14-yr-old who never went to school makes it to IIT

PATNA: Here's a teenage prodigy from Rohtas district who can recite 700 'shlokas' of 'Bhagwad Gita' with as much ease as he can solve mathematics, physics and chemistry numericals which helped him secure the 2,587th rank at the IIT-JEE (Advanced) 2014.

Meet 14-year-old Balsant Shivanand Tiwari, a farmer's son from village Dharampura, who has not received any formal education and never been to school but is on his way to the country's premier tech cradle, the IITs. "Till 2010, I didn't have much inclination towards studies, except for solving problems of mathematics. But then somebody suggested me to aim for the IITs and I got help from the Narayana Academy to pursue my dreams," says Shivanand, who used to recite religious texts in his hometown before he started studying at the coaching institute in Delhi.

Shivanand's father, Kamlakant Tiwari, a history honours graduate and farmer by profession, wanted his son to become a sage and also named him 'Balsant'. "Since childhood, I liked spirituality and learnt the 'Ramayana', 'Mahabharata', Bhagwad Gita and a number of 'puranas' to recite at different functions," he said, adding, "However, when my father saw that I liked studying maths and science, he also agreed to my higher studies." Shivanand's mother Kiran Devi is a homemaker and he also has a younger brother, Pankaj (11), who's also preparing for engineering.

Born on December 7, 1999, Shivanand wants to pursue applied physics from IIT, Kanpur, after which he wants to do research in physics. "I'm really interested in correlating spirituality and science," says Shivanand, who also devoted a lot of time to reading about the life and works of Swami Vivekanand while preparing for JEE. He scored 93.4% in CBSE class XII 2014 exams but said he was hoping for better grades in both class XII and JEE. "I'll take another attempt at JEE next year to improve my rank," he said.

The teenage genius who scored 198 marks in the JEE (Advanced) 2014, advises other IIT aspirants to first have clear concepts and then take as many practice tests as possible to crack the exam. "The weekly or monthly tests are the best way to gauge one's strength and weakness," he said.

One of his mentors, Deepak Singh, who coached him during his early days, vouches for Shivanand's grasping power. "He doesn't need to read anything twice to remember it. He is a very talented boy," Singh said, adding a special curriculum was designed for Shivanand who was initially weak in English.