Mumbai: When the results were declared, Aarav More did not react the way popular narratives suggest toppers do. There were no celebrations or dramatic phone calls. He paused, looked at the screen, and checked again.
“I thought there might be some mistake,” he says. “I expected a good score, but not that.”
The score was 99.5 per cent in the commerce stream.
A student of Bombay Scottish School, Mahim, Aarav had opted for Accountancy, Commerce, English and Computers. His preparation, however, did not follow the more familiar pattern of long coaching hours and packed schedules.
“I have never taken any tuition,” he says, stating it plainly rather than as a point of pride.
His routine revolved around school, regular self study, and a conscious effort to step away from books when needed. Sports were part of that balance. Cricket, football, squash and badminton featured regularly. At times, he listened to music or spent hours photographing wildlife and the night sky.
“Those breaks mattered,” he explains. “If I only studied, I would have burnt out.”
When asked about rankings and comparisons, Aarav is uninterested. “I have not really checked who scored more or less. I am satisfied with what I have done.”
Looking ahead, he is considering business management, with a possible interest in data science and artificial intelligence. For now, he prefers to keep his options open. “I want to understand what I am getting into before making a final decision,” he says.
Within the same school, Naisha Vishal Chhabria approached the year very differently.
“I do not like leaving things incomplete,” she says. “If I am doing something, I want to do it properly.”
For Naisha, Mathematics became the subject that demanded the most attention. Not because she struggled with it, but because she was determined not to be inconsistent. From August onwards, she spent close to 20 hours a week practising.
“It was repetitive,” she admits. “Solving similar sums again and again until the mistakes stopped.”
The discipline extended to how she handled exam pressure. While many students revise until the last minute, Naisha chose to pause instead.
“I would close my eyes and focus on my breathing before the paper,” she says. “It helped me stay calm.”
She is clear that this was not an individual effort alone. “My teachers were always available. I asked a lot of questions, and I never felt discouraged for doing that.”
Commenting on the results, Sunita George, Principal of Bombay Scottish School, Mahim, said that the school has continued its strong academic performance across streams and boards.
“For the second consecutive year, the ISC Commerce country topper is from our school. Aarav More has secured 99.5 per cent,” she said. “The school has also topped the ISC Humanities stream, with Komal Parashar scoring 99.25 per cent.”
In the ICSE examinations, two students, Darsh Haria and Atharv Kumar, were ranked third in the country with 99.6 per cent. At the ISC level, Naisha Chhabria secured a national third rank in the Science stream with 99.5 per cent.
The overall results reflected consistent performance across cohorts. At ISC, 109 out of 151 students, or 72.1 per cent, scored 90 per cent and above. In ICSE, 137 out of 197 students, amounting to 70 per cent, achieved the same benchmark. Nine ICSE students secured scores of 99 per cent and above.
George attributed the results to sustained academic engagement and support systems within the school, noting that the outcomes reflected collective effort rather than isolated achievement.
