The Rise of the First Benchers
For years, society has romanticized the “bad boy” image — whether in films, sports, or politics. The narrative has been that rebels, rule-breakers, and backbenchers rise to the top while the studious “first benchers” fade into the background. But times are changing.
A recent Tamil film, Dragon, perfectly illustrates this changing trend. Watching it, I was struck by its brilliant storytelling and, more importantly, its underlying message — a reflection of today’s shifting mindset: discipline, intelligence, and perseverance are now seen as strengths, not weaknesses.
The film was directed by Ashwath Marimuthu. In an interview recently, he shared that he scored 1141/1200 marks in his class 12 exams. The school topper in my school scored 1079/1200. So, you can imagine the director’s feat. Ashwath also shared that he scored 200 in botany and got admission for pursuing medicine which he gave up to join an engineering course at SSN College of Engineering in Chennai. This engineering college, founded by HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar, has become so famous that nowadays students give up their admission at College of Engineering, Guindy to join this college. So, the director is someone who has scored top marks, got admitted in a medical college which he gave up to join a top engineering college in Tamil Nadu.
In the same interview, Ashwath was with Pradeep Ranganathan, the hero of the film. Ashwath turned to Pradeep at some point and asked how much Pradeep scored in Class 12. Pradeep said ‘1163’. 1163/1200!!! That is a staggering 97%. Pradeep then went on to say that he was studious in college too, had scored 80% in Engineering and had secured campus placement at a leading IT company.
Another thing that was striking in an interview Ashwath gave to popular film critic Baradwaj Rangan was the studiousness in his writing and his passion for learning everything in great detail. He revealed such depth and quality in his thinking when he discussed the writing in the film which was highly appreciated by everyone. He was talking about the books that he studied ‘Writing for emotional impact’ and how it improved his writing. He was highlighting the importance of moving from one emotion to another instead of staying with the same emotion for a longer period of time in the film that will lead to boredom among the audience. He also spoke about breaking down the task into simpler problems giving the example of a marathon. These are the classic traits of a first bencher — planning, organizing, breaking down goals into simpler tasks, and executing them relentlessly.
Until this movie, whenever an actor or a director talked about their childhood, they said that were bad in studies, bunked college regularly and were the typical bad boys. They make it a point that being ‘bad’ was cool for a college student and if someone was studious, they were called Pazhams (fruits). On the contrary, it is so refreshing to see such studious toppers such as Ashwath making it to the top.
This trend is not limited to Cinema. Even in sports, where academic achievement is often overlooked, we can start to see its emergence. In cricket, we have seen the world’s best such as Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli dropping out of school to pursue their passions. It is commendable. Only 11 kids will be selected into that Indian team out of the millions of kids who pursue their cricketing dreams. However, most kids at that age who are pursuing cricket start to believe that they have to give up their studies if they want to get to that level. This is where Ashwin’s story is refreshing. He attended the prestigious SSN College of Engineering and, despite excelling academically, pursued his passion for cricket, becoming one of India’s greatest matchwinners. He isn’t alone — Anil Kumble, an engineering graduate, and Rahul Dravid, known as “The Wall,” both balanced academics with sports, proving that intellect and athleticism can go hand in hand.
Politics, another traditionally backbencher-dominated field, is also seeing a shift. The backbenchers dominate to such an extent in politics that there is a popular saying that ‘If you are a first bencher and study well, you will end up an IAS officer who will bend and salute to the Minister who was a last bencher who used to fail at school’. Here too, the first benchers are starting to rise up.
Arvind Kejriwal, an IIT graduate, ended up as the Chief Minister of Delhi for two successful terms fighting the mighty BJP. Kejriwal played politics as well as the bad boys and was giving BJP a run for its money until he was beaten in the Delhi elections recently. PTR Thiagarajan, the most articulate Minister from my hometown Madurai was another first bencher who has risen to the top. He has a B Tech from REC, Trichy, PhD in Operations Research from University of Buffalo and a MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management. It is encouraging to see first benchers like Arvind Kejriwal and PTR Thiagarajan proving that intellect, strategic thinking, and analytical skills can be just as powerful in politics as charisma and street smarts.
Just because somebody got good marks doesn’t make them a good human being and vice versa. I am not trying to justify academic excellence as the only way to succeed in life. Rather, I am happy that the often ridiculed first benchers are making a mark in areas where they traditionally struggled.
Seeing this shift makes me reflect on my own journey. As a first bencher at school, I once believed that my academic achievements wouldn’t hold weight in fields like cinema, sports, or politics. But perhaps it’s time to rethink that. Maybe passion and intellect don’t have to exist in separate worlds — they can thrive together.
