Daughters of driver, gardener defy odds in Uttarakhand Class 12 success

Dehradun: A taxi driver’s daughter in Bageshwar rose to the top of Uttarakhand’s Intermediate results after studying through her grandfather’s long illness and death, while a gardener’s daughter in Dehradun topped her school in Class 10 after her family left Uttar Pradesh when farming losses and the loss of their land made a fresh start unavoidable. Between them, Geetika Pant and Naincy Dubey’s success in the state boards were shaped by bereavement and a promise carried forward, the other by migration, financial strain and study without private tuition.

In Bageshwar, Geetika Pant of Saraswati Shishu Mandir Inter College, Chaurasi, scored 98% to top the Intermediate examination, sharing the top rank with Sushila Mehendiratta of Rudrapur. Her family said the result fulfilled a promise she had made to her grandfather, Kevalanand Pant, after earlier topping the district in High School. They said that during his long illness, before his death on Aug 2 last year, Geetika balanced her studies with caregiving, feeding him, helping him move and spending hours by his side, and that even after his death she often began studying by paying respects before his photograph.

Her mother, Rita Pant, said the journey had not been easy. Geetika’s father, Chandrashekhar Pant, drives a taxi, and managing household needs along with educational expenses had been a constant challenge. She said the family had also faced scepticism over investing in private schooling, but stayed with the decision. On the day the result was declared, family members said, Geetika first dedicated the achievement to her late grandfather. “I wish he were here today,” she said, as neighbours and relatives gathered to congratulate the family. Her subject-wise scores reflected the steadiness of her preparation: 99 in Hindi, 98 in Mathematics, 99 in Physics, 94 in Chemistry and a perfect 100 in English. She now wants to become an engineer.

If Geetika’s result carried the imprint of bereavement and a promise carried forward, Naincy Dubey’s in Dehradun grew out of a family’s attempt to rebuild after agrarian loss. A Class 10 student of CNI Girls Inter College, she scored 83% and topped her school, but her family said the result had begun years earlier in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda, where repeated farming losses and the eventual loss of their land forced them to leave. Her father, Sunil Dubey, now works as a gardener in Dehradun and earns Rs 15,000 a month. “It was not an easy decision to leave home and uproot our entire life. But the idea was to get over our past hardships, earn more and provide better educational opportunities for our children,” he said.

Naincy studied without private tuition because the family could not afford it, and her father said both she and her younger brother had learnt to work within those limits. “They are resourceful kids. They know we cannot afford private tuition. They sometimes attend free classes offered at an educational trust on Rajpur road or rely on books donated in school or at the trust. So far we have managed to get by on limited resources and hopefully, in the future also we will continue to support them in whatever manner we can,” Sunil Dubey said.

Even with the result in hand, Naincy did not sound fully satisfied. “I was expecting more,” she told TOI. She has opted for the science stream and hopes to join merchant navy. Her father said that while he might not fully understand what that career path involved, he had no doubt about supporting her. “She called me to tell me that she had topped the school. We would have been proud of her irrespective of her rank,” he said. Her younger brother, who studies in Class 8 in another school, has also been doing well academically, the family said.

Uttarakhand Board of School Education declared the Class 10 and 12 results on Saturday, with girls outperforming boys in both categories and the overall pass percentages improving from last year. The overall pass percentage stood at 92.1% in Class 10 and 85.1% in Class 12, officials said. In Class 10, around 1.1 lakh students were registered, with girls recording a pass percentage of 96% against 88% for boys, while the overall result improved by 1.33 percentage points from last year. In Class 12, where around one lakh students were registered, girls recorded 88.1% against 82% for boys, and the result went up by 1.9 percentage points.

Among the individual high performers, Akshat Gopal of MP Inter College, Ramnagar, secured the top position in Class 10 with 98.20%. He scored a perfect 100 in Mathematics and Science, said he did not take private tuition, and credited his parents and teachers for the result. His father is a private school teacher and his mother a homemaker. Akshat said he studied for about two hours daily, increased that to five hours during exams and to seven hours on Sundays, and now plans to take Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in Class 11 before moving towards engineering.

Bhumika of G B Pant GIC Inter College, Khairna, in Betalghat block of Nainital district, secured third position in the state in Class 10 with 490 out of 500, or 98%. She credited consistency, disciplined study habits and limited screen time for her performance, saying she studied for one to two hours daily and raised that to seven hours during crucial periods. She also took tuition support and, like Akshat, wants to pursue engineering.

In Rudrapur, Sushila Mehendiratta of Bhanjuram Amar Dev School in Bhurarani shared the top Intermediate rank with Geetika after also scoring 98%. What made her achievement stand out was that she prepared without coaching, relying instead on self-study for around four hours daily and using her mobile phone only for academic work. Her parents, Yogesh Mehendiratta and Mamta Mehendiratta, run a small boutique in the area. “My aim is to become an IAS officer and serve the country,” she said. Her younger brother Arun also scored 87.8% in Class 10.

Haridwar district, particularly Roorkee and its surrounding rural belt, also featured strongly in the state merit lists. In Class 10, Lavish of City Public School, Roorkee, secured fifth position in the state with 96.80%, emerging as district topper. Aarushi of RMP Prem Vidyalaya, Narsan, secured 13th rank, followed by Ilma of Navyug Public High School, Satershah, Roorkee, in 14th place, Ayush Garg of Nanhi Duniya IC, Raisi, in 15th, Sareeka Husain of Moon Kingdom PIC, Landhaura, in 18th, and Gunjan Saini of Arya Kanya Pathshala, Roorkee, in 23rd. In Intermediate, Tania Khatoon of Arya Kanya Pathshala, Roorkee, secured 23rd position.

Govt Girls Inter College, Manglaur, placed three students in the Intermediate merit list, with Inayat Zehra and Tashmiyan jointly securing 12th position and Mantasha standing 20th. Ramsha Maryam of RNI College, Bhagwanpur, secured 10th rank. Misha of SABSP Inter College, Imlikheda, stood seventh and Nandini of the same college ranked 18th. Tanisha C Raja of Balchand Saini Inter College, Dhanderi near Roorkee, secured fourth rank, while Kakun Saini stood 19th. Other names from the district included Aarzoo of Durga Modern Inter College, Manglaur, in 21st place, Anisha of Vidya Vikasinee College, Narsan, in 23rd, and Vaishnavi of KKP Inter College, Manglaur, in 25th.

Haridwar’s better-known institutions also saw multiple entries in the merit list. Vanshika of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College, Mayapur, secured third position in the state in Class 12 with 97%, while Kashish Sharma of Saraswati Vidya Mandir Inter College, Ranipur, stood fourth with 96.6%. Both came from modest households, with Vanshika’s father working as a driver and Kashish’s father employed at a factory in SIDCUL. Arun Sharma of Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Mayapur, secured 10th rank in Class 10 with 95.6%, while Gauravi of Saraswati Vidya Mandir, Ranipur, stood 15th with 93.8%. Shubham Avasthi from the Ranipur school secured 16th place and Kushvanshi Rajtilak from Mayapur ranked 24th with 92.8%.

By the time the district-wise numbers and merit positions had settled into their formal order, the day had already acquired a more intimate shape: in a girl who kept studying through her grandfather’s illness and then dedicated a state rank to his memory, and in another whose family, after losing land and livelihood, pieced together a different future through self-study, free classes and whatever educational support they could find.
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