Manushi Chhillar to samosa-seller son, these students inspired us in 2017

Rajasthan: Rupa Yadav

Rupa Yadav in her college and at the agriculture field before the release of NEET results

This 20-year-old woman was married off when she was just eight. However, despite their limited income, her in-laws supported her education. Rupa Yadav used to spend half of her day in school and other half working as a labourer on a farm. She wanted to become a surgeon after she saw poor medical facilities in rural areas. She cracked highly competitive National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) in July and at present, she is pursuing MBBS from Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner. Read more

Bihar: Raj Kumar Vaish

Raj Kumar Vaish

They say where there’s will, there’s a way. At the age of 98, Raj Kumar Vaish completed his MA in Economics. He chose this subject to understand the reasons behind poverty in the country. While many run for a degree to get a better job, for Vaish it meant pure knowledge. Read more

Haryana: Manushi Chhillar

Manushi Chhillar, a CBSE topper and a medical student, was right when she said both doctors and beauty queens are here to make the world a better place. India’s 17-year drought was ended when this Haryana girl won the Miss World crown in November. Chillar always wanted to become a doctor like her mother and is likely to complete her medical studies after a year. Read more

Uttarakhand: Shivansh Joshi

Shivansh Joshi

While lucrative salary packages motivate many teenagers to take admissions in the engineering colleges, 17-year-old Shivansh Joshi left NIT Tiruchirappalli to join the Indian Army. He topped the NDA exam recently. Joshi believes the kind of respect an Army official gets is not offered in any other profession. Read more

Hyderabad: V Mohan Abhyas

It was unbelievable for 16-year-old V Mohan Abhyas that he has cleared JEE Advanced. Son of a samosa seller from Hyderabad, his father’s annual income is less than Rs 1 lakh. To support his father, Mohan often helped them in preparing samosas but this did not deter him from working hard. Read more

Sukesh Kumar Thogaru: Hyderabad

Sukesh Kumar Thogaru

When life gets tough, it can be hard to keep going. But if you are firm and consistent, nothing can stop. When Sukesh Kumar Thogaru was in school, his father ran into financial losses and started running an autorickshaw. Thogaru realised the importance of each penny and worked hard. After completing engineering, he cracked CAT 2016 to claim a seat in IIM Rohtak. Read more