Teachers have always been the architects of a prosperous, powerful, and civilized nation. From Acharya Dronacharya to Acharya Chanakya, India has always been a land of selfless gurus/teachers who want nothing but the growth of their disciples or students, ultimately leading to the growth of the society and a nation as a whole. Time and again, our teachers keep proving their passion for nurturing talent from every stratum of society notwithstanding their backgrounds. In this blog, we are going to talk about the modern-day Chanakya Mr. Akhilesh Kumar, Principal of The Divine Public School. He has nurtured not one but 2 Chandraguptas.
It all began with his school’s association with SOF Olympiads over 12 years ago. He always believed in equal learning and growing opportunities for students from rural backgrounds who were unable to make a mark on a global stage due to the lack of platforms. Once he came across a few students who made waves in SOF Olympiads by grabbing top ranks, felicitation from eminent names, and good prize money despite coming from humble backgrounds. This inspired him to do something for children from his hometown Rohtas. After a few days, one fine day he saw a newspaper advertisement to adopt a 7-year-old boy in Rohtas.
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Battling All Odds: Creating the Path to SOF IHO Rank 1
The child named Pankaj Kumar Kesari lost his father before his birth. After he was born, his mother abandoned him. Then he was raised by his grandparents but unfortunately, after he turned 5, his grandfather died and only two years later even her grandmother died. Basically, he had no one to take care of. Then, one gentleman wrote about him in a local newspaper. This was when Mr. Akhilesh Kumar, a god-like figure to Pankaj appeared in Pankaj’s life and Akhilesh Sir took complete responsibility for his studies and boarding facilities at The Divine Public School. In Pankaj’s words, “My life, which was full of miseries and misfortunes, was changed by Akhilesh Sir who introduced me to SOF Olympiad and all the advantages of participating in the Olympiads.”
His introduction to SOF Olympiads was a blessing to Pankaj which fueled and channeled his energy into creating a new path to topping SOF Olympiad. With an exceptional command of Hindi, Pankaj gave it all in the forthcoming Hindi Olympiad. His self-awareness, determination, and hard work backed with the blessings and teachings of Akhilesh Sir bore fruit when he topped the SOF IHO Olympiad 2024-25 with his rank 1. The moment Akhilesh Sir told him about his achievement he couldn’t believe his ears. Both of them had tears in their eyes.
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From Spark to Fire
Pankaj recalls the first time Akhilesh Sir told him about the opportunity for toppers to share the podium with eminent figures and dignitaries. Akhilesh Sir would always tell him that if Pankaj won an international rank, he would get to board a flight to Delhi to attend the SOF award ceremony. Also, Akhilesh Sir would tell him about a chance to Delhi tour. Not to mention the prize money of Rs 50,000 to the topper. “All this fueled my motivation that yes I can do this. I gave it my all and eventually topped IHO.”
Pankaj believes that Olympiads have both short-term and long-term benefits. In terms of long-term advantages, they are beneficial for those students who plan to appear for NEET or JEE in the coming future. Even if a student who aims to clear UPSC in the future then the ISSO Olympiad conducted by SOF can help the student clear all the necessary concepts.
Talking about his experience of sharing the stage with toppers, he says, “The prize is given at a bigger stage where you share the podium with other brilliant minds. Everybody would like to be awarded on such a big stage. After coming on such a big stage, I would like to say that never in my dream had I thought of topping and standing on the SOF podium. I got that inspiration from Akhilesh Sir.
When Dreams Became Reality: Aditya’s First Flight Journey
Aditya Kumar, another SOF IHO topper from The Divine Public School, expressed his gratitude for the guidance and blessings of Akhilesh Sir. He credits his rank 3 in IHO to Akhilesh Sir. He says, “It was all due to Sir’s effort that I got to attend such a wonderful event along with my parents, that too on our first-ever flight journey, a dream that finally came true.”
Mr. Akhilesh Kumar has been associated with SOF for the last 12 years and has been participating in SOF Olympiad exams. It was for the first time ever that he was fortunate enough to attend the SOF programme organized in Delhi all thanks to his topper students. He says, “SOF offers a platform that is extremely helpful to students. This time, our two students have been awarded international ranks – one student named Pankaj Kesari got rank 1 and the other named Aditya Kumar got rank 3. The SOF Olympiads have been found really helpful for the most sought-after competitive exams such as JEE and NEET. Therefore, I would urge students to participate in SOF Olympiads to get a real experience of the competitive environment for future competitive exams.”
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