A Conversation with West Bengal Joint Entrance Topper and Alumni Souradeep Das from Uttar Banga.

Souradeep Das who had been a student of Sarada Vidya Mandir (CBSE), Raiganj for ten years before he passed the AISSE, 2018, has bagged the first rank in the WBJEE, 2020.

Recently he visited Sarada Vidya Mandir with his parents and younger brother. He had a brief talk with the Principal, Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary, about his preparations, the role his parents and teachers have played in his life, his opinions on the current educational scenario etc.

Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary : Namaskar everyone. Well, we are very fortunate that we have today with us one of the shining, you may say, luminaries, a diamond, who had been with us for a long time at Sarada Vidya Mandir. His results have spoken a volume about him. But it is not only the results, his mannerism, his culture, his behaviour, have always been an identification for him. I am talking about none else, but the topper in WBJEE, 2020, the one and only, Souradeep Das, who is with us in the school campus along with his parents and teachers. And he has consented to talk to us which he generally doesn't do. We are very happy that he is with us. Welcome Souradeep to your school once again. Now, the first question to you is: 

"How is your feeling once you come to know your results are out and you find your name in the paper, everyone is calling you up and all, you find that you have topped actually. What were your feelings?" 

Souradeep : I was totally amazed by this. I am happy that it has brought greater happiness for my family. They are happier than I am because of this result. 

I am also very much thankful to all the teachers of my school as well as the teachers of this school because I learned about my culture here and also the school helped me a lot when I was a student here.

Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary: We have seen like most of your senior teachers who are sitting in this room, I have come to know from Tathagata sir that our school always have had a very good relation not only with you, with your family also, like your father used to come here as a judge for the Ganit Vigyan Mela. So... your father has been a big inspiration that we know that whenever he used to come to school, talk to the teachers, he has always thought about you, he has designed ideas for you. And even we have seen that you somewhat think that he has played a major role, right? So, what can you explain about the role that he has played in your life till now? 

Souradeep : My father has always been very helpful. When I used to attend the quizzes, like the science quiz, he made me practise by asking me many questions. I learned many things from there because that strengthened my GK. And also he has given me all the things I needed for my exams.

Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary: So obviously parents have to play a major role. So, few... about like your alma mater, like Sarada Vidya Mandir, you got admitted here in the first standard and then up to classX. So it's a long duration of 10 years in this school with a kind of culture that the school harvest. What are your feelings, like what you want to say about your school where you have spent 10 years of your life, where you grew up. What are your feelings for your school? 

Souradeep : I am just so much grateful to my school. I don't see any other school so much following the Indian culture as well as introducing modern teaching methods.

Also they have given every chance to get academic discussions. The most important thing is that teachers here always inspire us which is needed for our success.

Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary: So, just want to know one thing more from you like the present education situation or you can say the present education scenario in the subcontinent, where we have different kinds of boards like we have the state boards, we have the cbse board, we have the ICSE board… What do you think like now you are past xii and now you want to pursue research, right? So what are your feelings about like education, should it be uniformed, should it be homogeneous, or should it be based upon the regions, upon languages. What are your thoughts about education? 

Souradeep : What I think is that education should be Indianised but there should be a control or balance over the entire nation's needs, because now-a-days we see that many students are willing to become engineers but they are not getting jobs. Anyone who wants to pursue other jobs is generally neglected. This is not good for a student because we need people in all kinds of jobs. Main thing is that there should be provisions for vocational education also, I think, which has been included in the new Education Policy as well.

Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary: So nice of you to get your thoughts and the last one for you...Now you have your brothers and sisters in Sarada Vidya Mandir like you are an idol for many. Many are now following you. And what most of the teachers here like about you apart from the academics is that you are down to nature...earth, because here in Sarada Vidya Mandir also we prefer this that people should be down to earth, they should be more humble as we believe that a tree which is laden with fruits should actually bow down. So you are an idol for many students here in Sarada Vidya Mandir English Medium. What will be your advice for this generation of students who will run for their board exams. What is your advice for your brothers and sisters at Sarada Vidya Mandir, English Medium? 

Souradeep : I would also like to encourage them because they are all like just my family. I would suggest to them that "You should have faith in yourselves. Faith will help you have greater success. They also need to believe what teachers are trying to say is about what they are good at."You should not look at school life as some burden. It should be seen as a chance to get something."

Sri Dhrubajyoti Adhikary: Right, so it should be an opportunity to get something. It was so nice talking to you and it is so nice that we made you talk, we made you speak about many things. It was so nice of you. I hope you will be in touch with your school, with your brothers and sisters. And if you are guiding them whenever necessary, you should be the same Souradeep which they have seen when you first stepped into the school and anyhow you will be guiding our students who will be studying here. So, thank you very much.

So, this was Souradeep who spoke his heart out regarding the school where he had spent a long duration of time, and he thanked his parents, he thanked his school, he thanked his teachers, and we all from the Sarada Vidya Mandir family bless him and wish him that he stays healthy, that he remains as he is a humble person, very down to earth, very polite, very gentle. We wish him good luck, as well as, best of talent. It's not only luck, it's also talent which he is working on.

So from all of us, we wish you best of luck Souradeep. Thank you very much for spending time with us.

If you are a Vidya Bharati Alumni and would like to share your achievements, thoughts and experiences, kindly email us your contact details at info@vidyabharatialumni.org and we will contact you back.