Brush with President at science show - Sikkim boy’s tension before Pranab pat

Naren Kumar Chettri explains his project to President Pranab Mukherjee in Sikkim. (Prabin Khaling)

Nirmal Mangar, TT, Gangtok, Nov. 11: Naren Kumar Chettri could not believe his luck. The country’s President was slowly walking towards his stall.

Naren, a Class XII student, had made a model to show generation of electricity through electromagnetic waves. He was one of nearly 200 students from across the country participating in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Science, Mathematics and Environment Exhibition.

The President had opened the 40th edition of the exhibition this morning and now he was near Naren’s stall.

“I started having palpitations when the President approached my desk and asked me about my model. I was nervous but I stood smartly in front of him and slowly explained my project of converting electromagnetic force into electrical energy,” Naren, who reads in the Mangan Government Senior Secondary school in north Sikkim, said.

President Mukherjee must have been impressed with the display. Naren later said that Mukherjee told him: “Sikkim students are very clever, innovative and creative. Congratulations and all the best.”

The exhibition, the first time in the mountainous state of Sikkim, has been organised by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) at Saramsa garden, around 10km from Gangtok.

The winners of state-level science exhibitions from across the country were given the opportunity to display their models at the national-level science show here.

The President reached Sikkim yesterday afternoon. Today, he was accompanied by Shashi Tharoor, the Union minister of state for human resource development, Sikkim chief minister Pawan Chamling and governor Sriniwas Patil.

Naren was not the only Sikkim student lucky to meet the President today. Divyashree Rai, a Class XI student of Namchi Government Girls’ School in south Sikkim, had made a model on waste management that was displayed at the exhibition.

“The President smiled at me and asked me to explain my project. My project is on garbage (waste) management. He was impressed with my presentation and blessed me saying ‘keep it up’,” the 17-year-old said.

Her exhibit had won the first prize in the state-level science exhibition in Sikkim.