Vatsalya Singh Chauhan, aged 21, bagged the dream job in Microsoft for an annual salary of 1.2 crore. He hails from Khagariya village in the eastern state where his father runs a small welding workshop. The medium of instruction in his school in Bihar was Hindi and he had scored 75 per cent in his Class XII examinations. The final year computer science student at IIT-Kharagpur, Vatsalya was picked by Microsoft during a campus placement drive in December 2015.

“I liked reading subject books on my own. But it was not until 2009 that I was told about IITs, and made up my mind to study at an IIT one day,” Chauhan told The Indian Express. A native of Bihar’s Khagaria district, he then enrolled with a coaching centre in Kota.

“Supporting his coaching classes in Kota for another year would have been difficult and I told him he could still get into an IIT with that rank,” said his father Chandra Kant Singh, who makes and repairs metal grilles, gates, shutters, almirahs at a shop in Khagaria, earning nearly Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh annually.

“I told them that I can’t afford his coaching for another year. But Vishal Joshi, Amit Ahuja and Rajesh Maheshwari, who teach at Allen (in Kota), told me that Vatsalya is a bright student. They said that I only arrange for the train ticket for his journey to Kota and that they will take care of rest, and they did,” said Chandra Kant.

"We had taken a loan for his higher studies and we are extremely happy that he has made it so big. One of his brothers is preparing for engineering while a sister is preparing for medical entrance exam at present," Vatsalya's father Chandrakant Singh said.

"I still remember the interview, which began at 4am. The written test, a day before, continued late into the night, and I couldn't catch a wink," an elated Vatsalya said.

"I went to Kota in 2009, but, midway through the preparations, I lost interest in engineering. I started reading books on mathematics and physics and wanted to write a book myself. But, when I took my first attempt at JEE in 2011 half-heartedly, I realized I had made a mistake by not studying seriously," he said.

"I really like teaching and am ready to help anyone who wants to learn," he said.

By Premji