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Kotkapura celebrates Achin’s success IIT-JEE topper says hard work paid
Chander Parkash
“Prepare with devotion and without tension. Understand each subject,
do not cram”
Once known as the backwaters of Punjab, the Malwa region comprising the Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar and Faridkot districts, has started making its presence felt in the field of education. These districts have attained new heights especially in competitive examinations.
While one boy of Bathinda made it to the Civil Services exam this year, two other young lads of this region have brought laurels for bagging top positions in the prestigious IIT-JEE, 2007 and AIEEE-2007, the results of which were declared recently.
Bathinda and its surrounding towns have developed as nurseries of engineers and doctors for the past one and half decades. This is not the end, a new story is being scripted by the students of this region, as they have been making it to the list of successful candidates of the UPSC’s Civil Services exam every year.
Achin Bansal from Kotkapura, who topped the IIT-JEE, 2007, created a history of sorts by becoming the first student of Punjab to win the top laurel, and that too from a school affiliated with the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB).
In an interview with The Tribune, the 17-year-old Achin Bansal said only hard work, preparation without tension, practice and concentration can bring the desired result in any competitive examination.
Achin, who will be the first engineer from a family of doctors and advocates, says being a student belonging to a small town like Kotkapura does not play any significant role while preparing, though it gives a constant feeling that you have to compete with those students who belong to big cities and have number of facilities at their command.
“When you have got relevant material for the preparation of any competitive exam, apart from coaching from the best teachers available, then you are not lacking in any thing and every competition become a level playing field for the students belonging to different areas and different strata of society,” he observed.
However, looking at the standard of education and other facilities available in government-run and a large section of private schools, it could be said that the students of such institutions would be found lacking while taking such prestigious exams and hence they would require extra coaching to compete, he added.
Achin, who decided to become engineer in Class IX, said that after closely observing the routine of his father, Dr Rajinder Bansal, he was of the view that the life of a doctor was always difficult as he was supposed to attend emergency calls at odd hours. So, he preferred engineering, as he wanted to do something ‘different’. He said he would try his luck in the Civil Services exam too.
Taking about his preparation, he said he would study for about 10 hours a day, devoting more time to chemistry. The preparations were being done with single-minded devotion to be among the first 10 successful candidates of the IIT-JEE, 2007, and that too in the first attempt.
“I am never tense during the preparation, but I always ensure that if my input is about 10 hours, my output should also be about 10 hours. I used to go to watch movies, though I reduced the frequency of the same during that period,” said Achin.
“Apart from it, I took coaching from an academy based at Kota in Rajasthan. I used notes supplied by that academy. I used to practice by solving the questions of all the three subjects—physics, chemistry and maths—repeatedly to increase my speed,” pointed out Achin Bansal.
While confessing that getting the top position in the IIT-JEE was unexpected, Achin, who came 5th in Punjab in AIEEE-2007, said revision of all subjects, regular discussion with teachers and friends was also of great help.
“My message to all those students who have been putting their best to get a berth in engineering colleges by getting through such competitions, is that they should prepare with devotion and without tension. They should have deep understanding of each subject and must keep themselves away from the ‘cramming’ pattern. They should have that level of confidence, where they must feel, ‘yes, they can do it’,” said Achin.
A product of Sada Ram Bansal Memorial School set up by his grandfather, Achin has been receiving honours from various social and educational organisations because of this achievement. He says his first priority after joining the IIT, Mumbai, will be to shed the extra fat that he gained by remaining ‘immobile’ for most of the time while preparing for the tests.
He says he has been waiting for the moment when he will be honoured in the school where he has studied for years together. The Kotkapura town, known for its biggest cotton market and “dhodha” sweet all over India, is now known for another reason — it has produced an IIT-JEE topper.
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