Lost dream gives wings to many in Berhampur, Odisha

In 1980, financial crisis robbed Sudhir Rout of the chance to take the pre-university exam and qualify for the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) entrance test.

Even though his was dashed, at 52, Rout is paving the path for others to achieve their dream. Rout’s Aryabhatta Coaching Centre at Courtpeta here has been successfully training needy IIT and medical aspirants free of cost for the last eight years. The centre has helped more than 50 needy students clear the coveted tests.

Thanks to Rout, Sunil Bishoyi, son of a tea stall owner, is now doing his MTech from IIT Kharagpur, while engineer Siba Shankar Sethi, son of a poor farmer, is employed with a big company.

A rickshaw puller’s son Goutam Naik is thankful to Rout for fulfilling his dream to study engineering. Similarly, Maheswar Sethi, son of a fire brigade officer is a third-year MBBS student at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Sasmita, a student with Sudhir Rout, the founder of Aryabhatta Coaching Centre.

Sunil Bishoyi’s father Ramakanta said: “I never thought that my son would do so well. When Sunil passed Plus Two securing 70 per cent marks without any coaching or guidance I thought of asking him to help me with my tea stall business, but Sudhir babu appeared like an angel to help my son.”

Siba Shankar’s father Daktar Sethi, a farmer from the district’s Dhepaantara village, thanked Rout for changing his son’s life.

As Rout continues to fire the dreams of others, many like medical aspirant and son of a daily wage earner Balaram Das, 18, hopes to become a doctor and help his family earn a decent living.

As commercial centres charge no less than Rs 54,000 to train engineering and medical aspirants, Rout offers it free for the benefit of needy students.

“ I have adopted this system of free coaching for poor students since 2006. I had started with 60 students and it has crossed 400. I admit five to six poor students in every batch for free coaching. It gives me immense pleasure when they emerge successful,” said Rout.

He said that poor students suffer from inferiority complex and were often hesitant to sit with affluent students in the classroom. But he counsels them to concentrate solely on studies.

He also offers them financial assistance apart from lodging facilities and study material. A native of Madhabandha village under Chikiti block in Ganjam district, 25km from Berhampur, Rout did his MSc in Physics from Khallikote College in 1985 and became a faculty member of FIIT-JEE, New Delhi from 1999 to 2002. He also worked as a principal at Nalanda Residential College, Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh from 2002 to 2006 before launching Aryabhatta Coaching Centre.

“I had a dream to study in the IIT during my college days. The entrance examination fee for IIT was Rs 25 and the minimum qualification was pre-university. But I was unable to arrange the money,” said Rout.

Rout’s other passion is to plant trees and he has spent Rs 5 lakh to sprout greenery in Berhampur, Jagadalpur and Chikiti.

“My wife Shakuntala Devi and my two children give me moral support,” he said. Shakuntala even quit her schoolteacher’s job and says is “happy supporting my husband in his noble mission”.