Toppers, who invariably enroll for private tutorials like thousands of others, are under increasing pressure from coaching classes to endorse the chest-thumping advertisements and promotional campaigns these business establishments unleash as soon as the results are announced. The media blitz is unrelenting and the pressure on the students phenomenal. The inducement? Irresistible cash incentives dubbed `awards' which range from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2,000 thrust into the wavering hands of impressionable teenagers.

These classes, irrespective of how close their association with the students hasbeen (there are special batches, vacation batches, test batches, special test batches, regular batches and a host of other categories) insist that the students' brilliance is a product of their priceless tutorials. Other competitors for the credit -- the sweat and toil and talent of the youngsters -- are of little consequence.

So, when Sanket Dusad, who topped the March 1998 HSC exam from the Aurangabad division, `forgot' to mention the Aurangabad-based Chate or Agade coaching classes during his valedictory press conference, the teenager was made to pay for his lapse. The price: a verbal pow-wow with the state education minister, a press conference organised by the Aurangabad-based Chate coaching classes to `clarify' his stand, a very disappointed college principal and a controversy that clings to him wherever he goes.

``The credit for my success goes (mostly) to my elder brother Amit, my college teachers and those teaching at the Paripurthi coaching classes,'' Sanket had said in a burst of spontaneity atthe press meet following the declaration of results.

However, even before he had recovered from the jubilation, the teenager who did not deny his association with Chate became the object of suspicion for the public and an exhibit of a coaching class which operates from 17 centres statewide and charges a whopping fee for its rigorous coaching.

Following Sanket's statement, Chate and Agade coaching classes instantly unleashed an advertisement blitz usurping credit for nudging the boy up the ladder of success. He was depicted in photographs holding notes distributed by the tutorials. In some, he appeared flanked by his parents.

Then came a vitriolic statement from state Education Minister Anil Deshmukh who was quoted in the press as saying the boy had complained of being used by Chate for their publicity campaign.

However, Sanket himself denies having made the complaint. ``I was too excited when the board chairman declared that I had not just appeared in the merit list but had actually topped in thestate. I was in seventh heaven and perhaps that is why I forgot to mention the names of Chate and Agade coaching classes,'' Sanket told Express Newsline.

And which coaching classes inspired him? ``None,'' says the boy's proud mother, Pramila. ``Actually, the classes turned out to be an anti-climax. They did not meet his expectations and after attending for a couple of days, he preferred his own self-study,'' she says.

Then why did the Dusads submit to Chate's media onslaught? ``Well, I cannot deny that my son kept any association with the classes. After all, he did enrol with them,'' she says.

Does Sanket feel the advertisements overplayed their contribution to his success? ``Well, it is for them to decide their ad campaign. How it is interpreted by anyone is their business,'' he says.

The minister's controversial statement was followed by a request to the education authorities in Aurangabad that they seek a clarification from Sanket himself. In a written reply to a query from his principal R TDeshmukh, of Deogiri College, Sanket curiously makes only a passing reference to Chate classes. In the letter, dated June 16, 1998, he also credits his family, teachers and college. He concludes, saying it was his hard work, determination and sincerity that helped him top the HSC exam.Says Principal Deshmukh: ``I do not know what classes he attended outside our college but I certainly felt let down when I went through the Chate classes advertisements.'' I also expressed my displeasure to Sanket's parents, he adds.

Amid the rush of confusing statements, denials and written clarifications, nowhere have the Dusads accused Chate of misusing or exploiting Sanket's achievement for their business interests. Neither did Sanket vehemently protest against the minister's statement regarding the alleged complaint. Somewhere in the ugly business of education, where cash-rich coaching classes offering awards to their brilliant wards cross swords with a crusading minister, the dividing line between academic pursuit andfinancial enterprise got smudged.

The tutorials' proprietor, Gopichand Chate, attributes the din over the teenager and its advertising campaign to the ``handiwork of some racket in Mumbai'' which does not want the Chates to conquer the market there. But isn't the tutorial simply cashing in on the teenager's achievement and natural vulnerability? After a brief silence comes the clincher: ``Well, will you go and ask Madhuri Dixit whether she uses Lux soap when she bathes every day.''

(K S Manojkumar is a senior correspondent with The Indian Express, in Aurangabad)