Hrithik Roshan is entering the biopic genre for the first time through “Super 30,” a movie based on the life of a real hero, Anand Kumar who is known for his Super 30 program. The resident of Patna, Bihar started the Super 30 program in 2002 for coaching the underprivileged students for the entrance examination conducted by the Indian Institutes of Technology – IIT-JEE.
Inspirational Life Journey Of Anand Kumar
The journey of Anand Kumar from being a small-time mathematics tutor to a renowned IIT-JEE coach is not only inspirational but also insightful. Born to a postal department clerk in Bihar, India, Kumar studied in Hindi medium government school as his parents could not afford private English medium schooling.
Qualified For Cambridge But Could Not Go
During his schooling days, he developed an interest in Mathematics and submitted papers on number theory during graduation. His theory was published in The Mathematical Gazette and Mathematical Spectrum. Kumar even secured admission to Cambridge University but could not go there because of his poor financial condition and death of his father. He even looked out for sponsor in 1994-95 but failed to reach Cambridge.
Started Maths Tuitions To Earn Extra Bucks
Anand Kumar continued his work on mathematics during the daytime and would sell papads in the evening made by his mother. To earn extra bucks he started maths tuitions. Patna University library did not carry foreign journals so he used to travel to Varanasi every weekend where his younger brother learning violin under N. Rajam was living in hostel room.
Established Ramanujan School of Mathematics
In 1992 Anand Kumar started teaching mathematics full-fledged by renting a classroom at Rs.500/month under the name of his institute the Ramanujan School of Mathematics. Within a year, the strength of his school grew from 2 to 36 students. By the next three years, the strength grew to almost 500 students.
IIT-JEE Coaching For Underprivileged Students
In 2000, Anand Kumar was inspired to start coaching for IIT-JEE when a poor student approached him as he could not pay the fees for big classes due to poverty. It is when Kumar decided to start the Super 30 program which made him so famous.
Since 2002, the Ramanujan School of Mathematics conducts a competitive test and selects 30 intelligent students for the Super 30 program from economically backward sections. The program includes tuition, lodging, and study materials for a year and the students are prepared for the JEE Entrance Test. The students are fed by the Kumar’s mother Jayanti Devi and the management is taken care by Anand Kumar’s brother Pranav Kumar.
Record-Breaking Results
Through his program around 391 students out of 450 have got admission in IIT in between 2003-2017. In 2010, all the 30 students cleared the IIT JEE entrance exam. Kumar does not receive any financial help from any government or private agencies and all the fees for the students under the Super 30 program is managed by him through the Ramanujan Institute.
The growing popularity of Super 30 led to many national and international companies offering him financial help. But Kumar refused to take help and wants his program to continue on his own efforts.
Recognitions And Awards
Discovery Channel broadcasted a one-hour program on Super 30 in March 2009. The New York Times devoted half a page to Kumar during the same time. Actress and former Miss Japan Norika Fujiwara visited Patna especially to make a documentary on the initiatives of Anand Kumar.
He has been featured on BBC, spoken at different IIT’s in India, University of British Columbia, Stanford University, and Tokyo University and has been named in the Limca Book of Records in 2009 for his Super 30 program. His program was also selected by Time magazine in the list of Best of Asia 2010. He has received the S. Ramanujan Award from the Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences in July 2010.
Europe’s “Focus” magazine included him as “one of the global personalities who have the ability to shape exceptionally talented people.” He also helped Amitabh Bachchan to prepare for the role in movie Arakshan. The Karpagam University, Coimbatore has given him an Honorary Doctorate in Science. He has been honored by the ministry of education of Saxony, Germany.
