdown and gradually began participating in district and state-level tournaments,” he said.

Over the last four years, he has participated in competitions organised by district sports authorities as well as private tournaments. “I am happy to see how far I have come in just four years,” he added.

Despite his achievements, Iyer said he intends to keep chess as a hobby while focusing on engineering entrance examinations. “For now, I am preparing for JEE, but I am excited to see where chess takes me in the future,” he said.

Jaanhavi Kulkarni: Kathak with JEE Aspirations

3. Jaanhavi Kulkarni

For 15-year-old Jaanhavi Kulkarni from Indian Education Society’s Chandrakant Patil School in Dombivali, balancing board examinations with Kathak certification exams became a test of discipline and time management.

Kulkarni appeared for her Level 5 Kathak examinations in December while simultaneously writing her school preliminary examinations. “I wanted to clear the Kathak exam as soon as I became age-eligible,” she said.

Recalling the hectic schedule, Kulkarni said she would finish her prelim examinations at school and head directly for dance assessments. “I completed my English prelim exam, came home, changed quickly and went straight for my Kathak examination. My dance teacher even adjusted the exam timing to help me manage both,” she said.

A Kathak student for the past nine years, Kulkarni credited her parents and teachers for supporting her throughout the process. “My parents never stopped me from pursuing dance,” she added.

She believes pursuing extracurricular activities alongside studies helped her remain focused. “Because I had multiple activities going on simultaneously, I never got bored while studying and could concentrate for four to five hours at a stretch,” she said.

Unlike many students, Kulkarni prepared for the SSC examinations using self-made notes instead of guidebooks. “I cannot rote learn, so making my own notes helped me understand concepts better,” she said.

Kulkarni plans to continue learning Kathak while preparing for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE).