This 16-year-old from Hyderabad cleared Class XII Intermediate exam in both Science and Arts

Agastya Jaiswal clears exams for fun. The 16-year-old from Hyderabad, Telangana just cleared the state's Intermediate II year board exams from the Biology, Physics, Chemistry (BiPC) stream scoring 81%. However, this is not the first time that this student has cleared the Intermediate exam. As an 11-year-old, he had attempted and cleared the exam from the Civics, Economics and Commerce stream. Since then he has gone on to complete an undergraduate degree in Journalism as well.

So why not stop there? "I wanted to prove that people from the Arts background can ace the sciences as well," says Agastya, who completed his degree in journalism at the age of 14. This, however, has not quenched his thirst for knowledge, and Agastya has made up his mind to attempt the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) next year.

"And so in the future, I will be holding two degrees — one in the Arts and one in the Sciences," adds an enthusiastic Agastya, who completed his Secondary School Certificate (Class X) exam at the age of nine. If you're wondering what the secret to his proficiency as a student is, then rest assured that the answer is as basic as it can get. "I simply enjoy what I study. I do not merely memorise things. My formula for education is understanding the subject," he explains.

Having cleared his higher secondary education not once, but twice, you would imagine this youngster stays glued to his books most of the day. Well, you couldn't be more off the mark. "Usually I study only one or two hours per day that too only when I am interested. For the rest of the day, I play table tennis for about four to five hours. I also practice dance and engage in a fitness session," Agastya shares. 

In fact, this prodigy claims he is a national-level table tennis player, and his interest in the game was one of the driving forces behind his efforts to finish his formal education soon. He is perhaps inspired in this endeavour by his elder sister Naina Jaiswal, who happened to be Asia's youngest postgraduate in 2017 at the age of 15, and is also a national-level table tennis player.