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Ranchi boy thinks big, gets through MIT

FREE PRESS JOURNAL

Ranchi boy thinks big, gets through MIT

February 11th, 2013

RANCHI: 'Think laterally and believe in yourself that nothing can stop you from chasing your dreams. Not even failure.'

Though it is easier said than done, Pawan Gupta, an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, has achieved that feat and proved that when you believe in yourself, no mountain is high enough to stop you from reaching your destination.

Gupta has been chosen for the two-year management programme at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sloan this year. He is among the seven students from all over the country and the only one from Jharkhand to have qualified for the management school that is considered one of the best in the world.

Sharing his experience with TOI, Gupta said he was always criticized by his peers for his 'out-of-the-box' thinking as he dreamt of changing the education system in India. "I tried my experiments and came up with some of the innovative pedagogy skills to evaluate a student using a software and that was used by many schools," he said.

Born in a village under Sherghati block in Gaya district in Bihar, he completed his schooling from DAV Hehal in Ranchi with 94.2% marks. Gupta then went to Jawahar Vidya Mandir Shyamli and while all other is friends went for the IITs he managed to seek admission in BIT, Mesra.

"That was the turning point of my life where I learned the importance of recognising myself so that I am not lost in the crowd of brilliant students," he said.

While pursuing his bachelor's degree in electronics and communication engineering, Gupta filed and earned two patents one related to the design of a ladder model fitted with electronic circuit to enable it adjust and stand over uneven surfaces and another for a traffic light management system.

While still in BIT he floated a company named spirit continues to work for the improvement in education system.

It was after his stint with various schools marketing software to assess students of CBSE schools on continuous and comprehensive evaluation (CCE) pattern he joined Apollo mediskills to impart skill development to medical professionals.

It was in his second attempt that Gupta scored a humble 700 point score in the GMAT test and was invited for an interview at the Hotel Taj in Mumbai by MIT, Sloan director. The hour and five minute long interview session made all the difference and he was selected for admission.

Gupta now plans to visit BIT Mesra, XLRI and XISS to share his experience of interview and guide the students how even a mediocre student can be selected based on logical thinking, entrepreneurship qualities and never say no attitude.

Admitting that the two year course is really expensive for any student coming from middle class background, son of an executive engineer in the irrigation department of Jharkhand government he plans to meet the Governor to see if the state can help him financially against a commitment to come back to serve the people of Jharkhand.

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