Mother’s notes help Sitamarhi boy make it to IIT despite illness

Patna: A collapsed lung, months confined to bed and severe visual impairment could have ended Sitamarhi teenager Gunjan Kumar’s IIT dream. Instead, it became a story of a mother’s determination.As Gunjan remained bedridden for nearly three months during the crucial phase of his JEE preparation in Kota, his mother, Gunja Kumari, stepped into the classroom. She attended his online coaching lectures, painstakingly prepared handwritten notes and revised every lesson with him. Her efforts helped the 17-year-old secure admission to the computer science programme at IIT Delhi’s Abu Dhabi campus.Gunjan had moved to Kota to prepare for JEE when he developed severe chest pain in Oct last year.

Doctors diagnosed him with pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung, and he underwent surgery, followed by nearly two-and-a-half months of complete bed rest.“At that time, I wasn’t thinking about IIT at all. The only thing that mattered was recovering,” Gunjan said. “I wasn’t even allowed to get up because my body was bandaged. I could study for only one or two hours occasionally,” he added.With recorded lectures becoming his only source of learning, Gunja, a BEd graduate in social science, took over.

“It took her two-and-a-half hours to write notes from a one-hour lecture. She would ask me questions so that I wouldn’t forget what I had studied,” Gunjan said.Gunja admitted understanding physics, chemistry and mathematics after years away from academics was difficult. “It was very challenging. Along with taking care of him and the house, I had to prepare his notes. But I never allowed myself to become upset because I knew my son would also lose hope if I did,” she said.Gunjan, who has over 70% vision impairment, recovered in the last week of Dec, leaving barely three weeks before the examination. “The notes my mother had prepared became the foundation of my revision,” he said.The family celebrated together when the result was declared. Gunjan will leave for Abu Dhabi in Aug to begin his undergraduate studies.