Dharani Govindasamy – AIR 3

Dharani Govindasamy, a student of Maharishi Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Chetpet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu came third in the CBSE Class 10th board exams. Thanks to the blessings of all his elders, teachers and comrades, he was able to score 497/500 with a perfect 100 in Mathematics, French, Social Science, and Science and thus secured AIR 3.

An aspiring engineer, he has won many Maths Olympiad competitions. But he is not your typical nerd. On the contrary, he enjoys doing many other things instead of just studying. He loves playing video games (Nintendo is his favourite) and composing music. This exceptionally talented young boy’s passion lies in playing various instruments like the piano, clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet in his pastime. And he almost always listens to music whenever he studies. He is an avid fan of alternative bands like Linkin Park, electronic music channels like NCS and instrumental composers like Hans Zimmer. He is also an avid reader and really enjoys teaching people and helping them understand things. And in this interview with Priya Sarin, this is exactly what he is aiming to do! This wise lad is here to help you learn some amazing study secrets that will help you pass your upcoming exams with flying colours.

School teachers and parents play a pivotal role in every child’s success. What role did they play in your success?
>>    It’s quite evident that most of the credit for my success goes to my pillars of support; namely my parents, teachers and friends. In school, our teachers and compartment heads would act as a constant source of motivation and guidance; moreover, they would ensure we understood the topics that were being discussed. My parents were the most supportive, always doing their part to reduce the stress level as much as possible from their side; and providing me comfort whenever I was feeling down after a disappointing examination performance. I have to also mention my little sister, who was always there to spend time with me whenever I needed someone’s company. Finally, there are some people who are usually not mentioned very often; my amazing friends. They can be the best support at times because they’re going through a similar situation as well and so they may be able to provide the most relatable and effective consolation. And, of course, a shoutout to my bestie who always put up with my various frames of mind and stayed with me through many tough times. 

What is your favourite subject? Why do you like it?
>>    Ever since I was small, I have always found mathematics fascinating; maybe it’s because of the fact that numbers never make mistakes or have any anomalies; moreover, I tend to analyze and go through various data of random things just for fun. One tip that I would like to share with anyone is the fact that I don’t hate or detest any subject; true, social science can be a monster, but if you really want to succeed, you should enjoy whatever you are learning and treat it as a fun experience. Don’t put extra emphasis on a subject just because it is your favourite and don’t neglect anything if it isn’t exactly your cup of tea.

Can you share a few study techniques and tips that you followed?
>>    Most people generally ask me how many hours I studied each day. To me, it’s not about how long you study, but how effective the time you spend on studying is. For example, studying for three hours while you’re half asleep is basically a waste of time while studying for just one hour with full focus and concentration can do wonders. I would also set small daily targets or goals such as a given number of sums or a certain topic in a subject for that day’s goal. Irrespective of the time taken (whether short or long), I would only stop when I had finished what I had intended to do. On a side note, there’s a saying, which goes “The best way to learn, is to teach.” I find this highly accurate and effective, as I would clear my friends’ doubts and also teach them certain concepts, and this eventually strengthened my own understanding of the same. So my advice to everyone would be to lend a hand to help anyone who needs it, as it will surely help you at some point as well. 

Different students have different learning styles. What is your style of preparation and note making?
>>    My style of learning is a tad unconventional; I find myself basically unable to memorize anything blindly, so I generally try to read the lessons (mainly social science and science) and get the gist of the content. I would make small notes of all the various sub-topics present so that I would know what each lesson contained. The first time I went through anything, I would ignore all the smaller details and just get an idea of what it was all about; on later revisions and readings, I would pick all the years and random names and what not that was there in each lesson. For mathematics in particular, I would have a sort of analysis as to which chapter I was weakest in, so that I could do more practice on that particular topic (trigonometry in my case). And whenever I solved sums, I would usually be listening to music through my headphones as it helped my concentration. (I personally prefer alternative rock or instrumental music but obviously that’s up to personal preference)

Did you practice any mock tests? Do you think they’re necessary for excelling in exams?
>>    Our school did provide many mock papers, and I also practised a few on my own. I do think that they are a highly effective method of preparation as they basically simulate the situation that you’re going to face in the real examination. The main benefit of mock tests is that they can help you practice time management, which is one of the most important factors of a good exam session. They also give you an idea of the types of questions that can make an appearance on the paper, as well as the paper patterns for better planning and approach.

As a thinking being, all of us suffer from emotional clutter. And while the physical clutter is easier to get rid of, dealing with emotional clutter can be challenging. Any tips for the same?
>>    Yes, this is that stage of life where sometimes it seems like everything is going wrong and you have no idea what to do. At times like these it’s really hard to focus on any sort of subject, so my advice is to just try to stay happy. Perhaps there are certain activities like playing sports, painting/drawing, singing songs, and the like which can help reduce the melancholy. In my case, I would play a bit on my video game console, or play the clarinet or saxophone; sometimes I would try to let it all out in making another song. And of course, we have our fellow human beings for emotional support. Whenever I felt low, I would talk to my parents or spend time with my sister. And a phone call or quick chat with a close friend can work wonders on your mood. On a side note, I don’t recommend resorting to social media to deal with emotions; chatting with people is fine but overall I feel that excessive social media usage is a mood killer rather than a happiness booster and so it’s best to avoid that.

What was the main driving force behind your success? What kept you motivated and confident throughout the year?
>>    To be frank here, initially I was not confident at all that I would do well in the boards. My first exam was probably one of the worst that I have ever written, and that had a fairly significant impact on my self-esteem for some period of time. However, I kept trying hard and I pushed myself to do better each test, so that I could manage to pull through in the end. Obviously, it’s nearly impossible to be happy all the time, so when things got rough, I would do things to make myself happy or spend time with people who make me happy. 

Most students forget what they have studied in just a few days. Any tips for improving the memory and ensuring better retain and recall?
>>    The first (and most obvious) thing I would suggest is to keep revising and going through whatever has been taught regularly so that all the information will be at your fingertips whenever it needs to be summoned. I also find that using random silly things to remember something else is actually really effective. Mnemonics are really neat and they somehow make your brain recall whatever it was that you were supposed to remember by linking it with something seemingly irrelevant and absurd. In fact, discussing topics with friends usually leads to quite a few interesting routes of remembering things. 

Any other tips for your juniors?
>>    Some general tips and food for thought I would like to point out: These are not the only exams you’ll write in your life. Don’t get disheartened if things don’t seem to be going your way in the academic side; you can always put in effort and hard work to turn them right side up again. Stay friends with everyone, it’s no use getting into any scuffles or rifts with anyone at this point, and make sure you keep at least one or two people close so that you can share your troubles when you’re feeling low or down. Teachers and parents can be your best friends too, as an elder’s advice/viewpoint is always worth listening to. Make sure you keep regular tabs as to what is going on in class as the portions are rather large and so it can be hard to balance it all at once. And remember that whatever is meant to happen will happen, so don’t stress out too much on anything because there’s no way it can be changed. I’ll end on this nice quote I read somewhere: “There’s a difference between enjoying your childhood and ruining your future.” All the best to whoever is reading this and I hope you found it useful!

~ Priya Sarin
priya[at]thestudentsdigest.com

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