A winner in our midst

It was indeed a proud moment for our school when Aastha Chouhan, a student of Class 12, GIIS, Queenstown campus was awarded the Times Now, NRI of the Year award for 2013, in the student category. The criteria for the student category required the individual to have achieved success in studies and co-curricular activities.

Aastha had achieved a perfect 10 GPA score in her Class 10 CBSE-i board exams last year. She had demonstrated excellent leadership skills as the head girl of the school at GIIS East Coast campus. Her peers - I am one of them - have always applauded her public- speaking skills, and enjoyed her award-winning singing and dance performances.

On March 24, Aastha was invited to attend the NRI of the Year Award function at The Trident Hotel in Mumbai.

"For me, it was an Oscar moment", said Aastha. "The stage and the lighting, the cameras, the press and interviews, the 'celebrity' status, the august gathering from Bollywood and corporate India, the NRI winners who had flown in from the US, UK, Middle East and Singapore… it was an amazing experience, and interacting wit`h fellow student category winners from other parts of the world gave me an insight into their achievements and challenges.

Adds Aastha: "There's no such thing as magic… Hard work and self belief are the keys to success."

I am very happy to have a friend like Aastha at GIIS who can compete for an award on a global platform. Congratulations to Aastha on her achievement.

Renita Premkumar, Class 12

Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.