NASHIK: Vrunda Rathi emerged all-India topper among girls in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains 2017, the results for which were declared on Thursday. She ranked 71st in the overall list with a score of 321 out of 360.A student of Loknete Vyankatrao Hiray Arts, Science and Commerce College here, Vrunda said she wants to study at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and not at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). "I believe the IITs are better for engineering. I want to become a researcher in the field of science, and the IISc will give me that opportunity," she told TOI.Vrunda, who started preparing for the JEE Mains from Class 11 itself, scored 105 in Physics, 106 in Chemistry and 110 in Mathematics. "I think if one is dedicated and determined to crack JEE, two years of study are sufficient. Apart from self-study at home, I had enrolled for tutorials with a leading institute in Nashik," she said.Vrunda is an ardent reader of novels and poetry, besides newspapers and magazines. She has also been learning the flute from well-known Nashik flautist Ravindra Joshi for the last four years. "Whenever my routine would become stressful, I would play the flute to relax. It has always helped me," she said.The girl's father Nandkumar and mother Krushna are both engineers. Nandkumar, a production engineer from NIT Surat, owns a leading engineering firm in Nashik. Krushna is a practising architect in Nashik and specialises in landscaping.While Vrunda was confident of figuring in the top 100 in the exam, her parents were not expecting such a stupendous success. Her mother was pleasantly surprised to get a call from CBSE chairman R K Chaturvedi congratulating her on her daughter's performance. "Vrunda has been hardworking and focused right from the beginning. She always topped her school and college examinations," Krushna said.

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