{"id":142196,"date":"2024-09-26T04:53:07","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T04:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/when-a-dalit-boy-from-up-lost-his-iit-seat-but-his-village-didnt-let-him-simmer-hope\/"},"modified":"2024-09-26T04:53:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T04:53:08","slug":"when-a-dalit-boy-from-up-lost-his-iit-seat-but-his-village-didnt-let-him-simmer-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/09\/26\/when-a-dalit-boy-from-up-lost-his-iit-seat-but-his-village-didnt-let-him-simmer-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"When a Dalit boy from UP lost his IIT seat but his village didn’t let him simmer hope"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"When<\/div>\n
In the quiet village of Titora, just off the beaten path about 100 kilometers from Delhi, lives Atul Kumar<\/a>, an 18-year-old Dalit student whose story has captured the hearts of everyone around him. Titora, tucked away near NH-58, feels like a world apart. The roads turn into dusty trails, and GPS systems falter, leaving travelers to rely on the age-old method of asking locals for directions.<\/p>\n

When you arrive in Titora, it\u2019s hard to miss the pride that radiates from its people. They all know where Atul lives. \u201cOh, the family with the IIT<\/a> boys?\u201d a passerby says proudly. A TOI report shares Atul\u2019s remarkable journey \u2014 from his triumph in the JEE-Advanced<\/a> exam to the heartbreak of nearly losing his seat at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad \u2014 has become the central topic at every tea stall and gathering in the village.<\/p>\n

Atul\u2019s dream of attending IIT was nearly crushed by a missed deadline for paying his acceptance fee. Financial constraints and a technical glitch prevented him from submitting the required Rs 17,500 in time, leading to the cancellation of his admission. <\/p>\n

But on Tuesday, a glimmer of hope appeared when the Supreme Court<\/a>, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, took up Atul\u2019s plea. The CJI personally assured Atul, “We will help you as far as possible,” as the court sought responses from the Joint Seat Allocation Authority and IIT-Madras.<\/p>\n

Back in Titora, the excitement is palpable. Atul\u2019s family is revered in the village, not only for their resilience but also for the academic achievements of his older brothers. Atul\u2019s father, Rajendra Kumar, works long hours at a cloth factory in Meerut, earning just Rs 450 a day, while his mother, Rajesh Devi, balances fieldwork and making cots to support the family. Yet, despite their financial struggles, Atul\u2019s brothers have thrived. Mohit, 24, completed his MTech from NIT Hamirpur, and Rohit, 23, earned his BTech from IIT-Kharagpur. Amit, the third brother, is excelling in college with dreams of studying abroad.<\/p>\n


“We have only one goal \u2014 to educate our four sons, no matter the cost,” TOI quoted Rajesh as saying and her determination evident even through the hardships the family faces.For Atul, the Supreme Court\u2019s intervention is a lifeline, a second chance to secure his future. “Only we know what we’ve gone through,” Atul said, reflecting on the challenges. “I need to do this for my parents. And I’m waiting to pay off Rs 3 lakh which my father took as a loan to help us study.”The village had celebrated Atul\u2019s acceptance into IIT Dhanbad when the letter arrived on June 20. But their joy quickly turned to despair when they realized they had just four days to come up with the acceptance fee. Scraping together the money seemed impossible. Yet, the entire village rallied behind the family. Pawan Kumar, a neighbor who lent Rs 10,000 to help, said, “The entire village testifies that despite their financial struggle, education has always been their priority and we are sure Atul and Amit will go on to emulate their older siblings.”<\/p>\n

Rajendra remains hopeful, repeating to anyone who will listen that “the Chief Justice has personally assured Atul that the court would explore ways to help him reclaim his seat at IIT.” His faith in the judiciary is shared by the community. “Judge sahab ne bol diya to hoga (If the CJI has said it, it will be done),” neighbors echo.<\/p>\n

But for the Kumar family, the burden of their financial struggles is enormous. Rajendra owes over Rs 3 lakh to friends and relatives, all borrowed to fund his sons\u2019 education. “Everything I earn goes towards my sons’ education. My wife keeps the household running with what little she makes,” he explained. Their daily sacrifices are evident. For years, they have cut back on everything \u2014 new clothes, even simple food luxuries. “For six years now, since my eldest son enrolled at NIT, we’ve been barely managing. But I believe \u2014 I have to believe \u2014 that better days will come,” Rajendra said, his voice filled with hope.<\/p>\n

Atul\u2019s teacher, Rajkumar Motla, speaks of him with admiration. “He’s made us all proud. His story is proof that brilliance exists everywhere, even in the poorest corners of society,” he said. “We’re all praying for him. Just see, the gods will listen.”<\/p>\n

(With TOI inputs)<\/em>
<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the quiet village of Titora, just off the beaten path about 100 kilometers from Delhi, lives Atul Kumar, an 18-year-old Dalit student whose story has captured the hearts of everyone around him. Titora, tucked away near NH-58, feels like a world apart. The roads turn into dusty trails, and GPS systems falter, leaving travelers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img.etimg.com\/photo\/msid-113686568,imgsize-82280.cms","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[602],"tags":[73828,12574,43718,113171,6124,5066,5523,113173,113172,64632,3131,31404,72068,2158,113175,1617,113174,4616],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142196"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142198,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142196\/revisions\/142198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}