Kalpit Veerwal, the 2017 JEE Main topper who achieved a perfect 360/360, defied expectations by not pursuing a traditional corporate career. Instead, he explored diverse interests including teaching, entrepreneurship, investing, and recently, a career as a singer-songwriter, forging his own unique path.

Back in 2017, when the JEE Main results came out, one name was suddenly everywhere – Kalpit Veerwal. The student from Udaipur didn’t just bag All India Rank 1, he did something no one had done before: scored a perfect 360 out of 360. It wasn’t your usual topper story. It felt like a big moment, the kind that gets people talking across the country – and it even landed him in the Limca Book of Records.Naturally, most people assumed they already knew what his future would look like. IIT, then a top corporate job, maybe a cushy career abroad. That’s the usual path, right? But Kalpit had other plans.The moment that changed everythingYears later, he looked back at that day in a social media post. “9 years ago today (2nd April 2017), I gave my JEE… I got AIR 1 and became the only person ever to score a perfect 360/360. It felt like a normal day back then, but it changed my life,” he wrote. “I went from just another school student to being in the national spotlight overnight.”And with that spotlight came options – that went way beyond engineering.He’s been pretty honest about one thing: the typical IIT-to-corporate route never really excited him. “The traditional corporate IIT path never appealed to me,” he shared, adding that the attention he got actually helped him explore different directions.Not following the usual scriptInstead of picking one lane and sticking to it, Kalpit tried a bit of everything. Over the years, he’s taught students, built startups, spoken at events, invested money, and travelled. It’s not the kind of straight, predictable journey people expect from a JEE topper.As he put it, “I’ve been an educator, built businesses, spoken across the country, invested, travelled – and recently, I’ve started releasing my own music as a singer-songwriter.”Yes, music.It might sound like a surprising shift, but for him, it seems less about changing paths and more about trying things that genuinely interest him.Now, it’s music (and more)These days, he’s leaning more into music and investing. He’s working as a singer-songwriter and plans to put out more songs soon. “I’ve been focusing more on investing and music lately – you’ll hear more from me this year,” he said.He also made sure to acknowledge the people who’ve supported him along the way. “In many ways, this is our story, not just mine,” he wrote.The internet has opinions, of courseAs expected, his post got people talking. A lot of users appreciated that he chose his own path in

stead of sticking to what’s expected. But not everyone agreed. Some questioned why someone with such a strong academic background would move away from it.Then again, there were plenty who pointed out the obvious – careers are personal, and not everyone wants the same thing.After his JEE success, Kalpit went on to study Computer Science at IIT Bombay. Even there, he didn’t limit himself to academics. He worked in the education space and co-founded initiatives to help JEE aspirants with prep strategies and guidance.At the end of the day, what makes his story interesting isn’t just the perfect score. It’s what he chose to do after it – and the fact that he didn’t feel the need to follow a script.