Mumbai teen bags £32,000 Manmohan Singh grant

Payoshaa Shah, like most kids her age loves bestsellers, jazz and dancing. What sets her apart from others is: Manmohan Singh being her passport to Cambridge.

The 16-year-old from Juhu is one of three Indian students and the first girl to have bagged the first round of Manmohan Singh Undergraduate Scholarship(s) to fund their studies at the University of Cambridge. “It’s a big deal for me that I’ve been named a scholar after the Prime Minister who is also from Cambridge,” said Shah, the only student to have completed her A levels (Std 12) to receive the prestigious scholarship.

The scholarship provides “full funding, covering fees and maintenance” for students to pursue a subject of their choice. For Shah, the chance to study psychology at Newnham College, Cambridge is a step towards her dream of becoming a psychologist. She credits a popular soap opera on lie detection and psychological cases with kindling her interest in psychology. 

“I want to be able to read people’s minds, decipher their behaviour and understand what makes them tick,” said Shah, the first from her family to study at a foreign university.

This ex-student of Utpal Sanghvi School, Juhu Shah had topped the country with a 97 per cent in physics in International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) board in 2009.

“The scholarship is no mean feat, she was always a hard worker. We were surprised that despite being a genius in physics, she has chosen humanities over sciences,” said Abha Pal, principal, Utpal Sanghvi School, Juhu.