Maniya is from a small village in DB Kuppe Gram Panchayath in HD Kote taluk in Karnataka.  Located inside the dense Nagarahole forest, it has limited resources and connectivity in every aspect – road, phone, healthcare, education.

Maniya had everything stacked against him.  His parents own a 1-acre agricultural plot and work as daily wage laborers.   There is a serious shortage of government school teachers in his Gram Panchayath, many government lower primary schools are completely without teachers.

Vijnana Vahni (Mobile Science Van) project supported by Asha for Education and Oracle encountered Maniya in his high school, and the Viveka Scholar program from SVYM worked with him and mentored him during his PU years.  The hurdles continued – there is no PU Science college within 80 kms of his village, it was extraordinarily tough for him to switch to English medium in PU (needed to take the Science stream), and he could not get an educational loan without collateral.

But now he stands at the cusp of tremendous achievement.  After B.Sc and M.Sc at the University of Mysore he plans to start a Ph.D at IIT Guwahati, pursuing research in synthetic organic chemistry.  He was also selected by IIT Madras, IIT Dharwad, and NISER Bhubaneswar.   He expects to get a CSIR fellowship for his Ph.D.

The key to success in helping students like Maniya is working alongside the right organizations and the right programs.  The Vijnana Vahini (Mobile Science Van) program helped spark Maniya’s interest in Science and started him on this road; working together SVYM and the Viveka Scholar Program was critical for continued mentorship and support,  We are happy we played a role through Vijnana Vahini, and it is all because of supporters like you.

There are hundreds and thousands of students like Maniya.

“….Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”

Working together we can ensure that there are fewer such flowers who languish in the desert air and more students like Maniya.