Mr. Anand Kumar (Real Gems of Bihar)

anand_kumarAnand Kumar (born 1 January 1973) in Patna Bihar, is an Indian mathematician and a columnist for various national and international mathematical journals and magazines. He is best known for his Super 30 programme, which he started in Patna, Bihar in 2002, and which coaches economically backward students for IIT-JEE, the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). By 2015, 333 out of the 390 had made it to IITs and Discovery Channel showcased his work in a documentary.

He has been invited by the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University to speak on his globally acclaimed effort to mentor students from the underprivileged sections for admission to IIT.

Early life

Anand Kumar was born in Patna, Bihar. His father was a clerk in the postal department of India. His father could not afford private schooling for his children, and Anand attended aHindi medium government school, where he developed his deep interest in Mathematics. During graduation, Kumar submitted papers on Number Theory, which were published inMathematical Spectrum and The Mathematical Gazette.

Anand secured admission to Cambridge University, but could not attend because of his father’s death and his financial condition, even after looking for sponsor in 1994-1995, both in Patna and Delhi.

Kumar would work on mathematics during day time and would sell papads in evenings with his mother, who had started a small business from home, to support her family. He also tutored students in maths to earn extra money. Since Patna University library did not have foreign journals, for his own study, he would travel every weekend on a six-hour train journey to Varanasi, where his younger brother, learning violin under N. Rajam, had a hostel room. There he would spend Saturday and Sunday at the Central Library, BHU and return to Patna on Monday morning.

Teaching career and Super 30

In 1992, Kumar began teaching Mathematics. He rented a classroom for Rs 500 a month, and began his own institute, the Ramanujan School of Mathematics (RSM). Within the span of year, his class grew from two students to thirty-six, and after three years there were almost 500 students enrolled. Then in early 2000, when a poor student came to him seeking coaching for IIT-JEE, who couldn’t afford the annual admission fee due to poverty, Kumar was motivated to start the Super 30 programme in 2002, for which he is now well-known.

Every year in May, since 2002, the Ramanujan School of Mathematics holds a competitive test to select 30 students for the ‘Super 30’ scheme. Many students appear at the test, and eventually he takes thirty intelligent students from economically backward sections, tutors them, and provides study materials and lodging for a year.  He prepares them for the Joint Entrance Examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). His mother, Jayanti Devi, cooks for the students, and his brother Pranav Kumar takes care of the management.

During 2003-2014, 308 students out of 360 have made it to the IITs.).In 2010, all the students of Super 30 cleared IIT JEE entrance making it a three in a row for the institution. Anand Kumar has no financial support for Super 30 from any government as well as private agencies, and manages on the tuition fee he earns from the Ramanujam Institute. After the success of Super 30 and its growing popularity, he got many offers from the private – both national and international companies – as well as the government for financial help, but he always refused it. He wanted to sustain Super 30 through his own efforts. After three consecutive 30/30 results in 2008-2010, in 2011, 24 of the 30 students cleared IIT JEE.In 2012, 27 of the 30 students,in 2013, 28 out of 30 students,in 2014, 27 of the 30 students and in 2015, 25 of the 30 students cleared the prestigious IIT JEE examination. Anand Kumar does not accept donation for the programme. His team creates the fund by organizing evening classes in Patna.

Recognition

In March 2009, Discovery Channel broadcast a one-hour-long programme on Super 30, and half a page has been devoted to Kumar in The New York Times. Actress and former Miss Japan Norika Fujiwara visited Patna to make a documentary on Anand’s initiatives. Kumar has been featured in programmes by the BBC. He has spoken about his experiences at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, different IITs, University of British Columbia, Tokyo University and Stanford University. Kumar is in the Limca Book of Records (2009) for his contribution in helping poor students pass the IIT-JEE by providing them free coaching. Time Magazine has selected mathematician Anand Kumar’s school – Super 30 – in the list of Best of Asia 2010. Anand Kumar was awarded the S. Ramanujan Award for 2010 by the Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS) in July 2010.

Super 30 received praise from United States President Barack Obama‘s special envoy Rashad Hussain, who termed it the “best” institute in the country. Newsweek Magazine has taken note of the initiative of mathematician Anand Kumar’s Super 30 and included his school in the list of four most innovative schools in the world. Anand Kumar has been awarded by top award of Bihar government “Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Shiksha Puraskar” November 2010. He was awarded the Prof Yashwantrao Kelkar Yuva Puraskar 2010 byAkhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) in Bangalore.

In April 2011, Anand Kumar was selected by Europe’s magazine Focus as “one of the global personalities who have the ability to shape exceptionally talented people.” Anand Kumar also helped Amitabh Bachchan in preparing for his role in the film Aarakshan. Many people from Bollywood including renowned directors and producers are interested in making a movie on the life of Anand Kumar. Anand Kumar has been selected by UK based magazine Monocle among the list of 20 pioneering teachers of the world. He was also honoured by government of British Columbia, Canada. Anand Kumar has been awarded by ‘Baroda Sun Life Achievement Award’ by Bank of Baroda in Mumbai.  Anand Kumar was conferred this year’s prestigious Ramanujan Mathematics Award at the Eighth National Mathematics Convention at function in Rajkot. He was conferred Honorary Doctorate of Science (DSc) by Karpagam University, Coimbatore. He was also awarded Maharishi Ved Vyas by Madhya Pradesh Government for extraordinary contribution in education Anand Kumar was honored by ministry of education of Saxony of Germany.

Source – Wikipedia

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