From night guard to IIM professor : Kerala man's pursuit

Ranjith R Panathur, in an evoking social media post, narrated his tale of struggles from being a night guard during his school days to getting appointed as Assistant Professor at IIM Ranchi. Sharing a picture of his un-plastered house, the youngster has taken the internet by storm.

Kasaragod: A social media post by Ranjith R Panathur, who recently joined as a teaching faculty with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi, has gone viral on social media platforms. Ranjith’s post on the feat he achieved from adverse life situations has taken the internet by storm.

Without losing will power amid socio-economic adversities, Ranjith fought all the crises by making education his weapon. He shared the picture of his house and narrated his tale of struggle.

His post, originally in Malayalam, read: “This is the house where I was born and brought up. I still live here. Let me say, with a lot of happiness, that an IIM (Indian Institute of Management) Assistant Professor was born here. Felt like narrating my story from this house to IIM Ranchi. If this story nurtures the dreams of at least one person, that is my victory.”

Since his school days, he toiled for his family and had even contemplated quitting his studies. In order to support his family and for sustenance, he worked as a guard at night in Panathur Telephone Exchange along with his studies. Without any proper guidance, he traversed through the obstacles in his life and came out with flying colours.

His inspirational post evokes every reader. Education transformed his life. He is an alumnus of Rajapuram St Pius College, Kerala Central University and IIT Madras. He is also grateful for his guide Dr Subash who persuaded him not to quit his studies.

Ranjith was always resilient when faced with failures and obstacles. He also noted that education would reap huge harvest similar to sowing seeds in a field.

He described his hut as heaven and added that it was the tolerance of his parents that led him forward in his less trodden path to success from humble beginnings.

Ranjith concludes his touching post by saying, “Perhaps, there may be a roof that could collapse anytime above you. There may be walls that could crumble on all four sides. But, dream limitlessly. One day, you might reach the shores of success pulled by your dreams."