“I was relaxed before the paper. I was relaxed during the paper. I was relaxed after the paper” — that’s how JEE Advanced All India Rank (AIR) 2 Kabir Chhillar described the mindset that defined his exam preparation.After securing a perfect 100 percentile in JEE Main earlier this year, the 18-year-old from Gurgaon followed it up with a perfect finish in JEE Advanced. He belongs to the IIT Delhi zone.Months before the JEE Advanced examination, when The Indian Express spoke to him in April after his JEE Main result, Kabir had already revealed a philosophy that stood apart from the myth surrounding India’s coaching culture. “I never studied for the number. I just focused on understanding things properly,” he had said.He described his study process less as a race for marks and more as a continuous exercise in self-correction. “If there was a silly mistake, I would analyse why it happened. What was I thinking at that time? If I couldn’t solve a question, I would ask what was weak in that topic,” he said. “That feedback process was very important.”His father, Mohit Chhillar, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus and software engineer, had earlier told The Indian Express that the family’s guiding principle was simple: “Do it and forget about it.”Growing up, Kabir’s curiosity often exceeded the boundaries of the classroom. His father recalls a moment from Class 2 when a teacher casually asked students to name the second-farthest star from Earth. Instead of offering a single answer, Kabir reportedly rattled off the 10 farthest stars he knew.“He’s always been like that, once he gets curious, he goes all in,” his father had said.Story continues below this adThat curiosity eventually led him toward astronomy, Olympiads, and finally engineering.Though he was performing well in school, the family decided to send him to Kota, the coaching capital of India. The decision was not easy. His parents were initially reluctant. “When I came to Kota, my parents didn’t like it,” Kabir recalled. “But I pushed them a lot. I felt the environment was very good. Delhi was not even close.”In Olympiad camps, he met students from across the country and discovered that the gap between him and the country’s best minds was smaller than he had imagined.“I saw people from outside and realised that I can actually compete with them,” he said. “This exposure is very important.”Ironically, one of the most important lessons he learned from Olympiads came from failure. In Class 11, he narrowly missed qualifying for the next stage of a science Olympiad.Story continues below this ad“The main reason I couldn’t clear it was that I wasn’t confident enough in myself,” he said. “After that, I always ensured that I would go with full confidence in every test.”Kabir maintained a routine of roughly 8-10 hours of focused study and fiercely protected his interests outside academics.Earlier, he told The Indian Express that football remained his favourite escape. He is a passionate follower of the English Premier League. He had also represented Haryana in football competitions and hoped college would allow him to reconnect with the sport.“Football helps me reset,” he had said.Even during his most intense preparation phase, he continued to meet friends when possible, listen to music, and follow football.Story continues below this adNow, he prepares for the International Chemistry Olympiad and looks ahead to IIT Bombay’s Computer Science programme, with dreams of eventually studying at MIT.Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions. Professional Profile Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region. Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice. Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility. She has also reported widely on: * Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs * Policy responses to campus mental health * Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University * Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US. Reporting Style Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2024 & 2025) 1. Express Investigation Series JNU’s fault lines move from campus to court: University fights students and faculty (November 2025) An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors. JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025) The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus. 2. International Education & Immigration ‘Free for a day. Then came ICE’: Acquitted after 43 years, Indian-origin man faces deportation — to a country he has never known (October 2025) H-1B $100,000 entry fee explained: Who pays, who’s exempt, and what’s still unclear? (September 2025) Khammam to Dallas, Jhansi to Seattle — audacious journeys in pursuit of the American dream after H-1B visa fee hike (September 2025) What a proposed 15% cap on foreign admissions in the US could mean for Indian students (October 2025) Anxiety on campus after Trump says visas of pro-Palestinian protesters will be cancelled (January 2025) ‘I couldn’t believe it’: F-1 status of some Indian students restored after US reverses abrupt visa terminations (April 2025) 3. Academic Freedom & Policy Exclusive: South Asian University fires professor for ‘inciting students’ during stipend protests (September 2025) Exclusive: Ministry seeks explanation from JNU V-C for skipping Centre’s meet, views absence ‘seriously’ (July 2025) SAU rows after Noam Chomsky mentions PM Modi, Lankan scholar resigns, PhD student exits SAU A series of five stories examining shrinking academic freedom at South Asian University after global scholar Noam Chomsky referenced Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an academic interaction, triggering administrative unease and renewed debate over political speech, surveillance, and institutional autonomy on Indian campuses. 4. Mental Health on Campuses In post-pandemic years, counselling rooms at IITs are busier than ever; IIT-wise data shows why (August 2025) Campus suicides: IIT-Delhi panel flags toxic competition, caste bias, burnout (April 2025) 5. Delhi Schools These Delhi government school grads are now success stories. Here’s what worked — and what didn’t (February 2025) ‘Ma’am… may I share something?’ Growing up online and alone, why Delhi’s teens are reaching out (December 2025) ... Read MoreStay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on InstagramTags:JEE Advanced