The successful students of Mentors Eduserv coaching institute in Patna on Wednesday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Poverty was never a constraint for these fighters with indomitable spirit to crack one of the toughest public examinations in the country with elan.

Nicku Nitish has come out with flying colours in the JEE (Main) merit list which was declared late on Tuesday evening. Father Narendra Singh is a farmer in Chhapra who slogged in the fields to help Nicku realise his dreams with his monthly income of Rs 5,000.

Nicku, who secured an all-India rank of 1831 and a state rank of 32, said: “Fifty per cent credit for my success goes to my father, 40 per cent to my teachers and 10 per cent to my hard work. But definitely my father has played a great role in my success. He managed to send me Rs 1,000 every month for my coaching classes in the state capital. At times, my grandmother sent me half of my late grandfather’s monthly pension of Rs 5,000 to bear my food and lodging expenses.” He was a student of Mentor’s Eduserv coaching institute on Boring Road.

Similar is the tale of courage of Neeraj Kumar, who clinched an all-India rank of 50.

The son of farmer Shambhu Kumar of Bairiya village in Muzaffarpur district, said: “My father had to borrow Rs 1 lakh from a relative to pay my admission fee. The relative doubted whether I would be able to clear the JEE (Main) examination but my father took the chance. I am happy to have achieved what my father wanted.”

Neeraj was a student of Brilliant Coaching Centre on BM Das Road.

Kunal Kumar with an all-India rank of 8522 is another braveheart who overcame hurdles in life. Kunal, a student of Anand Kumar’s Super 30, said: “My father draws a salary of Rs 6,000 as a teacher in a private school and could not afford to pay for my books. So, I had to depend on photocopying my friends’ books. However, I did not have to worry about admission and lodging expenses at Anand sir’s institute. They came free.”

A confident Kunal added: “However, I still believe I have a long way to go. My father has taken a loan of Rs 4 lakh for my IIT admission. I have to repay him.”

“Poverty can never be a dampener in one’s journey to success,” said Anand, the founder of Super 30.

“All the 30 students of my institute have got offers from IITs, as not only have they performed well in JEE (Main) but have also performed exceedingly well in the JEE (Advanced). All of them want to take admission into IITs. None of them want to go to NIT,” said Anand, adding: “Students hailing from poor background have a fire in them. If they use it in positive direction, success is bound to come to them.”

Anand Jaiswal, the head of Mentor’s Eduserve coaching institute, said: “If poor students are provided good guidance, they can do exceedingly well. What they need is a little guidance and motivation.”

According to sources, around 70,000 students appeared from Bihar in the JEE (Main) of which around 20,000 have tasted success.