“The number of study hours is a farce”: Meet Kashika Dhingra, who scored 97.2% in CBSE Class 12 exams without romanticising hustle

Imagine scoring 97.2 percent in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class 12 board examinations. Imagine staring at the screen in disbelief as congratulations begin pouring in, phone calls refuse to stop and your family looks at you with the kind of pride every student silently longs for.For most students, that feeling would be enough to stay on “cloud nine” for days. For Kashika Dhingra of Shiv Nadar School, Gurgaon, that moment became real on May 13, when CBSE declared the Class 12 board examination results.“It was way better than what I was expecting. I was definitely in disbelief,” she said. “I was on cloud nine for the first couple of hours. It was a blur, phone calls, and congratulations.”But beyond the score, beyond the celebration, and beyond the topper tag lies a story many students this year may deeply relate to.Because while every student is a topper in their own way, stories like these still deserve to be told aloud. Not to create impossible standards, but to inspire, reassure, and remind students that success is rarely as perfect as it appears on result day.Often, the most meaningful lessons are hidden in the parts nobody talks about enough, the burnout, the pressure, the self-doubt, and the struggle to keep going.And when the world glorifies sleepless nights and endless hustle among young students, toppers like Kashika are beginning to say something very different.Long before the results arrived, Kashika was already juggling far more than board preparation. A Humanities student with subjects including Psychology, Sociology, Political Science, English and Legal Studies, she was simultaneously balancing extracurricular activities, competitive examinations, college applications and entrance test preparation.“I think this is a story that every 12th grader shares with me,” she said. “These are the peak burnout months.” There is something strikingly honest about that sentence. In a country where academic pressure is often normalised, students rarely hear toppers openly admit that they, too, felt exhausted.“Me and most students like me, we’ve been balancing exam preparation, extracurriculars, coaching, college admission cycles and boards for the past year now,” she said. Yet instead of romanticising stress, Kashika spoke about the importance of slowing down.“The best way to create is to create a valve for that pressure,” she explained. “Whether that’s talking to your friends, taking time to pursue your hobbies. It could be something as simple as going out for a walk.”Then came an observation that feels painfully familiar to this generation.“What happens oftentimes in my generation is that our breaks consist of us scrolling or being on our devices, which ends up adding to our restlessness and our burnout.”It is the kind of advice students seldom hear amid motivational speeches about studying harder and sleeping less.Like many Humanities students, Kashika had to deal with subjects that demanded extensive reading and memorisation.“All my subjects are theory subjects,” she said. “Something that comes with that is a lot of rote learning and memorisation.” But despite the pressure surrounding board preparation, her strategy remained straightforward.“The only way to go about this is to stick to your NCERT,” she said. “It’s basically an answer key to your boards that you’ve been given months prior. All you need to do is read carefully, read line by line and read as many times as you can.”She supplemented this with previous years’ question papers and online resources. Later in the conversation, when asked to describe the three biggest ingredients behind her preparation, Kashika laughed before giving an answer many toppers quietly agree with.“My three keywords would be NCERT, NCERT and NCERT.”“It is the only thing that can help you. It’s the one guarantee you have with a board exam — nothing outside of that textbook will ever be tested.”Students from Humanities backgrounds are often told that scoring high marks can be unpredictable because answers are subjective.Kashika disagrees. “With a standardized examination system that is boards, even the subjectivity that is typically seen in humanities subjects doesn’t really exist,” she explained. “The questions that come are very application-based, not opinion-based.”According to her, the key lies in presentation and clarity. “The best way to go is to structure your answer efficiently, make sure all your points are solid,” she said, adding that examiners often evaluate multiple bundles of answer sheets every day.Her advice reflects an important reality of board examinations — knowing the answer matters, but presenting it clearly matters just as much.Perhaps the most refreshing part of the conversation came when Kashika spoke about study hours. In a social media environment flooded with “study for 16 hours a day” content, her perspective felt grounded. “I don’t believe that the number of hours is that crucial to your prep,” she said. “I think that is false. It’s a farce.”Instead, she believes students need to understand their own study patterns and routines. “Some people study better at night. Some people prefer waking up at 4 am and starting their study routine. So, I don’t think the number of hours really has to play that big of a role. It’s how much you’re doing in whatever time you’re doing it.”As for herself, Kashika admitted she was more of a night owl. “I studied till I think 2.30, 3 am,” she said. “If we’re talking a realistic figure, maximum four hours a day. That would be on a really rigorous day.” In an age where productivity is constantly romanticised, her honesty feels quietly comforting.Even after her board examinations ended, the pressure did not. On the day of the interview itself, Kashika had appeared for the Common University Entrance Test. Alongside boards, she had also spent months preparing for law entrance examinations such as AILET and SLAT.“The past six to nine months have been a whirlwind of competitive exams and entrance exams,” she said. When asked how CUET preparation differs from board preparation, Kashika explained that although the syllabus remains similar, the skill set changes entirely.“CUET is MCQ-based entirely. It’s a computer-based test whereas boards are long subjective answers,” she said. “It’s testing your time management. It’s testing your attention to detail in the book.”She pointed out that even small details from textbook glossaries and boxes often become important in CUET.“Giving mocks is definitely something that’s very important for CUET.” Interestingly, Kashika believes CUET has become necessary because competition based solely on board marks has intensified significantly over the years.“Most people now score 90 plus or 95 plus,” she said. “The competition has increased so much that CUET needs to be in place to tackle that.”Toward the end of the conversation, Kashika spoke about something students rarely admit openly, exam anxiety.“I’ve definitely experienced exam anxiety myself,” she said. She described how students often enter examination halls replaying fears in their minds.“What if I don’t know the question? What if I’m forgetting that date?” According to her, calming the mind before entering the examination hall becomes essential.“I would try before going in the car to just sort of take a few minutes to myself, keep the textbooks aside, no more revision, just be in a sort of meditative space,” she said.“Keeping your headspace empty before you go in is the best way to go.” Then came perhaps the most important advice she offered during the entire conversation.“Don’t let your exams consume you,” she said.“There are going to be so many of them in this upcoming year. You’re going to be giving college interviews. You’re going to be tackling situations you have not tackled before.” And in the middle of all that pressure, she wants students to remember one thing:“Hold space for things that you like doing. Have conversations with your friends constantly. Check in on them. That’s the only way to go, to rely on the community around you and to have a support system.” For students waiting for results this year, that message may matter far more than any percentage ever could.