Visually impaired boy scores 91.4% in CBSE Class 12 exams, tops school

New Delhi: He cannot see the world around him but that did not deter 18-year-old Tapas Bhardwaj from chasing his dreams as he aced CBSE Class 12 exams scoring 91.4% and topping his school.

Tapas, a student of DPS R K Puram, who is visually impaired by birth, took the exam with the help of a scribe and scored 457 of 500, just 39 short of the all India topper M Gayatri, who secured 496.

Raised in a joint family, he got all the support needed to overcome the challenges he faced since childhood. He studied for 7-8 hours a day using a special software that converts text to voice on his laptop, said his elder brother Nakul Bhardwaj.

Tapas's class 12 scorecard reads, English Core - 95, Psychology - 90, Sociology - 95, Legal Studies - 94, Computer Science - 83. He also studied 'hindustani musical vocal' as an additional subject in which he scored 92 marks.

In 2015, he stood at 35th rank in PwD (Persons with Disability) category of Common Law Admission Test (CLAT). He has also topped in the same category for the five year integrated (hons) Law course test conducted by IP University.

Interested in law, Tapas now wants to make a mark in the legal field. His uncle Arvind Raj Sharma, a politician, said that his teachers and family thought it best to allow him to pursue studies in a field of his choice.

"His daily routine was almost the same as of any normal teenager. He went to school in a school bus and attended classes with his classmates. The only difference was that while other students wrote notes in their copies, Tapas keyed them in a laptop," said Nakul.