For 18-year-old Rajit Gupta, large banners and hoardings displaying photos and names of previous year’s toppers of competitive exams acted as an inspiration, reminding constantly of his aim to find his own photo and name on one of those advertising spots.
A resident of Kota, considered India’s coaching capital, Gupta bagged the top rank in JEE advanced, the qualifying paper for admission to premier IITs, results of which were announced on Monday. Gupta, an IIT Delhi zone candidate, scored 332 out of 360 marks in the entrance exam.
“My seniors and teachers played a huge role in inspiring me to do well in the exam,” Gupta told HT, adding that watching the faces and names of previous years’ toppers also “truly inspired” him.
Having scored a perfect 100 percentile (AIR16) in JEE mains, he was confident about JEE advanced. “I’m very happy with my result,” said the 18-year-old, whose father Deepak Gupta is a sub-divisional engineer with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and mother Shruti Agrawal teaches home science at a Kota college.
“I have been preparing for this exam for the last three years,” Gupta said, adding he plans to pursue BTech in Computer Science from IIT-Bombay. “My parents have really helped me throughout the process.”
Apart from school hours, he studied 5-6 hours every day, without stressing about the results. “I play cricket and badminton whenever I get time from my studies,” he added.
On his immediate plans, Gupta said he is concentrating on the upcoming international Physics Olympiad. “I’m going to France and will be representing India on July 18 in the Olympiad,” the JEE topper from Rajasthan said.
On the opposite spectrum geographically, Devdutta Majhi of Katwa in West Bengal’s East Burdwan district focused solely on the tested combination of “hard work, dedication, and discipline” to achieve success.
A candidate from IIT Kharagpur zone, Majhi topped among female candidates in JEE Advanced, scoring 312 (she was 16th on the common rank list or CRL).
“I studied for 10-12 hours every day and followed a daily routine. Sometimes my mother scolded me when I used to study too much. She cares for my health. Excellence doesn’t come overnight. A lot of hard work, dedication and discipline go behind it,” Majhi said.
She had topped the Madhyamik examination (Class X board) in West Bengal in 2023 and earlier this year, Majhi hit the headlines along with Archisman Nandy, another student from the eastern state, for scoring perfect 100 in the JEE Mains.
“The only challenge I faced was the dearth of good teachers in the district. For that I had to depend on online classes with teachers from both Kolkata and Delhi,” she said, adding that she wants to pursue research after securing a seat at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.
An animal lover, Majhi is also known in her locality as the one who cares for the strays. “I love to read story books, particularly detective stories. I also play violin,” she added.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Majhi for making the state proud.
“…Today’s JEE Advanced 2025 examination results show that you have been topper among all girls in the entire country, and the highest rank holder in the IIT Kharagpur zone. You achieved top ranks in our Secondary and Higher Secondary examinations earlier, and now you are the topper girl of India! Wish you the very best, and congratulations to your parents and teachers too!” Banerjee said in a post on X.