Helal Uddin Shah
Dimapur, May 21 (MExN): A topper right from his early school days, it was no surprise that Helal Uddin Shah of M.G.M. Higher Secondary School in Midland, Dimapur secured first rank in the Nagaland High School Leaving Exam with 96.16% and 577 total marks. Giving new meaning to the term “advance preparations”, the young lad is said to have started preparing for the HSLC exam the moment he passed out from the ninth standard. By the beginning of the school session, he had already covered 30 per cent of the syllabus.
Attributing his success to prayer, obedience, punctuality and honesty, Helal pointed out that one has to be extremely hardworking and determined. He expressed gratitude for the constant support he received from parents, friends, well-wishers, teachers and especially Father P.S Varghese, Principal of MGM Higher Secondary School Dimapur. To achieve this feat, Helal said he was inspired by the previous year’s HSLC topper. He scored highest marks in II Technology (IIT) scoring 100 marks and also 100 marks in Science. Without tutoring, Helal studied every day for six to seven hours, excluding school hours.
He chooses Science as his favorite subject and Hindi as his least favorite. Helal aspires to become an IAS Officer, as he wants to work for the welfare of his people and the Country. He loves to play football, read comic books and paint pictures; and idolizes Abraham Lincoln.
“I’ve always set my goal to become a HSLC topper since childhood,” he said. For now, he says he wants to join St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. As Top 1, Helal will receive a Gold Medal, and a citation certificate. He will also receive the Governor’s Award with a cash of Rs. 5,000, Madras Telugu Academy Award, Manik Bhattarcharjee Award along with Rs. 5,000 cash.
It may be mentioned that Helal’s elder brother had also secured Top 24 in the 2010 Nagaland HSLC examination, and is currently pursuing MBBS in Imphal.
His father is a proud parent who had been worrying how to financially support his children’s education. But so far, phone calls from hundreds of people are pouring in congratulating the family. A well-wisher of the family has offered to pay for Helal’s studies. He shared that the MGM School group had also suggested helping in Helal’s further studies.
“My son is very obedient, even though I may not be able to afford paying for his studies,” said the proud father. He runs a hostel and happily announces that along with his son securing Top 1, all his hostel students have also passed the exam successfully.
