From Night Watchman to IIM Assistant Professor- Journey of Ranjith Ramachandran

Ranjith R, 28, a doctorate in Economics from IIT Madras, took over the internet space by storm after posting his incredible life journey on Facebook.

His post read, “An IIM professor was born here”. Ranjith lived in a hut at Panathur in Kasaragod for 23 years. He shared the photograph of an unplastered doorless two-room shed and a leaky tiled roof wrapped with black tarpaulin to prevent rainwater from sleeping in. He said,” I was born in this house. I grew up in this house. I live in this house. With lots of happiness, let me tell you an assistant professor of the IIM took birth here. I want to share my journey from this house to IIM-Ranchi. And I will consider it my success if this fuels at least one person’s dreams.”

Ranjith R was born to Ramchandran Naik, a tailor, and Baby R, who was a daily wage laborer at Kelapankayam in Panathur. His parents had only studied till class 5. However, they understood the importance of education and admission Ranjith to the government school at Vellachal in Pilicode panchayat. He studied there till class 10 and for higher secondary education; Ranjith joined a government school in Balanthode, where he developed an interest in economics.

The journey from being a Watchman to IIM Professor

After completing his school, he joined St Pius X College in Rajapuram to pursue BA in economics. This was the first time when he realized that the financial condition at his home was tough. He even considered dropping out of college to support his family but then he saw a job advertisement for a night watchman at BSNL telephone exchange in Panathur. He applied, and got selected there. “I worked as a watchman there for five years- all through my graduation and post-graduation.”, Ranjith added.  His initial salary was Rs. 3,500 per month and went up to Rs. 8,000 per month by the end of the fifth year.

After completing his post-graduation, Ranjith R joined IIT Madras for his Ph.D. However, after a year in IIT, he again decided to give up his Ph.D. as he felt “academically inadequate”. His guide, Dr. Subash convinced him to fight once before accepting the defeat and from there he got a strong will to succeed. He went on to complete his Ph.D. in four years and three months and received a fellowship for pre-doctoral research for the remaining nine months from IIT.

Ranjith applied for the position of assistant professor at IIM-Ranchi last October and by December Christ university, Bengaluru offered him a job in the Department of Economics. In an interview, he said, “The first thing I did was apply for a loan to build a house for my parents and siblings.”  Even before his loan gets sanctioned he got the appointment letter from IIM.

Praising words by Finance Minister Thomas Issac

Sharing his post, Finance Minister Thomas Issac said, “Ranjith, who fought against the adverse situation, studied and got a job as Assistant Professor at the IIM, is our pride and inspiration. The story of the life that has changed the feeling of losing into stubbornness of winning is a model textbook”. He also added Ranjith’s story reminded him of great personalities like K R Narayanan who studied and grew up with such an extraordinary will and reached the position of the country’s first citizen. He further added, the lives of people like Ranjith, who struggles as a weapon for education to overcome social and economic backwardness, will become an inspiration to all.

Someone has rightly said, “Where there is a will, there is a way”.

Do read:  KamalaDevi Chattopadhyay – Backbone Of Indian Handicraft.