GR Exclusive: How Om Prakash Behera cracked JEE Mains 2025? 'No Phone, No Social Media, Focus on NCERT'

Focus on the NCERT while religiously following teachers' instructions and staying away from the noise of social media is what helped Odisha's Om Prakash Behera to score 100 percentile in Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) Mains 2025.

Excelling in JEE Mains is a small part of his bigger plan to outshine in JEE Advanced 2025, scheduled for May 18, 2025. JEE Main is the first stage of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and is organised by the National Testing Agency (NTA) twice a year. After qualifying JEE Mains, applicants can appear for the second stage, ie JEE Advanced. It is conducted by one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) on a rotational basis.

Om Prakash Behera, who is preparing for JEE 2025 examination in Rajasthan's Kota, gave credit for his success to his parents and teachers. He is now preparing for the upcoming JEE Advanced 2025 examination and hopes to join an IIT for higher education.

'No Phone, No Facebook, No Instagram'

During his exam preparation, Om Prakash Behera maintained distance from social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). Moreover, he doesn't own a mobile phone. According to his father, abstaining from social media, helped him remain focused for his studies.

"Om stays away from social media and doesn't use his phone. He is not planning to buy a new phone till the time he takes admission in a college for higher studies," his father Kamalakanta Behera, an Odisha Administrative Service Officer, told Goodreturns in an interview.

Stressing upon the importance of parent's support to keep children away from exam pressure, Kamalakanta Behera said, "It is important for parents to support their child during exam preparations. Constant comparison with other students, pressure to perform well, rank best, creates unnecessary stress on students."

"Students must never be left alone for exam preparations in different cities, one of the family members must always stay with them for support and motivation," said Kamalakanta Behra, who took posting from Odisha to Delhi to be available for his son.

Om's mother, who is a government lecturer, took leave for more than a year to stay with him in Kota during his IIT-JEE preparations.

" It is not a sacrifice but our duty to support our child. We diverted our place of work for Om after deciding that we will not leave our child alone during JEE mains preparation," added Behera.

Knack For Math Since Childhood

Recalling his Om's initial years in school, Kamalakanta Behera, shared that his son had interest for mathematics subject. During secondary school education, he became equally interested in Physics.

"When he was young, he had an interest in mathematics. His interest grew with age. He also performed well in Atal Tinkering Labs. As soon as I realised that he has a better scientific temperament, I started encouraging him for JEE exam preparation," Kamalakanta Behera told Goodreturns.

Aiming Beyond Scores

Om Behara never cared to score 100 percentile or first rank. The attitude to 'not run behind marks, but performance' was seeded in him during his early childhood days. Once during an award program, Om Prakash Behera shared his future aspirations and said that he wanted to become a "good person" after growing up.
His father fondly recalls that moment, adding, "To Om, being a good human means having both empathy and sympathy - the ability to feel with others, and for them."