17-year-old Vavilala Chidvilas Reddy, who secured the top spot in JEE Advanced on Sunday with a score of 341 out of 360 marks, displayed an unwavering focus throughout the last four years. From 6 am to 11 pm, he dedicated himself to studying and preparing for the challenging exam, not allowing even minor health issues to deter him. “Although I anticipated being among the top five, I am elated to have achieved the prestigious All India Rank one,” Reddy expressed to indianexpress.com.

Reddy attributes his success to the unwavering support of his parents — Rajeshwar Reddy, (a government teacher at Giri Kothapalli) and mother Nagalaxmi Reddy (a government teacher at Irwin). Both are mathematics teachers at the government school in Madgul, Rangareddy district, Telangana.

Additionally, he acknowledges the invaluable encouragement and guidance provided by his teachers. Since the age of 11, Reddy has been a student at Sri Chaitanya school and junior college in Hyderabad, where he made the early decision to pursue his IIT dream.

He aims to pursue a BTech in Computer Science Engineering from IIT Bombay. In the years to come, he envisions himself as a computer scientist, innovator, or working with the government. Reddy added that apart from his target of cracking the IIT, he had no other passion or interest in life, and he simply followed the guidance of his parents and teachers.

(With inputs from agencies)