A 22-year-old IIT Roorkee pass-out recently bagged one of the most prestigious awards of the country in the field of education, from the President of India. He used to teach underprivileged students for free and has been awarded for his leadership amongst students admitted through JEE.
Anant Vashistha, a young IIT graduate has been teaching the underprivileged students from a nearby village. He is only 22 years old and has completed his Bachelor of Technology degree in Production and Industrial Engineering in 2019 only. The guy has been awarded the prestigious Dr Jai Krishna Gold Medal for excellent contribution in the field of youth leadership amongst students admitted through JEE.
He currently works at Master Card in Gurgaon. He started taking classes of poor and underprivileged students from Kaliyar village. The village is situated at a close distance from his college. He started taking their classes in 2015 after his enrolment at the prestigious institute. Since then, he had been taking classes, every Saturday and Sunday. Anant and a group of his friends have been imparting the wisdom to the young minds since 4 straight years.
The boys would arrange a tent, blackboard, chalks, some chairs and would go out to the village which is about 8 km from his college to undertake the noble deed, every weekend.
Anant Vashistha received a gold medal from President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday for making an excellent contribution in the field of youth leadership & won the prestigious Dr Jai Krishna Gold Medal for his work.
In a conversation with PTI, Vashishta said “Initially it was a big challenge for me to convince the people of the village to send their children to us for study. They did not trust an outsider. However, gradually they entrusted us with their children and realised our intentions with the classes. It began from 5 children, went on to have the strength of 15-20 children.”
Indian President, Ram Nath Kovind felicitated him with the gold medal & the award during IIT Roorkee’s 19th annual convocation. Anant was amongst one of the 8 other students who were awarded during the event.
When the reporters asked Anant that how did he manage to take free time out of his studies for teaching the students, he said that teaching is his passion and he would never shy away from putting some extra efforts for the welfare of the children and the society at large.
Vashistha added “As Mathematics is my favourite subject, I used to teach it prominently. I would also teach them other subjects and organise knowledge sharing discussions as well.”
Talking about his experience he said, “It was fun teaching the children for four years. Although I am unable to take classes now as I have shifted my base in Gurgaon where I work, they all are in touch with me and I would be more than happy to assist them in their future endeavours.”
Anant has a vision of associating with some organization in the future to pursue his noble deed and the dream job of teaching the underprivileged yet deserving students, free of cost.
Speaking about his future endeavours, Anant says, “I am also aiming to get admission in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US for higher studies after which I would serve my country which is my ultimate goal.”
People like Ananth are an inspiration to all of us. Being an IIT student, it is very tough to manage time from the studies. However, Anant being a young boy, took a step at the age of 18, of not only managing his career but took responsibility for the education life of 20 other children.
Shiksha News salutes his work and efforts and wishes that more such Anants come forward to take the role of social educational leaders in the society.
