He was meant to be thinking about revision timetables, last-minute doubts, and the familiar pressure of board examinations. Instead, Aarav Vats learnt to measure time in hospital appointments, in the silent wait between chemotherapy cycles, and in the fragile moments when strength returned just enough to open a textbook.

Somewhere in that strange overlap of adolescence and illness, a Class 10 student from Delhi kept studying.

When the CBSE results were declared, his score of 96.6 percent did not arrive as a surprise to those who had watched him closely. It arrived more like a pause in a long, difficult journey, a moment where effort and hard work finally became visible on paper. 

Behind that number was a diagnosis that changed everything: lymphoblastic lymphoma, a rare and aggressive cancer of the blood and lymphatic system that often drains the body long before it drains hope.

The illness did not announce itself gently. It brought exhaustion that made even small tasks........

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