CBSE Class 12 topper fan of thriller series, Meghan Markle

Meghna Srivastava, who has topped the CBSE Class 12 examination, is a fan of thriller series, loves baking cakes to beat stress and looks up to Meghan Markle.

She topped the CBSE Class 12 examination by getting 99.8%. She secured 499 marks out of 500.

Srivastava hails from Noida and studied at the Step By Step School there.

She scored 99 in English (Core), while in other subjects --Psychology, History, Geography and Economics -- she scored 100.

Srivastava said that the pre-boards helped her prepare for the exams well and she solved a lot of question papers of the previous years to prepare for the exams.

"I have been very consistent and I would plan my revisions. I did not over pressurise myself . I always focussed on my timelines and never indulged in studying at the last moment," she told PTI.

Srivastava's mother, who works as an HR head for a Gurgaon-based MNC, said that they never forced her to study hard.

"I was always worried that she should eat well. We did not pressurise her and I always insisted that she take breaks in between studying," her mother said.

Srivastava enjoyed watching shows on Amazon Prime and Netflix.

She watched Suits, The Royals, The Crown during breaks and would bake cakes to beat exam stress. While she was not active on Facebook, she liked posting pictures on Instagram.

Her mother said that she loved listening music and reading non-fiction books.

Srivastava said that she intends to pursue psychology and has plans to pursue her further studies at The University of British Columbia.

She was one of the students who was affected after the paper leak and had to appear for a retest, which she said was "quite frustrating".

"I was very frustrated after the news about paper leak had emerged and a retest was announced. Despite studying so hard, we had to suffer. But gradually I settled down and decided to study four-five days before the retest," she said.

Srivastava believes in feminism and looks up to Meghan Markle, the newly-married Duchess of Sussex, who has been an advocate of women empowerment.

She said that she was one of the leaders in a community service project of her school.

"My school had adopted a village in Uttarakhand as part of a community service project. We took a trip of two-three days where we set up a 'gaushala' in the village and also taught students, which was quite an enriching experience," she said.

She is the only child of her parents and her father works with a private university.

Srivastava is the niece of former CBI director Anil Sinha, who said that she has always been a bright student.

"She has always been a very bright and studious girl. She has brought laurels to our family and we are proud of her," Sinha said.