Prakhar Mittal: Mozart, Beethovan and 3 hours study; how this CBSE Class 10 topper aced the exam

Music compositions of western classical masters Mozart and Beethoven acted as stress-buster for Prakhar Mittal, one of the four all-India CBSE class 10 toppers, who is also a trained pianist.

A student of DPS Gurgaon, Prakhar scored 499 marks out of 500. It was in French that he missed the perfect score by one. His other subjects were English, Social Science, Mathematics and Science.

The other three students who secured the pole position are Rimzhim Agarwal of RP Public School, Bijnor; Nandini Garg of Scottish International School, Shamli, and Sreelakshmi G of Bhavan's Vidyalaya, Kochi.

Prakhar's father, who works with a finance firm in Gurgaon, said that his son always studied according to a plan.

"He has always been a good student and we expected a good result from him. But it was not expected that he would top the entire country. He would prepare a plan and decide that he would cover this much syllabus," he told PTI.

Prakhar's mother is a homemaker.

The teenager said, "Of course, there was a fear as I was about to appear for my first Board exams. But instead of taking pressure, I tried to be consistent and studied everyday for at least three hours. My parents never put pressure on me."

Prakhar has his eyes set on getting into one of the IITs after finishing his class 12. He has interest in robotics.

"I feel that the Class 10 Board (exam) helps you gain experience on how one has to prepare for board exams. Even if you don't do well in class 10 exams, you can always try and do well in your class 12 boards," he said.

For busting exam stress, Prakhar would listen to music or go for a walk.

"I have been learning piano for many years. I am into classical piano and I like Beethoven and Mozart. But music is more of a passion, something I pursue for relaxation. My real calling is academics," he said, adding he plans to invite his friends home for a celebration.