June 27: Parents of Advait Karande, this year's SSC topper in Mumbai division, were making frantic efforts to get in touch with him on the Kuwait Airways flight to Mumbai last evening. Blissfully unaware of his success, he was on his way home after a long holiday with relatives in New York. He is likely to arrive tomorrow morning.

His parents, however don't expect Advait to hit the roof with the news. ``He won't be very excited about his feat as he is a very cool person,'' his father Deepak Karande told Express Newsline at the felicitation ceremony which he attended along with his wife Sucheta today at Bal Bhavan, Charni Road.

Karande senior couldn't have been happier with his son Advaita's topping the SSC merit list. Way back in 1968, Karande senior from the same school, Balmohan Vidyamandir, missed the merit list by just two marks. Deepak did, however, managed to bag prizes in mathematics and physics & chemistry, while his wife Sucheta bagged a prize in Sanskrit. Both of them were certain that their son would feature among the toppers. ``Advaita was always shuttling between the first and second position in school. Only the wrong questions in the mathematics paper worried us,'' his mother Sucheta said.

Despite their busy schedules - he is an assistant manager in the Cable Corporation of India and she a bank officer - the Karandes coach their two sons.

``We never had to push them to study since both Advait and the younger Chinmay, now in VIII standard, are quite responsible,'' Deepak said. Advait will join the DG Ruparel College and pursue his dream of becoming a computer engineer.

Apart from studying, Advait loves watching TV, specially science programmes. ``Advait plays cricket and used to frequent gymnasiums as well. "When he was in fourth standard, he represented the city in a state-level gymnastic competition,'' recounts Deepak.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.