Alumni Rakesh Kumar Sahu shares his interview as how Vidya Bharati school helped him in life

Rakesh Kumar Sahu was born in born in a middle class family in Jabera Tehsil of Damoh district, Madhya Pradesh.  He along with his two siblings studied in Sarswati Shishu Mandir High School, Jaberah, as his family felt that it was the only school in the area that catered towards  overall development of the students through their emphasis on sports, social service, extra curricular activities and cultural studies as a part of education. 

After completion of his schooling, Mr. Sahu pursued his BCA from Nachiketa College Jabalpur and MA (Sociology) from Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur .

Recently Mr. Sahu talked about his life struggles and the motivation behind his social work, in a short interview, as given below:

Interviewer : Tell us something about your journey from your school days till now.

Rakesh Kumar Sahu : I come from Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh. Me  along with my elder brother and sister, we all studied in the same school. From childhood due to financial problems at home, I worked part time to support my education. In 9th standard I worked at the local photography studio.

I always wanted to study in a good college but my family was not in a position to provide for my education, so I took a year off and worked in a computer center to arrange money for higher education. Later I got admitted in Nachiketa College, Jabalpur for my BCA degree  alongside continuing to work part time. After completing my college I worked on a contractual basis, as a computer teacher at Jabalpur Kendriya Vidyalaya.

During this period,  I got selected through Madhya Pradesh Vyapam (Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board) to work in  the pharmacy department at Rani Durgawati Hospital, Jabalpur. 

Although after starting my work,  I was in a good place financially, I could never forget my struggles and hardships, I felt a burning need to help other students who are facing similar hardship as mine. This led me to open a competitive examination coaching center in partnership with one of my friends, where we train poor children free of cost. Monthly fee of 500/- is only taken from those who can afford them.  It gives me immense pleasure to see that since the opening of the center, several of my students were able to crack different competitive exams and currently are doing well in their professional life.

 I am also a volunteer with Vidya Bharati and presently hold the position of ‘maha sanyojak’ for Jabalpur.

Interviewer :  Apart from those already mentioned, are you associated with any other kind of social work?

Rakesh Kumar Sahu : I try and associate with different kinds of social service, such as  opening libraries for students appearing in competitive examinations, participating in city cleanliness drives, working for animal rights etc.

Interviewer : Did Vidya Bharati have any impact on your life?

Rakesh Kumar Sahu :  As I have already mentioned that I have been working since my school days to support my education. If I was in any other school it would have been very difficult to complete my education. In my school I was able to get a quality education at an affordable cost.

I would like to give full credit to my school for helping me to reach where I am today.

Interviewer : Do you have any message for Vidya Bharati and its students?

Rakesh Kumar Sahu : I would like to encourage all students to never give up on their dreams in spite of any hurdle and always keep moving forward. If any one of you are facing financial problems, your school will always support you.

For Vidya Bharati, I would like to congratulate them for helping our country by developing well grounded, socially responsible next generation citizens.  I truly appreciate the institution’s dedication towards spread of education even to the remotest parts of our nation.

Vidya Bharati Purv Chatra Parishad thanks Mr. Sahu for taking out time and sharing his valuable experience with the community.

If you are a Vidya Bharati alumni and would like to share your story with the community,kindly email us at info@vidyabharatialumni.org and we will contact you