Poverty could not crush their talent

Narain was lucky to have been selected by a Kanpur-based coaching institute, which offers free coaching to poor meritorious students. The coaching institute also provided him free boarding and lodging facilities.

Narain is not alone. There are several others as well, who had to face acute financial difficulties in pursuing their studies and yet they kept their morale and determination high so that they could get entry into the IIT. Nishchai Raj Chaurasia, who has secured 150th rank, is the son of a poor betel shop owner in Uttar Pradesh’s backward Kushinagar district. Nishchai’s father Pradeep Chaurasia earns a meagre  Rs. 100 after 15 hours of work.
Rahul Kumar, whose father Om Prakash sells fruits in front of the PWD office building in UP’s Maharajganj district, has got 571st rank.

Sunil Kumar, whose rank is 870, is the son of a landless labourer in UP’s Ballia district.  
Similar is the story of Faizabad’s Manish Vardhan and Orai’s Sourabh Verma. While Manish’s father works as a casual labourer at a saw mill, Sourabh’s father works as a salesman at a small shop at Orai.