Reportage: Bijoy Venugopal. Photograph: S K Kotian

The President’s Gold Medal, the highest student award at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, was bagged by Navneet Loiwal (left), a graduate of computer science. The Institute Gold Medal went to Gogate Amol Subhash of B Tech Dual Degree (Mechanical).

Soon after he completed his engineering course, Jaipur-born Navneet, who turned 22 in July, was picked up by Internet search major Google to work in San Francisco. He will soon move to the company’s Bangalore office.

“To receive the President’s Gold Medal, you have to be Rank 1 in your batch,” he reflects. “That requires constant work. I have been working for it the last four years. I was Rank 1 throughout the four years. My approach has been to not miss classes at all and pay attention there so you don’t miss out.”

Navneet schooled at the Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, Jaipur, where he was a topper all the way. In 2000, he won a gold medal at the 31st International Physics Olympiad in Leicestershire, England. He was also active in extracurricular activities. “At IIT, my first two years were my most active,” he says with a dimpled smile. “I danced on stage, I sang songs, I did dramatics. The third and fourth years were concentrated on academics.”

“I know at least ten friends here who deserve this medal,” says Amol. “If I were to rate them, I would rate them higher. This gold medal is actually for all of them.”

Amol had a chequered career at IIT Bombay -- he was involved in dramatics and debating and played football. He reported for the campus newspaper and started a radio station. He was also head of the student mentor programme, which appoints student representatives to understand their peers' problems and counsel them.

“One of India’s biggest challenges is to keep people back [in India] to start companies here,” says Navneet. “People do start companies but that happens in Silicon Valley, or people go to companies that have been started there.”

“India’s challenges are many, but to confront them we need some amount of optimism as opposed to cynicism,” adds Amol, who works with a leading consulting firm in Mumbai.