I'm a little late in posting about this – a village labourer from Andhra Pradesh, Narasimha Rao, has secured the 453rd rank in the IIT Entrance exams. Watch this video to know more (original youtube link here)
This is yet another instance of students from the Indian hinterland beating all odds to prove themselves in one of the toughest technical exams ever. Last year, I had written about a college which made IITians out of cattle-grazers. And now this.
Goes to show two things:
One: How much talent and determination rural India bundles.
Two: How important it is to encourage such people and revamp the education system such that mindless “coaching” and “tuition” culture makes way for more sensible and practical approaches.
The video says that Narasimha's battle is only half-won. He still needs money to even travel to the counseling, and needs to supplement the family income.
All I can hope for is that such talent doesn't go waste and that Narasimha makes it to IIT and proceeds to serve the country in his chosen field. We all need such examples of hope and inspiration every now and then to prove what difference determination can make.
