From flunking boards to cracking IIT, MP teen replicates ‘12th Fail’ story

Barwani: At, possibly the lowest point of his young life, Chetan Solanki, an 18-year-old from Madhya Pradesh’s Barwani district, replayed the inspiring scenes from ‘12th Fail’, the acclaimed 2023 film depicting the journey of Chambal’s proud son Manoj Kumar Sharma to the Indian Police Service, overcoming fiscal challenges and academic drawbacks, to script his own remarkable comeback story.After failing to clear his Class 12 boards, Chetan went back to where it all began — home. Not to give up and move on, but to dust himself off after a crushing fall and rise again.The teen from Khutwadi in Warla tehsil — a village roughly 100 km from the Barwani district headquarters in one of Madhya Pradesh’s tribal heartlands — has now secured a rank of 1,309 in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced.

His seat at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, in the Agriculture and Food Engineering course, was allotted on Sunday.The journey to his eventual goal, which carries echoes from the reel world, still feels unreal to Chetan’s family.He wrote his plus-2 board papers at Shramodaya Awasiya Vidyalaya in Betma, Indore, his alma mater. However, his world seemed to be crumbling around him when he flunked only the second public exam in his life.

By his uncle’s account, the blow was a heavy one to take. “Failing Class 12 (boards) deeply affected him. He came back home and practically locked himself in a room,” said Omkar Solanki, a civil engineer who holds a postgraduate diploma in operations and maintenance from Dubai and is involved in managing agricultural fruit and vegetable exports.What happened inside that room, however, was far from idle. With no coaching institute, no study group, and no city library to fall back on, Chetan turned to the one resource available to him: the internet.Through online courses and self-directed study, he cleared his Class 12 examination before setting his sights on something far more demanding — the JEE Advanced, widely regarded as one of the most competitive engineering entrance tests in the country.This was no straightforward task in Khutwadi, a village, like many in the region’s tribal belt, grappling with poor internet connectivity and erratic electricity supply.

The preparatory ambience that city students often take for granted because of a stable broadband connection and uninterrupted power supply during study hours was, for Chetan, a daily negotiation. In between, he also helped his father Kamal Solanki, a farmer, with agricultural work whenever needed.“Through online courses and self-study, he not only cleared Class 12 but also secured admission to IIT,” said Solanki, beaming with pride.Chetan was born into a family that had not always had it easy, but one that has never treated education as optional. His uncle built his own career after spending a year working as a truck driver and using it as a stepping stone to advance professionally. His aunt serves as an agriculture extension officer.The family’s dogged emphasis on learning, despite financial constraints, shaped Chetan quietly but firmly. “When Chetan failed Class 12, we told him not to take pressure.

We told him that even if he didn’t crack IIT, he could still contribute to farming and other family work. At that time, cracking IIT seemed highly unlikely, but he proved everyone wrong through sheer hard work,” Solanki said.When it came to selecting his engineering specialisation, Chetan had options but chose Agricultural Engineering — a field directly tied to the world he grew up in. The decision did not surprise those who know him.

“My uncle pursued engineering and later worked in the agricultural export sector. I also want to use my education to benefit farming and farmers,” Chetan told TOI.From being down in the dumps not too long ago, the 18-year-old has set big goals in life going forward. He is now chasing a dream to become an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, though he sees his engineering education as purposeful in its own right, should that path not open up.Chetan revealed that he had watched ‘12th Fail’, finding a lot in the film that felt deeply personal and resonated deeply.Looking back, Chetan’s family holds an unusual view of his Class 12 failure — not as a wound, but as a revelation. “If he had not failed, perhaps, we would never have realised the determination and capability he had in him. We now believe he can even go on to join the civil service,” a family member said.For now, Chetan says he is keeping his head down and is set to step into the IIT Kharagpur next month.The next chapter in his life story is set to unfold in a locked room in a remote tribal village.