This NDA topper picks Indian Army over NIT, suggests ‘stay away from social media’

Shivansh Joshi wanted to become a soldier as he believes this is the best way to serve nation

Shivansh Joshi

Shunning a future of hefty salary packages and a comfortable life, this 17-year-old has taken up a more challenging career in order to serve the country. Shivansh Joshi, who has topped the NDA exam, has decided to quit the engineering course at NIT Tiruchirappalli and join the Indian Army. The results of the NDA exam were released last week.

Shivansh hails from Ramnagar in Uttarakhand. His father Sanjeev Joshi works with LIC India while mother Tanuja Joshi is a government primary school teacher.

Shivansh scored 96.8 per cent in class 12 exams and cracked the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) in the first attempt. “I always wanted to join the Indian Army as the kind of pride, respect, honour, discipline and adventure associated with it is not offered in any other profession. Joining defence forces is the best way you can serve your nation,” he said.

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It was at his father’s insistence that Joshi appeared for JEE and aced it without joining any coaching centre. He was preparing for his board exams, JEE and NDA — all at the same time.

“The syllabus for class 12 exams and JEE is quite similar. NDA picks more generic topics. But I ensured three hours of preparation for the exams and two hours of football and other physical activities,” said Joshi.

How did he manage a perfect balance between sports and studies? “I stayed away from social media. Though I am fond of smartphones, I purchased it after clearing all my exams,” added Joshi. He feels sports and patriotism are in the blood of people from Uttarakhand.

While he does not have a defence background, he was inspired by stories on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, national security advisor Ajit Kumar Doval and General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Army staff. He also draws motivation from books like Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari.

Neeti Nigam

Neeti Nigam leads the education department at indianexpress.com. She joined the Indian Express in 2015 and has set up the education and job sections in the online department. She covers schools and higher education, entrance and board exams, study abroad, civil services and other career-related news. Prior to that, she worked as a lifestyle and entertainment journalist in The Pioneer newspaper's magazine division. Besides working in the in-flight Air India (Namaskaar) magazine, she was part of the launch team of Indian Railways on-board magazine Rail Bandhu. She has also worked as a city reporter covering north Delhi in Hindustan Times. In 2012, she covered the MCD elections. You can write to her at neeti.nigam@indianexpress.com ... Read More