KOCHI: The family of Maehal Barthwal, the student of Navy Children School, Naval Base, Kochi, is on cloud nine. She scored 496 out of 500 marks (99.2 percent) in Commerce of CBSE Class XII, to become the topper in the stream this year in the Trivandrum Region comprising Kerala and Lakshadweep. Father Lt Col Rakesh Barthwal, mother Alpana and her only sister Maahika who is into Class X in the same school can't hide their joy in the outstanding achievement of their family member. Maehal says she can't almost believe it.
"I expected 97-98 percent and not beyond that. I am extremely happy. I attribute this success to my teachers at the school who were ready to help me anytime," she said. Maehal said that she is happy because she never sacrificed her enjoyment for studies. "I mixed it perfectly, and in the two years' stay in God's Own Country, I have visited almost all the important places in Kerala including Thekkady, the backwaters, the beaches like Cherai, Marari and Varkala. Now I will have to leave here for my higher studies, and I can say it has been a wonderful stay here. My classmates also were extremely good," she said.
Both Rakesh who is stationed at the Army unit at the Naval Base and Alpana who quit as a captain in the Army are Dehradun natives. Rakesh's stint will be over in Kochi by June end, and they will move to Allahabad where his next posting is. "I plan to move to Delhi and join BCom (Honours) at Sri Ram College. I am a bit upset because I will have to move away from my family," she said. Dwelling on her study, Maehal said that she never used to study at a stretch and took breaks in between. Why she opted out of a career of a doctor or engineer?
"I couldn't cope up with physics and chemistry and hence," she said. "In fact, I liked accountancy and mathematics most, but I got 100 marks for economics and business studies in this Class XII board exam."
