The Journey from a hut to IIM Professor was challenging: Ranjith R Panathur

The stories of hardship, perseverance and hard work overcoming obstacles posted by the life and attaining success are not unheard of or rare. Ranjith R Panathur also has a similar story of battling the odds to become a professor at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi. He, who decided to leave studies at higher secondary, made up his mind to test his chances. That turned out to be a revolutionary decision.

On his Facebook, he posted a photo of his house, and he wrote:"In this house was I born and brought up. I still live here. With brimming happiness, I want to say, now, an IIM Assistant Professor born in this house. I feel like I should relate my story, this house, up to IIM Ranchi. For me, it is a win if this story inspires someone.

I scored satisfactorily in my higher secondary exam but felt to quit my studies at first because of my living conditions. But then, out of luck, I got a night security job at Panathur telephone exchange and ample time at day for studies. This opened doors I thought were shut forever. I had no one to guide me, and even my parents said nothing. I was trapped in the current, but the shores I swam and touched were beautiful.

St. Pius College taught me to address an audience. The Central University of Kerala showed me a world outside Kasaragod, which later led me to the bigger world of IIT Madras.

The World of IIT Madras was strange for me, and I felt lonely among a crowd there. I felt several times that I could not continue there much longer. Since I only speak Malayalam, I even felt scared of talking. At one point, I decided to live my PhD out of the feeling that it is not my path. But my guide Dr Subhash made me understand that I was wrong. He asked me to fight one last time before admitting defeat, which flared something in my mind to win.

I started my journey from the hills of Panathur. Now I believe that the soils at my place are fertile enough for knowledge as well as food crops. The length from this hut (paradise) to Assistant Professor at IIT Ranchi was the sum of my dreams, hardships, and the sufferance of a mother and father. I know a thousand stories from huts like this in which dreams withered before blossom.

Now, I wish stories of success should unfold there. Above you, there could be roofs ready to shatter, walls around you to collapse, but you should dream beyond the heavens. For sure, with your dreams, even you could touch shores of success one day."