When you consider somebody who has actually won a gold medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026, topped JEE Mains with a best rating of 300/300 protecting AIR 1, and protected AIR 2 in JEE Advanced, you may picture a major, bookish geek whose life focuses on academics. 17-year-old Kabir Chhillar is fast to dismiss that stereotype.
< source media ="(min-width:768px)" alt ="Kabir Chiller is a student of compute science at IIT Bombay." > < img src ="https://www.hindustantimes.com/ht-img/img/2026/07/22/400x225/Kabir-Chiller-is-a-student-of-compute-science-at-I_1784725271826.jpg"alt ="Kabir Chiller is a student of compute science at IIT Bombay."title ="Kabir Chiller is a student of compute science at IIT Bombay."width ="360"height ="202"loading ="eager">Far from books and labs, Chhillar is likewise a national-level chess gamer, a district-level footballer, and a guitar player.” Yes, to win a gold at the world phase, I have actually put in hours of work and research studies for nights on stretch, however I have actually likewise headed out and explore my love for sports, “states the Computer Science Engineering trainee at IIT Bombay, including, “I have a lots of other enthusiasms than simply academics, which is the crucial to standing out. I referred to as a trainee I can be represented as a geek or a geek. I am not your ultimate geek. I enjoy my sports and music. And yes, it’s not symphonic music, I am a fan of Drake and all things hip-hop!”
In spite of representing India on among the most significant scholastic phases, he states he never ever lets the magnitude of the celebration overwhelm him. “If I focus excessive on ‘Woah, I am representing my nation, this is a big phase’, I may not prosper as much. It’s not where I am completing, I similar to complete. I take a football match as seriously as I would take the Chemistry Olympiad.”
All this magnificence does not suggest he didn’t have to find out how to deal with dissatisfaction. “When I got rank 2 in JEE Advanced, it was not that it bogged me down. I missed it by simply one mark, which sure pinched me,” states Chhillar, including, “But then, at the end of the day, ranks are simply a by-product and not completely it all.”
With a remarkable list of accomplishments to his name, Kabir, who is a trainee of computer technology at IIT Bombay, shres his biggest dream that still lies ahead: “I wish to remain in deep space. I wish to be an astronaut; which I will make take place!”
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