``This is a small and quiet township comprising technocrats who would love to see their children at the top,'' said Palta. ``A minimal presence of theatres or clubs also helps. Students have no option but to pore over books. Besides colony culture also creates a sense of competition among both and parents and children.''

Principal Hemlata S Mohan of DPS which has the distinction of 32 students qualifying for the IITs this year said the school has a practice of setting targets and ensuring that they are met. According to Debashish Adhikary, registrar of Xaviers, there has been a flurry of professionals from this school from the 1970s, which lead to many qualifying for the all-India services and then the 1980 and 1990s which saw an equal number of students taking the corporate world by storm. ``Students qualify for the NDA regularly from every batch,'' he said.

``The results of Class XII too have been very impressive all along and six students have bagged gold medals this year. We do not believe in chalk and talk but participatory education,'' he said.