Every home in Bihar's Patwa Toli has at least 1 engineer
Every home in the Patwa Toli village in Bihar's Gaya district has at least one engineer, with 20 people qualifying for IITs this year. The village, otherwise known for its weaving industry, has around 800 students currently in engineering colleges. Around 180 students from the village have qualified so far for IITs, with a single family having seven IITians.
Though Bihar has got defamed for topper scam in the XII Board examinations, there is a village in the state which is known for the number of students who get through IIT every year. This year alone, 20 students from Patwa Toli locality in Manpur under Gaya district have qualified for IIT.MORE THAN 300 ENGINEERS IN THIS VILLAGEPatwa Toli village is inhabited mostly by weavers. So far, 300 students have qualified for various engineering examinations in this village of 10,000 people. This year, 20 students were successful in cracking IIT.INSPIRATION FROM A FORMER STUDENTSocial engineering in Patwa Toli started way back in 1992. Jitendra Prasad was the first student from the village to clear the IIT examination. Getting inspired by Prasad, dozens of students started getting qualified for IIT every year.During recession in the 1990s, the weavers of Patwa Toli started focusing on the education of their children. Since then, the students have been earning laurels for their village and doing proud to their elders.Jitendra Prasad left for the US for job in the year 2000. This inspired his juniors in the village to work hard and fulfil their dreams of becoming engineers.The former engineering students of Patwa Toli formed an organisation called Navprayas which helps extends help to students preparing for IIT.NOISE IS MUSIC HEREFor the students in this village of power looms, noise of the machines is music to their ears. The students claim that they do not get disturbed by the noise of the power looms. The noise of the power looms becomes music for them and they study amidst that sound.Just like Gautam Buddha, who meditated at Bodh Gaya for days together braving all odds, the students of Patwa Toli also surmount all hurdles to achieve success.STUDIES IN THE FACE OF POVERTY