At a time when varsity cut-offs have hit 100, @IndianExpress tracked down a generation of Board exam toppers between 1996 & 2015 to find out the consequences of a convention that celebrates a few students every yr. 

Our 3-part deep dive: Tracking India's Toppers 👨‍🎓🥇

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Each is a story of talent, effort & achievement. But taken together, the arcs of their lives & careers tell the story of a generation coming of age in a liberalised India. Of how some aspirations endure & some don’t; how some divides crumbled & some stay intractable.
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Over half the toppers (CBSE & CISCE) live overseas today, USA 🇺🇸 being the destination of choice.

Three of every four who are abroad are either working or pursuing higher education in USA. Others are in the UK, Australia, Singapore, China, Canada, Bangladesh and UAE
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Of those employed abroad, most work in the tech sector, followed by medicine and finance.

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A quarter of those working in the US are in Silicon Valley.

Like Rishabh Singh (34), who topped the CBSE Class 12 exam in 2004 and is now Research Scientist with Google X.

@Google is home to 11 toppers, the most in any one company!

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