For Krithi Chandar Sundaram (16) a class XII student of the National Public School (Indiranagar), Bangalore, participating in a competition is not all about winning but the learning experience, which she cherishes equally. Nevertheless she was adjudged winner of the first Indian National Brain Bee championship finals staged at the Nizams Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad on March 29-30.
The win qualifies this bubbly Plus Two science student for the International Brain Bee championship finals scheduled to be held in Montreal, Canada on May 25-26. A three level (regional, national and international) neuroscience quiz competition envisioned and founded by Dr. Norbert Myslinski, associate professor of neurology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, the championship was started in 1999 to motivate high school students to study neurosciences at the tertiary level.

I am proud to be representing India in the finals in Canada where 26 high school (class IX-XII) students from as many countries will vie for the top prize. I wasnt fully aware that neuroscience was such a vast subject with futuristic career opportunities until I participated in the competition, admits Krithi.

In the regional rounds of the Brain Bee competition staged across the country in December-February more than 500 high school students from Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Mumbai participated. Of them 12 — two from each city, entered the national round, she elaborates.

During the competition leading to the final round in Hyderabad, all participants acquired considerable insights into microanatomy, neuro-physiology, and common psychiatric and neurological diseases from eminent medical practitioners who officiated as judges, says Krithi. In the last round we had to identify parts of the brain and elaborate their functions. The final round was very competitive and I was adjudged winner of the national round after a tie-breaker. All the finalists were very knowledgeable. I just struck it lucky, I guess, she says modestly.

A lover of all music Krithi has set her sights on medical research or practice. I believe theres more to learning than academics. We live in a new era in which the internet gives access to huge libraries of knowledge at the click of a mouse. My advice to all students is not to miss new opportunities for learning, says Krithi.

Already the winner of a laptop computer and passage to Montreal, Krithis quest for knowledge has paved the way for her future success, whatever the outcome on May 26.
Mekhala Roy (Bangalore)