From Uttar Pradesh to United States: Four CBSE students beat all odds

Achieving what could not be a mean feat for their more affluent counterparts and turning hardship into opportunity, four students from Bulandshahar in Uttar Pradesh have made it to the US colleges with 100 per cent scholarship. Sudeeksha Bhati, Gulesh Kumar Shukla, Hemlata Sharma, Piyush Saini from Vidyagyan, a school by Shiv Nadar Foundation, have brought laurels to their families, and alma mater.

Dealing with an alcoholic father and living within the strong clutches of patriarchy could not stop Bhati from topping in Bulandshahar, securing 98 per cent in the recently declared CBSE Class XII results.

Speaking to DNA, Bhati recounts how she was expelled from a private school when she was nine as she could not pay the fee. "It left me helpless. Though I was very young, it just steeled my resolve to excel in life," she says. Her father, a marginal farmer, objected when she took admission in a government school.

"He found it beneath him that I was studying in a government school. It was a matter of izzat (honour) for him, more so because I was a girl. ," said the 18-year-old, who will be pursuing an entrepreneurship programme at Babson College in Massachusetts.

Shukla, who will be studying Computer Science at Haverford College, on the other hand, had an acrimonious set of parents at home. "I felt responsible towards my mother, who is illiterate. I wanted to turn my life around for her," said the son of a farmer from a village in Agra. English, meanwhile, posed to be the biggest challenge for Shukla while preparing for SAT and TOEFL.

Meanwhile, Sharma, who has got admission in Bryn Mawr College in Computer Science, has become an inspiration for her siblings. Her father is proud to declare her as an example to everyone in the family. Sharma scored 88 per cent in Class XII exams in Science stream.

Looking forward to studying in the US, Saini is confident that he will blend with the environment there.