Last Saturday, the auditorium of Birla Divya Jyoti School in Siliguri burst into applause for a young man who had conquered numerous hurdles to become a medical student, and for the Samaritan who supported his dreams and those of many other students.

Kupan Roy, 21, came onto the stage at the IIHM Presents The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence 2025 North Bengal, held in association with The Bhawanipur Education Society College, PCM Group, and co-sponsored by SiP Abacus, with four other medical students and sweet shop owner-cum-philanthropist Mrinmoy Ghosh to give away prizes.

Kupan, a third-year medical student at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, is the first person from any erstwhile India-Bangladesh enclave to be studying medicine in India.

The young man was born in Kot Bajni-II, an Indian enclave landlocked within Panchagarh district of Bangladesh.

He had a physical disability from birth — one of his legs was shorter than the other, making it difficult for him to walk.

When Kupan was 10, his father Nanda Roy was diagnosed with cancer. Since they lived in an enclave — as Indians without citizenship rights in Bangladesh — he could not be taken anywhere for treatment. His father died in unbearable pain one night.

“That night, I vowed to myself that one day I would become a doctor so that no one else’s father died in agony without treatment like mine did,” the medical student said.

Another night changed his life.

According to the Land Boundary Agreement between India and Bangladesh, on the midnight of July 31, 2015, all the 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh merged with Bangladesh, and the 51 Bangladeshi enclaves within India merged with India.

Through this process, 15,854 residents of those 51 former enclaves became Indian citizens, while 922 people from the 111 former Indian enclaves chose to migrate to India.

Among the 922 were Kupan and his family — mother Sarbala, sister Sandhya and brother Sanjay.

Like the others, they began their new life on Indian soil at a temporary settlement camp on a farm in Haldibari town of Cooch Behar.

Over the next few months, the Bengal government provided them with houses in Madhya Kashiyabari village, some 4km from Haldibari town.

That kicked off Kupan’s new life. In November 2015, he was admitted to Haldibari High School. He was in a new country and a strange environment, but the boy remained steadfast on his goal: “I must clear the entrance exam to study medicine.”

He passed Madhyamik with 83 per cent and the higher secondary exams with 85 per cent. At 18, he cleared the medical entrance exam.

But poverty stood in his way to becoming a doctor.

It was then that Ghosh, a man in his 50s who has helped close to 60 students become medical or engineering graduates and is helping another 70-odd pursue similar dreams, stepped in.

The sweetmeat shop owner turned philanthropist from Jamaldah, Cooch Behar, took full responsibility for Kupan’s education — paying his fees, buying his books, and covering his hostel expenses.

As Kupan climbed onto the stage on Saturday, alongside four other medical students who too are studying with Ghosh’s help, he spoke about his benefactor.

“Mrinmoyda, whom we call Babuada — he is God to us. If not for him, I wouldn’t be standing here today. He doesn’t just give money… he also gives me strength and the courage to live my dream,” he said as the auditorium showed its appreciation.

Kupan added: “Once I finish my studies, I would like to work for the poor and follow Babuada in helping people.”