NEW DELHI: For Rajiba Tiria , from a remote village in coastal Orissa, every step till getting into Indian Institute of Management has been a hurdle tougher than cracking the Common Admission Test 2012 ( CAT ). Having lost his father at seven, his was on the verge of calling quits to education so as to work in the fields due to poverty. But thanks to his mother, Rajiba could continue his studies, as she took it upon herself to till and cultivate paddy fields as a daily labourer to sustain and fund his studies. By the time he completed his graduation he lost his mother as well.

A first to join an elite institution like IIM from his village Haridabahali, Jajpur district, 23-year-old Rajiba’s only regret is that he is all alone now and his parents are not there to see his academic success. But he thinks he is lucky to have good people around him, his parents to his friends who helped him all through out and motivated him.

Rajiba got calls from six IIMs and Faculty of Management Studies post CAT. Recounting his childhood he said: “That I am at IIM-Rohtak seems so unreal, when for most part of your life it has been a struggle against all odds. First poverty, then I lost my parents and being all alone thereafter. I studied in local Oriya medium government school. Thereafter, I joined Buxi Jagabandhu Bidyadhar College, Bhubaneswar for higher secondary and graduation. I was too young to realize my father’s death, but my greatest regret is that my mother could not get good medical facilities. I was not even by her side when she passed away as my exams were on and she didn’t inform me.”

After his graduation he joined a chain which sells and repair mobile phones. There his senior colleagues encouraged him to join a CAT coaching centre and helped funding his studies. Even after cracking CAT it was not a smooth entry as getting a bank loan came as a fresh hurdle. Again his friends helped and after mortgaging their land he joined IIM-Rohtak.

And post MBA Rajiba has his agenda sorted. Immediate priority is to get a good placement. But most importantly he wants to give back to the society. “I want to open schools for the village poor. And I already has so many plans with some of my friends who are pursuing medical to give good medical assistance to poor people.”

