Son of a cobbler, Abhishek, a resident of Ganga Ganj in Uttar Pradesh's industrial town of Kanpur, about 90 kilometres from here, has achieved 154th rank in the IIT-JEE in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category, the results of which were declared on Wednesday.

While Abhishek’s father Rajendra Prasad mends shoes, his mother Sangeeta Devi does tailoring business to make a living and look after their four children of whom Abhishek is the eldest.

Abhishek also used to lend a helping hand to the family by doing some petty jobs occasionally. “I always dreamt of becoming an engineer and now it has been fulfilled,” said an elated Abhishek, who used to study in the light of a lantern outside the small room.

“I used to study for seven-eight hours every day regularly...if one studies regularly with concentration, one can achieve what one wants,” said the dalit boy.

“I have no words to express my happiness...it’s all because of his (Abhishek) hard work and determination...he has really worked very hard,” said Prasad

Sangeeta Devi, Abhishek's mother, is proud of her son. “I pray to the Almighty that every parent has a son like Abhishek... he has made all of us very proud.”

Sangeeta Devi, who comes from a poor family in the neighbouring Kanpur Dehat district, has studied up to 12th standard. “In our village, people were not in favour of sending girls to the schools but I completed Intermediate (12th),” she added.

She feels that her own education prompted her to make sure her children get better future.