Engineering a dream
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It needs a lot of hard work and dedication on your part to be successful.
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Mahesh Mahadevan has made a mark by topping a slew of engineering entrance tests this year.
One of the trophies resting in his showcase describes him aptly - Mahesh Mahadevan: first-ranker from Kerala in the All-India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) - all-India 11th rank, State topper in IIT-JEE, among the top performers in the State engineering entrance examination and topper in the Common Admission Test (CAT) of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).
Felicitations are still pouring in for this young achiever. He has already got admission where he wanted. Mahesh is joining IIT, Chennai, for B.Tech. in Mechanical Engineering, with sky-high dreams. He wants to pursue higher education in aeronautical or aerospace engineering. However, he is not sure whether his interest will change or not.
"That's why I am opting for a broader subject like Mechanical Engineering. I can turn to any other specialised branch if my interest changes," Mahesh said, during a chat with The Hindu Education Plus at his Panampilly Nagar residence.
He made up his mind to go for Mechanical Engineering after weighing the various options and taking the advice of senior scientists at the institution where his mother works.
Mahesh says he has no plans to do higher studies in India. He feels the quality of higher education abroad is much better. He has tentatively identified two places to pursue aeronautical engineering - in the United States or at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, supposed to be the topmost centres in the world for engineering and science.
However, Mahesh does not have much interest to go for the Indian Administrative Service. Neither is he enamoured by the magnificent combination of IIT-IIM. "I'm a dreamy kind of person. I love to pursue research. Though I'm passionate about it, I can do it at my will," he said.
Mahesh says he was inspired by the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. "He is a great President who has inspired millions of children in the country," he says. Mahesh saw Mr. Kalam first when he visited the Bhavan's Varuna Vidyalaya at NPOL, Thrikkakara, in 1993. Then Mahesh was in the second standard. He continued in the same school till Class XII.
If he gets another chance to meet Mr. Kalam, Mahesh says he will ask him what the best way is to inspire someone. Mahesh does not believe that success is just inspiration. It forms only one per cent of success. The rest is perspiration, he says. "It needs a lot of hard work and dedication on your part to be successful", he adds.
Mahesh says the last two years of coaching he had at Talents India, Kochi, helped him a great deal to take the engineering entrance examinations, including IIT-JEE, confidently. "My teachers could identify my demerits and help me get over them," he says.
"I have been careless in answering, though I often knew the correct answers. My answering methods lacked perfection. My teacher, C. Nandakumar, helped me a lot. In fact, he worked for us more than we did," says Mahesh, who has been a topper almost throughout his school. He has won prizes in quiz too; the Discovery Channel quiz he won in 1998 is prominent among them.
Mahesh is an avid reader. He has already completed the classic, Lord of the Rings and his sci-fi love has made him a fan of Michael Crichton and Arthur C. Clarke. He listens to music too.
Mahesh, though he believes he is too young for it, has an advice for his juniors. "Sincere work will pay", he says. "Respect for elders should be maintained. It's a vanishing commodity in India," he adds.
ABDUL LATHEEF NAHA
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