Patna: Aliya Kumari did not even have the roughly Rs 1,200 needed to submit the forms for the Intermediate exam of the Bihar School Examination Board. The student of Mahant Hanuman Sharan College Rajapur Mainpura somehow managed to scrounge up the money, and on Wednesday when the results were declared she was overjoyed to see she had secured 296 marks out of total 500 in the science stream.

"My father, Mukesh Sao, is an autorickshaw driver and with his limited income he has to support a family of eight persons," Aliya said.

"Many a times, I didn't have the money to even buy books and stationery. I had to borrow the books from my friends and college."

She added: "To meet the financial needs I am giving tuition to students in our neighbourhood, but even that money is very less and I had also to pitch in at home."

There were many such heart-warming stories of the zeal and passion for education trumping hardships - more often than not monetary ones - as students across the state got their Intermediate results on Wednesday. There were several students, however, who beat more than poverty with iron will and a little help from their institutions.

Ayesha, another student from Mahant Hanuman Sharan College Rajapur Mainpura, was crestfallen when she was laid low with a severe stomach infection along with high fever during the exams.

"Few days before my Intermediate examination commenced, I had severe stomach pain. The doctors said that I had a severe infection and required complete bed rest," recalled Ayesha.

When she was not even able to walk, her parents advised her to drop the examination, Ayesha said, but she was not in a mood to give up.

"On the day of my physics examination, in the morning I once again had severe stomach pain. As the examination was from 9 am I didn't have the time to even visit the doctor. My parents once again asked me to drop the test, but I took painkillers and appeared for the test," Ayesha said.

Her determination did not go in vain. Aliya secured 330 marks out of total 500 in the examination.

She is also recovering fast from the ailment that failed to crush her can-do spirit.

The teachers of Mahant Hanuman Sharan College are also happy with the success of both the girls. Vimal Narayan Arya, a senior teacher of the college, said: "From our college many students have secured high marks, but we are happy with the success of both these students as despite facing odds both of them secured good marks in the test."