Defying All Odds, Book Vendor’s Son Studies Under Streetlights, Scores 93% In Boards!

Fifteen-year-old Abhay Gupta did not have a study table or enough space in his one-room home to keep his books.

The teen prepared for his ICSE exams under streetlights, perched on a packing case a few yards away from his father’s bookstall on a Park Street pavement. Yet, the braveheart — a student of Harrow Hall School — has secured a remarkable 93% in his first public exam. Abhay now aims to crack the IIT entrance.

His father — Rambabu — has been selling magazines, newspapers and second-hand books near Moulin Rouge on Park Street for the last 20 years. The family did not have enough resources to provide him with the best of facilities. But Abhay worked hard to live up to his father’s dream.