“I follow Elon Musk”: Meet Ranjim Prabal Das, COVID-19 survivor and JEE-Main topper

A total of 6 students scored 100 percentile in the JEE-Main, one of whom was Ranjim Prabal Das, a COVID-19 survivor who is inspired by SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Ranjim spoke to various news outlets after his results and shared his preparation approach for the toughest exams Indian students take a crack at.

Also read: Elon Musk – A visionary, An Entrepreneur 

It was November 2020 when Ranjim found himself swept in the COVID-19 wave. After contracting the virus, Ranjim focused on his healing and continued preparing for the JEE Main 2021, February session. In his interview with News18, Ranjim shared how he loves solving analytical and challenging questions. Interestingly enough, Ranjim never prepared a timetable as per the number of hours he needed to study but chose to focus on the topics he wanted to cover. He spent as much time as he required to have a firm grip on a particular topic.

Ranjim started his JEE preparations from 11th standard and took the assistance of famous competitive examination coaching Aakash Institute. In his interview, he was asked which books he would recommend to other students who want to take a crack at the JEE. To this Ranjim said he focused mainly on NCERT text and other than that studied textbooks from MS Chauhan, Neeraj Kumar, HC Verma and Ghanshyam Tiwari. As most bright students who end up scoring great ranks, Ranjim also solved the previous years’ JEE question papers.

He also shared how he was sure of achieving a good score, but the 100 percentile came to him as a pleasant surprise. He also added that he won’t be appearing for the remaining attempts of IIT-JEE Main as it won’t make much difference. As for his interests, Ranjim shared that he is passionate about programming and wants to study computer science from IIT-Delhi. In the interview, he also shared how he draws inspiration from the innovator entrepreneur Elon Musk. “I focus on unique and innovative problems. I too want to come up with tech-based innovations which are out of the ordinary,” Ranjim added.

Das’s family moved from Assam to New Delhi when he was a teenager and he has been studying in Delhi ever since. He is the son of a proud doctor and a happy homemaker.

Apart from Ranjim, another student, Siddhant Mukherjee scored a 100 percentile in the exams and scored 300 out of 300 marks in the JEE. Originally hailing from Mumbai, Siddhant chose to go to the Mecca of students Kota to prepare for his Joint Entrance Examination. Mukherjee stated that it was the combined effort of his family, faculties that helped him score so well. Although the COVID-19 pandemic was a curse to most people, Mukherjee considered it a boon for him. “Though my physical activity was curtailed and it made me a bit sluggish, the lockdown saved me two hours of commuting every day. That time helped me find more balance in life,” said Mukherjee in his interview.

He also gave an inspiring message to future IIT-JEE aspirants and said how he found his passion in science when he was a young boy. He suggested that students should focus on finding their passion and that passion would help them put extra effort in their studies. Mukherjee is an old friend of success as he has also secured the AIR 1 in the NSEJS (National Standard Examination in Junior Science) Examination’s 1st stage. Other than that, he is also the recipient of a gold medal in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition in 2015 and 2017.

 

This gives a testimony of the diverse understanding and talent Mukherjee possesses. Thanks to his academic performance, he has already secured a seat in the prestigious Cambridge University’s Computer Science course along with the same course from Imperial College, London.

 

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