Ridhi believes the stereotype that girls can’t perform well in Mathematics is wrong and girls can achieve anything they want.

Her biggest supporter is her brother Raghav, an IITian himself; he guided her and gave wings to her dreams and ambitions. Ridhi’s father Kamlesh Kumar Maheshwari is a chartered accountant by degree and a stockbroker by profession. He wanted her to pursue commerce as he would have been able to guide her but Raghav, along with Ridhi, convinced him that the girl’s interest lies in mathematics and she wants to be an engineer.

Riddhi and her brother Raghav

Not only that, Raghav told Ridhi about IITs, their culture, the opportunities available there and piqued her interest, he guided her through the JEE journey and helped her crack JEE Main. The brother-sister duo together convinced their parents that though male-dominated, the landscape of IITs is changing and with the current supernumerary seats for girls, the number of girls at IITs is rising.

Ridhi was in Class 8 when she thought of pursuing engineering as she had a natural inclination towards mathematics and thought of engineering as a good career option. But she made a firm decision in Class 10 that wants to pursue engineering.

Ridhi learned a bit of Java in Class 9 and 10 which developed her interest in coding. She wants to pursue Computer Science Engineering at IIT Bombay.

Born in Kota at her maternal grandparents’ home, she lived in Gulabpura near Ajmer till Class 6. The family then shifted to Mumbai. When Ridhi was in Class 9, she had to choose between commerce and science. Initially, she took commerce as she did not want to go against her father’s wishes but eventually switched to science on the first day of school as it was her natural inclination.

When in Class 11, Ridhi and her family shifted to Bangalore, where his brother was staying due to his job. They had a discussion with her family at length about what she wanted to pursue. Ridhi and her brother assured the family that she wanted to pursue science and would do well in the field as she was naturally inclined towards it. Ridhi wanted to go to Kota but decided against it as staying with her family was a better option and her family couldn’t relocate to Kota.

In Class 11, Ridhi joined Allen Bangalore and started preparing for JEE Main. She made sure that she thoroughly studied NCERT, as JEE Main is completely based on NCERT. Ridhi solved sheets given by her coaching institute as well as solved previous year question papers and more. She got her doubts resolved as well as the institute provided her with concept booster sheets to strengthen her concepts as well as confidence.

Ridhi with her family (Father, mother and elder brother)

Ridhi believes that she is lucky that her family is her biggest support system; her parents never let her feel under pressure for any exam and always cheered her on to do her best in everything she did. Meanwhile, she also acknowledges that for girls, JEE is a road less travelled, it is filled with stereotypes, doubts and fear. Since the number of girls enrolling for JEE is way less than NEET, they have to fight the stereotypes that girls are weak in mathematics. While it is a common mindset that a boy will become an engineer, the same is not for girls and they have to study hard, fight for their dreams and prove themselves at every step. She believes that the supernumerary seats at IITs for girls are a step in the right direction and will lead to more and more girls opting for JEE and eventually improve the ratio at the institutes.

A message Ridhi wants to share with all the girls appearing for JEE is that there is no need to be scared because girls can achieve anything with their hard work and stereotypes are all false. She says girls can do whatever they want, and much better than boys.