In a modest single-room home tucked away in north Bengal’s Malbazar, ambition had to learn how to fit into tight spaces. For Rupayan Chanda, that meant turning limitations into routine—and routine into results. This year, he secured an impressive 99.001 percentile in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains, studying almost entirely through online resources.
But his journey reads less like a rank story and more like a slow, stubborn rewrite of circumstances.
Rupayan lost his father when he was barely a toddler. Since then, his world has revolved around his mother, Shukla Chanda, whose days blur between working as a domestic help and nights spent caring for patients. Earnings were thin, responsibilities heavy, and yet—education was never negotiable.
The household ran on careful compromises. His sister’s marriage had already consumed whatever savings the family had. What remained was resilience—and a determination that refused to shrink.
After his Madhyamik exams, a small government grant meant for a tablet sparked a bigger idea: a laptop. It felt unrealistic at first—until help arrived from a distant relative. Mrinmoy Chatterjee, an IIT graduate now working in Serbia, stepped in to bridge that gap. That laptop became more than a device. It became a classroom, a mentor, and sometimes, a late-night companion.
“I didn’t follow a strict schedule,” Rupayan says. “I just kept solving doubts whenever they came up.”
There were sacrifices, though he doesn’t call them that. A cricket enthusiast since childhood, he deliberately stayed away from the game for nearly two years. The field was nearby, the temptation real—but discipline quietly won.
His mother remembers the years of shifting homes—from Siliguri to Chalsa, and eventually to Malbazar—chasing one thing: access to education.
“If he grows up to be a good human being,” she says, “everything will feel worth it.”
Despite the achievement, there is no pause. Rupayan’s focus has already moved ahead to the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced. There’s no dramatic celebration, just a steady next step.
“As long as I haven’t finished my studies and got a job,” he says, “my mother will have to keep struggling.”
In that one-room house, amid books, screens, and silence, there’s also a quiet presence—a pet cat, often the only witness to his hours of study.
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