What do you do in life when your most cherished dream is shattered, and your hard-worked project yields no result? To be logical and most reasonable, you simply move on and find another!
Easier said than done, but amidst all the sad stories of suicide and painful deaths in the IIT and Medical coaching hub of India, Kota, a few ‘failed’ students have done just that.
A city ruled by brutal hard work, aspirations, competition and painful failures, Kota witnessed 18 suicides by engineering and medical aspirants – the highest in the last five years.
As we spoke to some ‘failed’ students of Kota, they turn out to be real winners in life.
The ‘Youngest’ CEO
22-year-old Ritesh Agrawal is amongst the most famous ‘drop-outs’ in India! Ritesh founded Oyo Rooms, earlier known as Oravel, an Indian version of the online rental site Airbnb when he was just 18.
Born and brought up in a business family in Odisha, Ritesh’s passion to be a coder took him to Kota in 2009, however a few months into the rigorous coaching regime he realized that Kota would be the last place to offer him what he wanted in life. Out of all the time he had he wrote a book: The Encyclopedia of Indian Engineering Colleges that could help students locate the right college for them.
Kota bored him and he would land up in Delhi to catch up with his friends almost every weekend. Online hotel bookings and bed and breakfast culture was still nascent and back then it lacked credibility. The idea of a website that would aggregated decent, safe, cheap hotels and accommodation nationwide clicked instantly with the investors, hoteliers and the customers.
Currently Oyo Rooms is a network of 2,200 hotels operating in 100 cities across India. The company claims for monthly revenues of $3.5m with 1,500 employees at key offices. For those who are lost and figuring out the good in life, Ritesh has a simple advice, that he put out during an interview with the BBC, “Start really fast and, if you fail, you will learn and the chances of success in the next venture will increase,” he says.
Happines@Success
22 year old Ravindra Sahu is keenly waiting for the launch of his book in February this year. The book is nothing but his most honest confessions of failures at his life in Kota.
Ravindra’s decision to study at Kota in year 2010 after he finished his class 12th exams was always his own. Unlike others, his parents never forced a dream upon him.
“The passion to study science brought me to Kota, but soon I realized that grilling schedules, guide books, and formulae based teaching was not my cup of tea.”
Leaving Kota Ravindra joined BTech at an engineering college in Uttar Pradesh but left it mid-way because all around him he saw many more exciting opportunities to be grabbed. He started IITkhabar.com a news portal for all news and information sought by engeering and medical aspirants. The portal became popular and a lot of students got in touch with him. His decision to leave Kota and then formal education amused many.
“I always remind parents and students that the ultimate aim of life is to be happy and ‘branded education’, is never a pre-condition for it.’
Ravindra is now a motivational speaker at various schools and institutes in and outside Kota. His mantra is straight and simple- “Opt for what gives you happiness in life. That will always lead you to success, because you don’t mind stretching your limits for it.”
A ‘Room’ For Life
For 16 year old Tarun Garg a career was designed long before he knew what he wanted to do in life. To fulfil his parents dream of cracking IIT and a well-paying secured job he went to Hyderabad and then Kota for coaching.
“A daily dose of Idli-dosa, with six hours of additional studying drained me. I left Hyderabad and joined coaching in Kota, but drilling study hours exhausted me. I was always a self study person. Finally, I decided to leave, and leave for good!”
The short drill at Hyderabad and Kota taught Tarun quite a lot. He learnt to let go an ambition that was making him unhappy and also, finding an idea that could re-shape his life.
For students (and parents) who come to Kota for coaching, food and lodging is the biggest concern, after dream IIT! Along with his friends ,16 year old Divyansh Agrawal and 17 year old Nitesh Jethmalani all students of class 12th currently, Tarun founded RoomKart.in a one stop shop to find a PG/ Hostel/Room on Rent in Kota.
“The idea struck me through my own struggle and I instantly knew it would click with students and their parents. I did some market survey and spoke to my friends who could help me with contacts, financing and marketing. We launched a basic website in 2015 and it saw huge response soon after it went live.”
Tarun and his friends are now keen to find some funds and investors for the next plunge. While they do want to complete their formal education, a degree for them, is no more a necessary stamp to succeed in life.
Try Until You Succeed
Rheumatic fever left 17 year old Paavan Gaur crippled during most of his time at Allen Coaching Institute in Kota in year 2013.
“When I fell ill, initially I didn’t care for a few days. I spend hours and hours in front of a television, eating nice food and everything felt like a perfect vacation. However, after a few days, I started to realize the dark side of my situation. Stephen Hawking had always been my ideal, and I suddenly felt we were quite similar, physically constrained and mentally in love with astrophysics. That is when I started believing in myself again.”
Paavan left Kota and appeared for his class 12th exam, as a special candidate. Half of the times he would be lying down and writing the exam. Soon after he cleared class 12th he appeared for TOFEL and SAT to qualify for studying at a foreign university. He is now enrolled into California University studying astrophysics. Something he always wanted to do.
“What is tutored into our minds is a belief that graduating from IIT is the only way to get a respectful high paying job. From my own experience I can say, what makes a difference to life is your attitude, the zeal to bounce back and passion to survive.”
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