Written by Krishnan, co-founder, ShikshaDaan. 

The very first time we met Shiv was when we were in Agra as part of our ShikshaDaan Yatra in March 2015. We got introduced to Shiv through Divya, a teacher and wife of Padmesh, my ex-colleague at CMS Project (A USAID funded project). Divya had spoken to us earlier about a student who is brilliant in his studies and is very clear in his goal to join the IIT.

We met Shiv in the home stay were we were staying then. He shared his excellent academic credentials and his family background and how he needed someone to support his pursuit of studying at IIT. He had no mobile phone, no internet connectivity, and no tuition and was commuting to his school several kms away by a cycle. Shiv was not even aware then about preparing for the entrance examinations by referring to question papers of the past. We promised to take care of his fees provided he got admission to IIT.

Some months later he called us to let us know that he had not done well in the Advanced JEE and hence was not sure of his admission into IIT. He was desperate to join one of the top coaching institutes in Kota and wanted us to fund his coaching program in Kota. The cost of the program ran into a few lakhs and any which way, ShikshaDaan does not fund for coaching programs.

Please read the blog that Bindu had written about peer pressure on Shiv – Peer Pressure – real Pressure

Every day Shiv’s father would call us early mornings and late nights to see if we would agree to support Shiv’s coaching program. But we refused. Finally we gave an idea to Shiv and his father to meet with one of our dear friends from our cycling group, Prabhat, who himself is an alumnus of IIT and IIM (A). Shiv and his father met Prabhat in Gurgaon. Prabhat was convinced that Shiv does not need the Kota coaching program and could prepare on his own with some local help and support. Since Shiv insisted on going to Kota, Prabhat asked him and his dad to go to Kota and spend a couple of days and see for themselves whether it was worth the effort and money. Fortunately for all of us, Shiv understood the Kota system within two days and returned to Agra, and joined a local coaching institute.

In June this year, Shiv’s father called us to let us know the good news of Shiv getting his admission into IIT, and thanked us for all our support and guidance. He then requested us to financially support Shiv in his IIT program. We assured not only Shiv’s dad but also spoke with Shiv directly (one of few occasions that Shiv spoke to us directly) about our support. Shiv joined IIT Jodhpur this year.

We did some homework and found out that Shiv is eligible for full tuition fee waiver based on his family’s income and asked him to immediately apply for the same with the help of relevant documents. Shiv applied and got the fee waiver. Prabhat agreed generously to support Shiv by paying the admission fees initially and Shiv did finally manage to get into IIT.

Shiv’s story is about the power of focus! He never gave up and never got distracted. If Prabhat had not counseled him, he might have wasted some money at Kota, but he would have still got his admission in IIT. Do we have that laser like focus ?

Here’s a note written by Shiv about how he prepared for his IIT entrance. Please read and share with all young children aspiring to do something in their lives – focus and dedication will move mountains.