It’s a real life story of struggle against all odds by a father-son duo culminating into the exceptional educational success of the son. Ranked 5th in this year’s JEE (West Bengal) merit list, the 17 year old Pijus Kanti Nandi, can hardly forget the days when two square meals were a luxury for him. But even abject poverty could not deter him from dreaming and working towards the goal of becoming a doctor. “My parents could not afford any tutor, but I received some help from my uncle and Arambagh High school where I studied free of cost” says Pijush, a first generation learner from his family who scored almost 90% marks at the Higher Secondary examination of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary education.
Madhusudan Nandi, father of Pijush and a farmer, owns just half acre of land and earns Rs.1500/- per month and has to sustain the education of his two more children, one son and a daughter reading in local colleges with this meager income. A totally uneducated man, once he had to depend upon neighbours to read out news paper and letters to him. It is then that he vowed to educate his children even at the cost of going hungry. Says he, ”I made a pledge that come what may, I would not let my children suffer the agony of illiteracy.” From a childhood spent in a two roomed mud house and rationed food, Pijush can now dream and get a medical degree from one of the best medical institutions of Bengal. Says Pijush, “I remember my parents starving all night after feeding us with the limited food they use to have. This made me determined to rise above poverty. ”Pijush want to return to his village, Nalbani, in the backward Bankura district of Bengal after completing studies to improve the healthcare there.
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