It was a day of joy for Thomas Jacob, a student of St Francis College when he was given the award at a simple ceremony soon after the school assembly at 7 a.m. on Monday.

``I am at the peak of joy at the moment. I never expected that my essay would win the prize. But you never know what will happen later when you select the subject of your essay for a prized competition,'' said a happy Thomas.

Thomas was in disagreement with his father -- an IAS officer -- when he chose Hitler as the most important person of the century. His father said he did not think it would be a better choice but the son was confident about choosing Hitler and went ahead.

``The topic was the most important person and not the best personand in this category Hitler, who changed the destiny of the world, was the best choice in my perception,'' said Thomas, who has got a computer worth Rs one lakh for his essay.

When Thomas was selected for the second prize in the Time-Asia competition, he had not won any major prize before but since then, in a period of two months he has won two more prizes -- one in a crossword contest and another for a short essay.

``I got the thrust from Time award and now will concentrate on writing more such things which bring honour to my school and also my parents,'' he said.

``We feel proud of Thomas' achievement. May God bless him for more awards in the future,'' said the college principal.