A national-level chess champion, an athlete and now a school topper — Rinku Shekhawat from DPS RK Puram scored 94% in humanities in her CBSE Class XII exams. Her joy knew no bounds on Monday while her family back in Sikar in Rajasthan was celebrating like never before. Rinku cannot see. But she can see her dreams coming true now.

"I want to take admission either in St Stephen's or Lady Shri Ram College," she said with a glint in her eye and an unbeatable confidence in her voice. "I had studied really hard this time and my papers went well. I think I deserved to score this much," she said.

Rinku joined DPS R K Puram in Class XI. "I had scored only 75% in Class X. That's when I decided I would turn things around and achieve a better result. I studied during night and my teachers provided me notes in Braille and also books converted into e-text. I just wanted to become something. I think it's finally happening now," she said.

Rinku had been living away from her family with her elder sister in the city only for good schooling. Her father, B S Shekhawat, remembered: "My daughter is visually impaired. So I had to look for a school that could provide her all the required facilities. There was no such school in Sikar. So we sent both our daughters to Delhi. She has always been good in studies. I have a lot of dreams for her though she is not absolutely happy about scoring only this much."

Rinku scored 95% in English and political science and 97% in sociology. She is keen on studying BA (honours) sociology. "No one can change the reality of my life. But I believe that with courage I can achieve whatever I want. My mother always tells me: 'Tumhari wajah se log mujhe pehchanenge (people will recognize me because of you)'," said Rinku, who also has a green belt in taekwondo.

Seven of the 24 differently-abled students who scored above 90% are from Delhi. Shubhangi Goel, a student of Bal Bharati School in Rohini got 95% in the commerce stream — the highest in the differently-abled category. She suffers from thalassemia.

She attributed her success to her mother. Shubhangi studied for six-seven hours every day till last December; then for 10 hours a day. Her father, Nalin Goel, said: "We never had to force her to study." The principal of her school, Rekha Sharma, described Shubhangi as a quiet, shy child who never let anything come in the way of her living her life. "She was always involved in extra-curricular activities, especially literary activities and debates." Shubhangi, who loves to read, is planning to pursue a degree in BCom (honours) from Delhi University.

Nohar Kumar Chona from DPS Mathura Road, who scored 91.6% in humanities, suffered from a learning difficulty called dyscalculia that made mathematics almost impossible to handle. But his problem was detected early on and he finally overcame it with the help of his parents and teachers. "My teachers acknowledged my problems and guided me well. I had problems with spellings, too, but my mother made me practise a lot. That's what has helped me," said Nohar who wants to make a career in hotel management.