Motivational story of Anand Kumar - MQS

In the modern world, education is new to the enlightenment. An uneducated person is can be manipulated easily and can be denied his fundamental rights. The process of this new enlightenment begins at school. Our educators are the ones who hold the utmost responsibility to educate us and help us become successful people as well as responsible citizens.

There is a famous quote from C.S. Lewis on our educators, which is -

“The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.”- C.S Lewis

In the context of education and educators, there is someone about whom we all should know. He is one of India's beloved teachers, Mr. Anand Kumar.

Anand Kumar Biography - 

Anand Kumar's childhood - 

Anand Kumar was born on 1st Jan 1973 in an Indian middle-class family from Bihar. His father worked for the Indian postal department. Due to his financial problem, Anand had to attend local Hindi Medium Government schools instead of costly private schools. 

Anand's interest in mathematic - 

 During his school days, Anand has shown great interest in Mathematics. Later he continued his study in the field of mathematics. While he was doing his graduation he published papers on “Number Theory”. This Theory got highly appreciated by the mathematical community when it was showcased in “Mathematical Spectrum”. During this time he also got the opportunity to study at Cambridge University. But due to the death of his father, he was not able to attend University.

Although heartbroken, Anand did not give up his love for Mathematics. He started teaching Mathematics in his own institute. He named the institute Ramanujan School of Mathematics. In a short span of a year, his school grew in size from two students to sixty students and after few years the admission count of the students reached more than 500. Although at this point of his life Anand was pretty successful, he came into the limelight because of his Super 30 program.

Anand Kumar Super 30 program -

This program is called Super 30 as it consists of 30 students who are mostly from underprivileged backgrounds. This Super 30 program was introduced in 2002 when Anand hold a test in his institute Ramanujan school of mathematic. He selected 30 of the top scorer students from that exam and started to train them for the IIT-JEE exam. This Super 30 program conceptualize when few poor students came seeking his guidance for the IIT-JEE examination, which is one of the toughest Indian annual examinations to crack. This annual exam is conducted as a necessity of admission to the Indian Institute of Technology. Those students, who score highest get the chance to study in this prestigious institute, which guarantees the future success of every student.

Coming back to the Super 30 program, although these students are not capable enough to pay the enrolment fees, Anand takes full responsibility for them which includes food supplies and lodging of the candidates. To this date, Anand and his Super 30 holds a splendid track record, as almost every student who qualifies for the Super 30 program annually qualifies in the IIT-JEE.

 

Anand Kumar's rewards and recognization -

To this date, Anand Kumar received countless praises and awards for his initiative from National and International foundations such as the "S Ramanujan Award" in 2010, In the same year, he received "Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar" from Bihar Government, "Mahaveer Award" from Chennai government, "Global Education" award which he received in 2018 in Dubai. For his contribution in the field of education, he received the "Education Excellence" Award in the year 2019, from the "Foundation for Excellence in Education" in California, USA. Anand Kumar also received the "Rashtriya Bal Kalyan Award" from Indian President Ram Nath Kovind. Anand was got honored by the education ministry of Saxony in Germany and by Govt. of British Columbia, Canada.

Many documentaries were also made after him such as Discovery's documentary of the Super 30 Program. Norika Fujiwara, a famous Japanese Model/actress, also visited Anand's institute to make a documentary on his institute and his program. Anand was also got featured in "The New York Times and BBC for his initiative. Not only this Anand's Work in education also got appreciated by US president Barak Obama's special envoy to India. Famous Newsweek Magazine has ranked Anand's Institute as one of the most innovative institutes in the world.

Apart from various awards, Anand was also invited to several institutes to present his speech on education and his work on the Super 30 program. Institutes such as the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Standford University, Tokyo University, and the University of British Columbia.

Recently there is a Bollywood Movie made after the life of Anand Kumar, named “Super 30” where Bollywood heartthrob Hritik Roshan played the role of Anand Kumar.

Anand Kumar's Health condition -

Currently, Anand Kumar is suffering from a serious health condition called "Acoustic Neuroma", this is a kind of tumor that affects his hearing in his right ear. His treatment is currently undergoing in Hinduja Hospital in Mumbai by renowned Dr. B.K. Mishra. We all hope for his speedy recovery so that he can keep doing this kind of marvelous job in the future as well.

Conclusion -

If we think about it, education is something that has the ability to change the world. By education, I mean real education, not the education which helps to get a certificate at the of every year. Education is a great equalizer that can help anyone become successful in life. Not only that, if we raise a generation who is educated, we can fight all the social and political problems around us, we can work towards solving all the problems related to our environment. We can find innovative ways to fight global warming, find ways to cure incurable diseases, innovate new technologies that might shape the future of all of us. This is why we need more people like Anand Kumar who is tirelessly working towards making a generation educated and humble enough to recognize the problems of our society and work toward making an impactful change.