His father drove an e-rickshaw to make ends meet. His family’s annual income was below Rs 1 lakh. Today, Inderjeet is on his way to become the first IITian from his village, a remote hamlet in Rajasthan, after after securing an OBC NCL rank of 1040 in JEE Advanced 2026.Positivity portal The Better India shared his story. A resident of Rajasthan’s Pathanwala village, Inderjeet grew up in poverty. Coaching institutes were beyond his reach. However, he had perseverance and determination by his side. In a chat with India Today, Inderjeet described the poor infrastructure in his village. “Basic facilities like water, healthcare and even well-functioning sewage systems are hard to come by,” he explained. The seed of ambition was planted when he listened to senior students discussing IITs. Wanting to understand more, he explored the topic online and became determined to join one of the institutes someday. The road to success, however, was filled with obstacles, including unreliable electricity, restricted internet access, and the lack of a proper study environment.Unable to afford tuition, he opted for self study. He frequented the village library that offered free internet access, preparing through affordable online coaching. His routine was structured: He started studying before 6:00 am, solved maths problems before school hours, spent the day at the library revising concepts, attending online classes from Physicswallah, focused on Physics, Chemistry and Maths daily, completed homework by 6:30 pm and went to bed at 9:00 pm. He admitted almost giving up at times. "There were many instances where I thought my dream of studying at IIT was slipping away due to the marks I was scoring in tests," he explained. But he decided to stay put. "I had decided early on that I am never going to give up whatever the situation may be," he said. Today, Inderjeet is on the way to become a student at IIT Roorkee. He will be the first IITian from his village.