Biplab Singha discovered the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) was the key to admission to the best engineering colleges in the country while he was in school. Motivated by this dream to get admitted to an IIT, he dedicated himself to preparing for his Class 10 exams in 2019 and managed to obtain a 93.57 per cent score, including a perfect 100 in mathematics. The Class 10 result which brought immense joy to his family, also earned him scholarships. 

Biplab was brought up in a village in West Bengal with his one brother, in a family unfamiliar with the concept of education. His parents are engaged in farming. He says he and his brother are first-generation schoolgoers. Till Class 5, there was no electricity at his home, nor was there a gas connection in their kitchen. Biplab believed that education was the only way to break free from his background and create a better life.

Despite studying in a Bengali medium school, Biplab harboured a childhood dream of becoming an engineer. His interest in electronics led him to tinker with electronic devices, though the path to realising his dream was unclear. 

While Biplab consistently excelled in exams, his Class 10 success was a turning point. With newfound determination, he set his sights on IIT and sought guidance from his teacher. Unaware of the challenges ahead, he enrolled in high school with a focus on science. 

He came to know from his teacher that cracking JEE Advanced demanded intense effort. The need for expensive coaching, a strong educational background, and substantial financial resources for IIT admission weighed heavily on Biplab. Despite these obstacles, Biplab resolved to take the first step by familiarising himself with JEE Advanced questions. 

Upon reviewing the questions, Biplab initially felt overwhelmed and doubted his ability to crack the IIT entrance test. Despite these doubts, he commenced his engineering preparation with local coaching. Biplab’s story underscores the importance of perseverance in overcoming challenges to achieve one’s goals. 

As soon as Biplab started his IIT preparations, the Covid-induced lockdown began. During this time, everything depended on online resources. Unfortunately, Biplab neither had a smartphone nor access to the internet. 

Biplab shared these challenges with his teacher, who then provided him with a smartphone, enabling Biplab to start his online preparation. He began gathering information about IIT from the internet and realised that it might not be as tough as he had been led to believe. Biplab expanded his preparation by using YouTube and watching various educational videos. 

Moving on to Class 12, Biplab appeared for the JEE Mains paper alongside his board exams. Although it was his first attempt with limited preparation time, Biplab cleared JEE Main but failed in JEE Advanced. 

Despite this setback, Biplab did not lose hope. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to improve. Taking a one-year gap, Biplab reinitiated his preparation, addressing the shortcomings he identified from the previous attempt. 

In West Bengal, there is a free training scheme for NEET/JEE, and Biplab got selected for this program, availing himself of free coaching and participating in test series. 

During the challenging journey, Biplab often faced moments of demotivation. To counter this, he would watch IIT campus tours, especially the one for IIT Bombay, to reignite his motivation. 

On the day of the exam in 2022, the JEE Advanced paper turned out to be the toughest in recent years. Biplab’s performance in the first paper wasn’t ideal, but the second paper went somewhat better. It turned out that many candidates faced similar challenges with the difficulty of the paper. Result day brought a pleasant surprise as Biplab had qualified for JEE Advanced and secured admission to IIT Bombay. 

Biplab is awarded with the financial aid programme (FAP). In this program, FAP provides all types of fees for a student at IIT Bombay including academic fees, hostel fees, mess fees computer and laptop assistance even medical emergencies with zero interest. After completing the degree and placement student can pay back the amount that he took during his college life.

Courtesy: http://www.Joshtalks.com