Iit: The Tough Achievers ; They Are Children of Marginal Farmers, Petty Shop-Owners and Jobless People. Yet Nothing has Come in the Way of These Young Men From Bihar As They Reach for the Stars.
Summary
Rahul Sharmas family of four stays together in a single room where the mother cooks on a gas cylinder kept at a safe distance from her sons study table.
The old refrigerator his father purchased during the good days no longer works. Noisy fights in the neighbourhood liquor shop provide daily distractions while his mothers clothes, usually worn and washed many times over, are a source of continuing agony for this 17- year-old at family gatherings where everyone sports their best.See the full content of this document
Extract
Iit: The Tough Achievers ; They Are Children of Marginal Farmers, Petty Shop-Owners and Jobless People. Yet Nothing has Come in the Way of These Young Men From Bihar As They Reach for the Stars.
Yet, Rahul, the son of a computer operator who earns just Rs 3,000 a month, has overcome his environment and indeed his destiny to rank 398 in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category and 2,921 in the overall merit list of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance test in his very first attempt.
Years ago, Rahul had watched his father struggle to save his typing training institute in Gaya district from extortionists. He finally closed it down and moved to Patna where he gradually sold all his typewriters to finance his sons study.Rahuls story of hardship and hardwork is heartwarming but not unique. There are many others from equally modest or even humbler ba...See the full content of this document