Fighting big C, Bengaluru student scores 94.8% in ICSE board exams

Bengaluru: For Vaibhav Mahapatra, a student at Primus Public School, exams were not the only war he was waging. He was fighting a bigger battle — one with cancer.Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) in Feb 2024, when he had just stepped into Class 9, Vaibhav's life took an unexpected turn. What followed was months of chemotherapy sessions, frequent medical consultations and physical exhaustion — circumstances that would derail even the strongest of people. Yet, two years later, Vaibhav has emerged with an outstanding 94.8% in the ICSE Board examinations."It has been hard, with a lot of pain," Vaibhav says. "But I've always been determined to do well. I think the main thing is temperament - you need to be strong."Unlike his peers, Vaibhav's classroom was often his home. His school went the extra mile — streaming live classes and even arranging special evening sessions to ensure he didn't fall behind. For most of Class 10, he attended school online, despite treatment schedules that sometimes forced him to miss days at a stretch. "I attended very few offline classes, maybe just three. The rest, I joined from home. Teachers were really supportive. If I missed something due to consultations, they helped me catch up."Even as he balanced studies with treatment, Vaibhav refused to let illness define him. He stayed active, finding time in his interests. "I love chess and cricket. Last year, I even came second in a Karnataka-level chess tournament," he says.Today, while he continues on oral medication, his condition is stable and his focus is firmly on the future. Having opted for science in Class 11, Vaibhav plans to return to regular offline classes, a step he looks forward to after two years of distance learning.Asked how he managed to keep going through it all, his answer is simple yet profound: "If you really want to do well, you will find ways. Where there's a will, there's a way. Somehow, it just happens."
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