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While several students across the city secured high scores at their HSC Class 12 boards, Thane’s Siya Shukla secured a high score of 90% despite developing blindness halfway through her schooling journey. At the age of 10, Siya was diagnosed with glaucoma and the doctors told the family that she would soon turn blind. “We tried a number of medical routes, ayurveda, but nothing helped. At the age of 13, when I was about to be in ninth grade, I turned completely blind,” she told Sunday mid-day.

Siya then dropped out of school and took a break from her studies, staying at home for nearly a year. “That period developed a void within me and I began feeling depressed. I didn’t know braille and I didn’t know how to use technology as a blind person. However, I knew that I had to persist. With the help of the National Association for Blind, I enrolled to take my class 10 board exams once again scoring 88 per cent,” she said.

Now a humanities student at NKTT College, she scored 90 per cent in her Class 12 board exams with the help of a writer, while using technology to her advantage. “I hope to pursue psychology in future as I am drawn towards the subject. I have learned that AI also presents a number of interesting opportunities and I wish to explore those too,” said Shukla.