"I'll Be A Strong Girl": Bhopal Topper's Ode To Parents Who Died Of Covid

"The last thing my mother said to me was 'believe in yourself... we will back soon'. My father said 'beta, himmat rakhna' (stay strong, my child)," Vanisha Pathak said.

Vanisha Pathak of Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal scored 100 in her English, Sanskrit, Science and Social Science Class X CBSE exams, and 97 in Mathematics - an incredible achievement for any student, but a particularly superb one for a 16-year-old girl who lost her parents to COVID-19 in May. Two months ago, with the exams around the corner, her entire world plunged into darkness - her parents, infected with the coronavirus, died in hospital within days of each other. A once bustling and cheerful household was reduced to herself and Vivan, her 10-year-old brother, and it was then, she says, that inspiration struck - she realised she was the only family her brother had. "(The memory of) my parents obviously kept me motivated and will motivate me throughout my life (but) he (the brother) is the biggest source of motivation right now... I am all he has and that keeps me going. I need to do something," Ms Pathak told NDTV.