Naresh brings to life poetic lines... If winter comes can spring be far behind?
   Date :31-Aug-2019
 
 
Naresh Kumar Wagri from economically weak background wins scholarship worth Rs 80 lakh. He is leaving for Sweden on September 1, to pursue PhD
Poet P B Shelley once wrote, “If winter comes can spring be far behind?” These lines talk about the highs and lows that are intrinsic to life. If there are endings, there will be beginnings too. Naresh Kumar Wagri is one such individual, who brought these lines to life with his imperishable hope and fortitude. Coming from a poor family, he didn’t get any special education, but his spirit never died. Today, Naresh Wagri is going to Sweden for PhD. Rest of the story, in his own words…
 
 
“My parents had a small business, the condition of our home wasn’t that good, so I started helping them with work while studying at school. At that time, my future didn’t seem too bright to me, but studying at Subhash Excellence School kept my hopes up. Unfortunately, my father suffered paralysis attack while I was in Class X. His treatment went on for some time, and my mother was left with no other option but to sell all her jewellery. Somehow, I succeeded in completing my Class XII with a good score. My parents always had faith in me and felt that I could achieve something in life, because of this reason they arranged money for my further education even though their livelihood was a struggle in itself. After my 12th board, I appeared for PET exam and got selected in BE course. Here, my BPL ration card proved advantageous, and my course was deemed free of cost to me. While studying for this course, I began my preparation for GATE examination, which landed me a place at IIT Indore for M.Tech course. IIT Indore paid us Rs 12,400 as stipend, which was enough to cover our food and living, but studying at IIT filled me with a new energy to dream bigger and get a PhD from a foreign university. But the shackles of poverty were still clutching me at the ankles.
 
 
My father was unwell and unable to help, and my mother and brother were just managing enough to survive. A businessman Anup Bali of Indore gave me financial help and I was able to complete my M.Tech, but the desire for PhD was still there. In 2017, I got to know about a National Overseas Scholarship for higher studies provided by Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. I applied there and got a scholarship worth Rs 84 lakh. Meanwhile, I started working at RGPV as guest faculty so I could help my family. I soon got permission to do PhD from Sweden in 2017 and from Australia in 2018. The process of scholarship was lengthy and I had to spend months getting all the documents prepared. I applied for PhD at Umea University of Sweden and gave a forty-minute-long interview as a part of application process. They were impressed with my interview and invited me to pursue PhD from their institute for no cost. Everything was going smoothly until my father died in February 2019, and my mother got detected for cancer. I would have lost strength but my mother kept motivating me. Finally, I am leaving for Sweden on September 1, but after the completion of my course, I will return to India to serve my country.”