Meet Gagan who went from a daily wager making Rs 350 lifting gas cylinders to cracking IIT

Making it to IIT is a dream millions of Indians have. IIT aspirants spend months and even years preparing for the exam, in the hope of making it to the top engineering colleges in the country. Gagan, a small-town boy from Atrauli, in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh, had the same dream, but the odds were stacked against him.

IIT DELHI

Dreaming IIT despite odds

Raised in a family of six, Gagan's father worked as a godown keeper at a gas agency. Gagan and his elder brother worked alongside their father to support him, lifting gas cylinders for a daily wage of ?350. Despite the heavy burden of these responsibilities, Gagan remained focused on his dream of getting into IIT.

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And the efforts finally paid off as Gagan managed to crack IIT with an impressive AIR 5286 in JEE Advanced 2024.

Gagan opens up about his struggles

Now, a video has gone viral on social media, where Gagan has opened up about his struggles. During an interaction with Alakh Pandey, Founder and CEO of Physics Wallah (PW), he revealed that his ultimate goal was to get into IIT.

Twitter

Gagan said that for preparation, he took a year off to devote himself entirely to his studies, and it paid off.

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Working to support family

He shared that education was not a priority in his community, and many children younger than him had to work to support their families.

Earning ?350 each day by lifting 250 cylinders, Gagan and his brother had been doing this since a young age. He mentioned that despite these hardships, he never gave up.

BCCL

Gagan recalled working tirelessly during the day and pursuing online studies at night through his mobile phone. Through relentless effort and determination, he secured admission into IIT BHU in Electrical and Communication Engineering.

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