"Why would you want to feature me in your magazine?” asks Yogendra Singh incredulously. The 28-year-old IIM Lucknow student has a dilemma: should he continue with his studies or resume working?
“Your story is about people who have succeeded in life, isn't it? But if I quit IIM and go back to my village, that would make me a failure, right? Koi successful person ka story chaapiyega to woh theek rahega,” says the young man from a village near Daltonganj in Jharkhand.
But Yogendra is already a success. He remembers the time he went off with his neighbour to get admitted to the nearest government school in his village. He studied there till class 8 and then moved to a school in a town eight kilometres away. “My father was a rickshaw-puller and my mother a homemaker. But they never had to pay for my education.” The pride in his voice is unmissable.
Being the eldest of seven siblings – four sisters, and three brothers – Yogendra's struggles started early. He would graze cattle and soon after his class 10 Board exams, he started giving tuition to younger students. “I began making enough money to take care of the household expenses.”
That was when he met his future wife. She was one of his students before his prospective father-in-law, a primary school teacher, decided to make him the offer that would change his life forever.
Yogendra was juggling his life as a student and a teacher. But someone suggested that he should take the Polytechnic Diploma exam. He did and was selected too. “Suddenly I was famous in my gaon. That's when my to-be father-in-law proposed to fund my education on the condition that I marry his daughter,” he says. He did.
Yogendra discontinued his coaching classes, but worked for a few years while finishing BTech from BIT Sindri in Dhanbad, to be able to support his family. While his job took care of the household expenses, he took coaching for a few months to crack the CAT exam. “My happiness knew no bounds when I got a call from IIM Lucknow,” remembers Yogendra.
Walking through the gates of one of India's most reputed and toughest B-Schools is a dream come true for any student. But accepting the offer from IIM Lucknow has given Yogendra sleepless nights. He can't stop wondering if he made the right choice. “There is no one to support my family right now. I spent all my savings on my sisters' weddings. My younger brothers are in school. I am contemplating quitting and going back to my village,” says Yogendra.
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