How He Went From a Coolie's Son To a Doctor-To-Be

With not even enough money to buy a second pair of clothes, he spent all his days in Kota wearing the uniform of the coaching institute.

Sarnu, Rajasthan:  In a small village called Sarnu, 80 kilometres from Rajasthan’s Barmer town, Kheraj, the son of a railway porter, sits outside his thatched hut, studying. Jugtaram, a proud father, dotes on his 19-year-old son who has just cracked the entrance test for medical school, against all odds.

The coolie, who works at the Jodhpur railway station, had brought his son to the city to study after he passed class 8. When he passed out of school, he sent his son to a famous coaching institute in Kota to prepare for the All India Pre Medical Test.

“My father kept his promise and got me admitted in a coaching institute in Kota for which he collected the fee amount from every possible source,” Kheraj says. With not even enough money to buy a second pair of clothes, he spent all his days in Kota wearing the uniform of the coaching institute.

Though he didn’t make it in the first attempt, on his second shot, Kheraj passed the test, scoring a fantastic 283 rank in the OBC quota.

“I have been selected but we are short of money. Whatever my father can do, he will and if necessary he will have to borrow. Whatever happens, I have been selected and I am not going to stop. I will become a doctor,” Kheraj says.

In Jodhpur, Jugtaram cannot stop celebrating. He worked at this railway station, sometimes 24 hours a day to pay the fees of the high profile coaching institute in Kota. He also borrowed close to Rs 1 lakh so that he could finance his son’s studies.

“I had a dream that he would become a doctor. I could not become a teacher but he has fulfilled my dream,” Jugtaram says.