Kerala CBSE topper gets congratulatory call from PM Modi

A Kerala student hailing from a weak background was obviously excited when he secured the top marks in the CBSE 12 standard commerce stream in the state. But his excitement had no limits when he received a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.

It was as part of the 'Mann Ki Baat' programme that the Prime Minister rang up Vinayak M Malil, who was a student of the Jawahar Novdaya Vidyalaya at Neriyamangalam, about 70 kilometres from Kochi. He is the son of Idukki native Manoj, a daily wage worker, and Thankamma.

After congratulating him for being the topper by fighting the odd conditions in life, the Prime Minister asked him what was his message to other students. "Hard work and proper time utilisation," replied Vinayak, who secured 493 out of marks in the CBSE exams, with full marks in three subject.

During the two-minute long conversation, the Prime Minister also enquired about the places he visited and his interest in sports. When Vinayak said he only visited Kerala and Tamil Nadu so far, the Prime Minister asked if he would like to visit Dehi. Vinayak replied that he was applying for higher studies in Delhi university.

The Prime Minister, who shared his conversation on the Twitter, asked Vinayak if he was active on social media. Once Vinayak replied that students were not allowed to use electronic gadgets at their school, Modi said he was lucky.

Vinayak is now flooded with appreciations as his conversation went viral.