Aspiring IITian from poor family needs good Samaritan

KANPUR: Having studied under kerosene lantern, Ved Prakash cleared the major hurdle called ‘selection’ in Joint Entrance Exam (JEE)-Advanced. But his patience is being tested once again. The meritorious student is worried to make arrangements for fee to knock the doors of an IIT or NIT, which ever he gets. He has yet to find a good Samaritan to help him financially to pursue his ambition.
He has completed his online counselling and has given preferences for core branches of BTech and now awaiting for July 7, when the result of the first seat allocation will be announced.
Ved, a brilliant lad of nondescript Shivrampur village in Bidhnoo block in Kanpur, had scored 89.4% in class XII from Sukhwasa Devi Inter College and 86.5% in class X from the same college, which is affiliated to UP board. Till class V, he studied at the primary school in his village. In Joint entrance exam Advanced, he secured AIR-1462.
His parents said that Ved had been meritorious since his early school days and despite penury they ensured he studied as only education was the way which could end their days of misery. Ved's best friend has been a solar lantern (lamp) lighting which he used to study for class XII. He considers himself lucky to have received free tuition from his teacher Mahesh Chauhan, who taught students like him for a year before appearing in JEE Main and JEE Advanced.
His father Rakesh Kumar is a graduate and works as a daily-wager at a marble shop and his mother Daya Devi is only class V pass. But when Ved gave good result in school in class V, his parents shifted him to a school in Bidhnoo for further studies. When he started preparing for IIT, Ved was mocked at by his friends in the village and at the school.
The family of four, including Ved’s younger brother, stay in a single mud room with thatched roof covered with plastic sheets to ensure there is no leakage during rainy days. There are only three cots to sleep on, a few utensils, a few set of clothes that the family has as assets. The only room is used to sleep indoors during the winter season as during summers entire family sleeps under the open sky. There is no toilet at their disposal.
When asked about his stint at the free IIT tuition classes run by Mahesh Chauhan, Ved replied that he came to know about him from his maternal uncle who lives in Kanpur. “This was followed by appearing in an entrance test at Mahesh Sir's tuition classes and passing the same after which he began preparations for IIT,” he said.