When you think of someone who has won a gold medal at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) 2026, topped JEE Mains with a perfect score of 300/300 securing AIR 1, and secured AIR 2 in JEE Advanced, you might imagine a serious, bookish geek whose life revolves around academics. But 17-year-old Kabir Chhillar is quick to dismiss that stereotype.
Away from textbooks and laboratories, Chhillar is also a national-level chess player, a district-level footballer, and a guitarist. “Yes, to win a gold at the world stage, I have put in hours of work and studies for nights on stretch, but I have also gone out and explore my love for sports,” says the Computer Science Engineering student at IIT Bombay, adding, “I have a many other passions than just academics, and that is the key to excelling. I know as a student I can be portrayed as a nerd or a geek. But I am not your quintessential geek. I love my sports and music. And yes, it’s not classical music, I am a fan of Drake and all things hip-hop!”
Despite representing India on one of the biggest academic stages, he says he never lets the magnitude of the occasion overwhelm him. “If I focus too much on ‘Woah, I am representing my country, this is a huge stage’, I might not succeed as much. It’s not where I am competing, I just like to compete. I take a football match as seriously as I would take the Chemistry Olympiad.”
{{/usCountry}}Despite representing India on one of the biggest academic stages, he says he never lets the magnitude of the occasion overwhelm him. “If I focus too much on ‘Woah, I am representing my country, this is a huge stage’, I might not succeed as much. It’s not where I am competing, I just like to compete. I take a football match as seriously as I would take the Chemistry Olympiad.”
{{/usCountry}}But all this glory doesn’t mean he didn’t have to learn how to deal with disappointment. “When I got rank 2 in JEE Advanced, it was not that it bogged me down. But I missed it by just one mark, which sure pinched me,” says Chhillar, adding, “But then, at the end of the day, ranks are just a byproduct and not entirely it all.”
With an extraordinary list of achievements to his name, Kabir, who is a student of computer science at IIT Bombay, shres his greatest dream that still lies ahead: “I want to be in outer space. I want to be an astronaut; which I will make happen!”
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