The successful candidates from Bunkaron village near Gaya

After the brilliant performance of students from the famed Super 30 institute, comes another success story from Bihar.

Eighteen students from a village near Gaya in south Bihar are among some 26,000 candidates who cracked the entrance exam to the IIT or Indian Institute of Technology. And in a first, a girl from the village has also made it to the list of successful candidates.

Cracking the IIT appears to be a tradition for the Bunkaron village. "Every year, at least 10 students from the village clear this exam," said Rahul Kumar, who ranked 980 in the exam this year. "The environment here is so good that everyone studies together, everyone helps each other out if there is any difficulty."

Almost every house in this village of 10,000 has a power loom, but despite its harsh voice and other odds, these children put in 3-10 hours of study every day to crack the exam.

"We find a place that is somewhat quiet and all IIT aspirants gather there in a sort of study circle. It becomes a good environment," explained Rahul, adding that his uncle had also cleared the IIT exam and is now working in the US.

Villagers say the declining power loom business led them to take education seriously. And it was around 15 years ago that they decided to put in efforts to educate their children.

But in absence of good schools and coaching centres, how does the system work?

"The children who have passed IIT previously help the students here on how to prepare for the exams... There is an NGO for that as well," said Yugeshwar Prasad, the father of one of the successful candidates.

"The seniors provide us with guidance, their notes and even study material," added Rahul.