Overcoming a challenge just a week before her exam, Ishani Dutta, a student at the VIBGYOR High School, scored 92.6% in the class 10 ICSE exam in 2024.
Ishani accidentally burned her hand while using a steam machine to cure her cold. The machine broke, causing a small fire to break out at her house. While trying to stop the fire from spreading, she ended up burning her right hand.
Her world turned upside down when she learned that she wouldn't be able to write the exam because of the pain in her hand. "It was quite unexpected. This incident impacted me adversely and my mind went completely blank," expressed Ishani.
"My parents stood by me and made sure that everything pans out. Looking at my parents made me calm and helped me figure out my next step," she added.
Ishani then informed her school about the mishap and requested a writer. The school managed to arrange a writer for her within 2 days. "I received a letter from the school's council stating that they had arranged a writer for me. When you get a letter from the school's council stating that you will be a special case during the exam, it does affect one mentally," she told the Free Press Journal (FPJ).
With only a few days remaining before the exam, Ishani had to switch to oral learning and revision, which added to her stress. Her parents took leave from their work to help her cope with the circumstances. They also helped her with the revisions.
"My parents made sure to keep me motivated throughout the examination," said Ishani.
Describing the challenges she faced during the exam days, she highlighted that she would feel constant pain shooting up and down her arm. This made her lose focus at times in the exam. She emphasised that this also made coordinating with the writer a challenging task for her.
"It was tough to coordinate with the writer about how I wanted the answers to be written. I was not completely able to express my thoughts in the paper, but the writer tried their best to help me, and I'm grateful for that," she told FPJ.
Ishani believes that she would have scored a better percentage if not for these circumstances. Taking an optimistic approach to this incident, she believes that one should not worry about things they can't control and have a solution-oriented mindset.
Looking ahead, she aims to pursue her passion for music.
