From cattle rearing to IIT; a dream come true

An article, mailed across on the IIT community,

From cattle rearing to IIT; a dream come true

Hyderabad, June 16: The journey from agriculture fields and cattle rearing to IIT and institutions equivalent to it is arduous. But three students coming from remote villages in AP have made it.

During vacation of the college - AP Social Welfare Junior College in Nagole here - T Venkateshwarlu and M Raju Naik used to work as farm labourers to help their parents. Rama Dasu, however, used to take care of cattle.

For them, their college was a temple of learning. They were among the 32 students, who took the examination.

Venkateshwarlu got selected in IIST (Pune) and IISER (Kolkata) and Ramadasu secured 132nd rank and is expecting a seat in any one of the seven IITs and IISTs.

Raju Naik who got 251st rank in IIT is interested in Electronic and Communication Engineering. Apart from this, Raju Naik and Venkateshwarlu secured ranks in the AIEEE (B.Tech) exam, while Rama Dasu got rank in AIEEE (B.Arch ) test.

Venkateshwarlu, the eldest son in his family says: "There is no engineering student in my native village Paluru near Nellore. I wanted to become one. I know IIT would change my life for ever. I studied hard, spending 16 hours a day on studies. The college staff helped me in my studies", he recalls.

Rama Dasu, elder son of Ramakrishna and Chittamma, had to travel by bus and train to reach Nagole institution from remote G Pangidigudem village in West Godavari. He was the first person from his village to enter a engineering course. "Now I want to encourage my younger brother and two sisters to
study", he said.

M Raju Naik, is a wonder boy, according to the college staff. He comes from a remote tribal hamlet Muthyalapadu Tanda in Kurnool. To reach the nearest bus stop, Raju Naik had to walk 3 km. He is the only son to his parents and has three elder sisters, who discontinued studies at an early stage.

"After coming to know about IIT, I decided that it should be my life's goal", he says. Perceiving his zeal, teachers gave all the support he needed. "Raju is without books only when he sleeps. He is a promising kid", a college teacher says.

Hoping it would be the Genesis and not the Nemesis of the dream.. I'd only like to say, All the best.

Wanderer