IIM Success Story: Meet Ranjith Ramachandran, Night Watchman At BSNL Telephone Exchange Who Became IIM Professor

Ranjith lived in a run-down single-room mud hut and worked as a night guard for survival. His father is a tailor, and his mother is a daily wage earner under the MGNREGS.

New Delhi: There is no shortcut to being successful, only determination and hard work can pave the path to success. This is the story of Ranjith Ramachandran, a night watchman-turned-assistant professor at IIM Ranchi. Ranjith Ramachandran used to work as a night guard at a BSNL telephone exchange in Panathur, Kasargod district. Still, with constant hard work & determination, he is an IIM professor now.

Ranjith Ramachandran's struggle to get a good education and the fight to sustain himself to see his dream getting realised is being regarded as an inspiration to society and he has turned into a role model for many.

Ranjith lived in a run-down single-room mud hut and worked as a night guard for survival. His father is a tailor, and his mother is a daily wage earner under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

Ranjith Ramachandran did his graduation at St Pious College, Kanhangad in Kerala. He graduated with Economics honours and went on to study for a doctoral degree at IIT Madras, one of the premier institutes in the country.

Ranjith said that he was desperate after getting into IIT Madras as he knew no other language other than Malayalam. As communication was difficult, he wanted to quit, said Ranjith. However, Dr Subhash, his professor at IIT Madras encouraged him to continue, and then Ranjith got a posting as Assistant Professor in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ranchi.

After his doctoral degree from IIT Madras, Ranjith joined Christ University, Bangalore for two months and he got a posting at IIM Ranchi. In between, he was also on the merit list for the selection of professors at Calicut University but could not make it.

In a Facebook post, Ranjith wrote extensively on the trauma and the tough life he had faced to meet two ends together and dedicated his success to his poor parents, who had given everything to make him what he is now.

His Facebook post turned viral with more than 37,000 likes and Ranjith while speaking to IANS said, "I never thought that my Facebook post would go this viral, I had posted it to be an inspiration for each and every one who is fighting with their backs to the wall and I wanted to be an inspiration, nothing more."

The story of Ranjith, who comes from a remote village in the northernmost part of Kerala, is being appreciated as a hugely inspiring one, and he is being projected as a role model.