A cable salesman's son and an egg seller's son are among those who have cracked the Joint Entrance Examination Advanced - the gateway to the IITs and considered one of the toughest competitive examinations in the world - thanks to the Super 30 coaching institutes for underprivileged students helmed by mathematician Anand Kumar and former director-general of police (DGP) Abhayanand.
All 52 students at both institutes cleared the exam, the results of which were declared on Sunday. Anand's Super 30 has been grooming poor children for the IITs since 2002, and this year 22 students took the test as the first batch of Abhayanand's IIT aspirants.
"I have seen my mother push herself to the limits to meet my educational expenses. I have seen my mother worried as she didn't have the money to afford me taking tuitions from private coaching institutes," said Vishal Rai, who has secured all-India rank of 1906. The Abhayanand Super 30 student is likely to get civil engineering at IIT Delhi and computer science at any of the newer IITs such as Hyderabad or Patna.
Vishal's parent separated 16 years ago. His mother, Rita Rai, took up the responsibility of her son despite facing severe financial hardships.
"Working in a private company with a monthly salary of Rs 15,000, I didn't have the money afford my son's coaching expenses," said Rita, who works as a training coordinator at SM Net which works on polio immunisation. "In 2015, one of my colleagues informed me that former DGP Abhayanand is starting an IIT coaching institute in which students from economically poor families will get free coaching. "Today I am very happy; being a single parent my 16-year sacrifice has yielded results," the mother added.
The story of Shashi Kumar Modi, Abhayanand Super 30 student who has secured all-India rank of 258 and is possibly the second-rank holder from the state, is similar.
Shashi's father, Shambhu Prasad, is a salesman at Swaraj Cables in Gaya.
"I have seen poverty in my family," said Shashi, who has scored 291 out of 366 marks in the JEE Advanced. "With a monthly salary of Rs 10,000, my father didn't have the money to afford my educational expenses for IIT JEE preparations at private coaching institutes. My hard work and the support of my mentor has yielded results."
Abhayanand, who is a physics graduate, launched his free IIT coaching institute for poor students in April 2015. Businessman A.D. Singh, who has roots in Bihar, funds the former DGP's initiative through the Urmila Singh Pratapdhari Sinha Foundation named after the businessman's parents. The students get free lodging and food at a hostel in Bhagwat Nagar.
For Anand Kumar, it was yet another year of marching ahead as his Super 30 bettered its result last year in which 28 of 30 students cracked the IITs. "Anand Super 30 has come as a boon for me," said Kelvin, who has secured 208 rank in the Scheduled Caste category and whose father is a yoga teacher. "I come from a poor family. My father didn't have the money to afford my studies as he earns just about Rs 10,000 by teaching yoga. My parents were always worried about my future."
Kelvin's father, Deepak Kumar, said: "I am very happy that my son's hard work and guidance of Anand Kumar has helped my son succeed."
Mohammed Shakil Ahmad, father of Mohamed Arbaj Alam who has secured all-India rank of 67 in the physically handicapped category, sells eggs for a living in Nalanda district.
"We are three brothers and three sisters," said Alam. "My father runs a small egg shop in Hilsa. My dream of cracking IIT would not have become reality if Anand Kumar had not supported me. My dream is to study computer science at any prestigious IIT."
Among successful candidates this year are also Arsh Gautam (all-India rank 72), from Jagatpura, a small village in Begusarai, who took coaching from Narayana Institute in Delhi. The state topper is Abhyuday Bhartiya, son of Bihar Industries Association vice-president Sanjay Bhartiya, who studied in Kota, Rajasthan, and secured 104 rank. Sarvesh Mehtani from Chandigarh bagged all-India first rank while Pune's Akshat Chugh ranked second. Around 2.21 lakh candidates took the exam for over 11,000 seats in the 23 IITs.
