– Reshma Ravishanker

One of the toppers in the commerce stream of the second PU examinations in Karnataka, which was announced on Wednesday, boasts participation in world record holding events for classical dance.

A native of Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh, Battepatti Ashritha has secured third rank in the commerce stream has secured a score of 595. She shares the rank with 16 others.  

Speaking to EducationWorld, Ashritha said that although she hails from Andhra Pradesh, it was her passion to pursue commerce that drew her to the bordering Chikkaballapur in Karnataka. “In my state, there is very little importance given to commerce. I noticed that here, it is more popular. Hence, I took the decision of moving to a hostel here to pursue my education.

“Like any other student, I even had my share of struggle with initial adjustments. Yet, when the focus is to get quality education, everything else feels minuscule,” said this student from SBGNS Rural Composite PU College.

This topper is also a dance enthusiast who has participated in Bharatanatyam events which have also made it to Guinness World Records. In one such, she shared the stage with 5,541 dancers in a rain dance programme which made a record for largest number of participants in the activity on a single platform. She also holds a certificate for participation in the event Navaratri Natya Samarpana Vaibhavam, an event which made it to the Traditional Book of Records, India, which saw 3,849 dancers on a single stage.

Ashritha, said that her multiple revisions in the college helped her ace exams. “Syllabus was completed two months before exams. We were given previous year’s question papers to solve every day,” she said. This CA aspirant has begun her initial coaching for the same in her college.

Harshith H S, who has secured rank 2 in commerce is also a CA aspirant. He studied a combination of Business, Accounts, Statistics and Economics.  

“I would listen to the lectures very attentively. I did not attend tuitions. Solving previous year’s papers helped me. Our college lecturers explained important concepts well. Staying at a hostel with no access to gadegets was a challenge I faced as I found it difficult to access previous year’s question papers,” said this topper from Tirthalli, who moved to Udupi to study as this is a primary education hub.

Vidyalakshmi A, a student from Vidyanikethan Science PU College, Huballi secured a 598 score on 600 and is the topper in the Science stream. She chose the PCMB combination in PU. 

“I did not attend coaching or private tutorials to study. Our college faculty have been supportive. We had weekly exams in college. I did not miss even one of them. I had a 100 percent attendance in college. This is what helped me ace,” she recollects. 

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