For many of us, it was a regular last few days. But not for these 9 young aspirational students who spent their time learning English and getting ahead in life.
The youth today is aspirational, inspired and hardworking. Following are stories of 9 students that are making India proud.
On the Josh Skills app, you get points for working hard and learning new skills. These 9 students have crossed the threshold of earning more than 5000 points on the Josh Skills app. They are the top students in the English course among 18000 students.
These points show that these students want to go out there and change their circumstances. These 5000 points are a sign of the resilience and persistence that these students have shown.They are the flag bearers of our bright future. They are the reason India believes in a bright future!
1.Deepak Kumar, 24, Bihar
(I love Josh. I’m from a small village in Bihar but I’ve been able to almost 600 varied people across different parts of the country from Delhi, Chennai to Kolkata. There was a time when I couldn’t converse in English with even one person.)
He found freedom in talking to people and dissolving his fear of speaking in English. He has maintained a stellar score and his commitment to make his State proud is beyond compare. Deepak wants to build Bihar as a self-sustainable state and be an Entrepreneur. He says, “The idea of getting connected to a practice partner is revolutionary. I have spoken to almost 600 people till now!’
We are madly rooting for Deepak to follow his dreams!
2.Dharmendra Kumar, 23, Ghongarariya village, Bihar
Fast forward 6 years with Josh Skills, in just Rs. 499 Dharmendra Kumar hasn’t gotten tired of answering the question “How have you been at the top of the Josh Leaderboard for weeks?”
Dharmendra right now has a flawless score of 16,200 points and is a favourite of all learners.
He mentioned to us “Pehle toh jab english wali madam hasti thi toh hum bhi haste the kyunki samajh toh aata nahi tha, ab toh dinn mein 4 ghante English bol lete hain.”
(Initially, our English madam would laugh and we would join in because we wouldn’t understand a word of English, but now things have changed. I can talk in English for about 4 hours!)
Dharmendra, son of Sh Sant Lal Byas, is really proud of himself, just as much as we are.
3. Shivam Gujjar, 19, Haridwar
Shivam has a stoking 13,616 points and AIR 2. During his interview, we tried speaking to him in Hindi, for ease of conversation but not-so-surprisingly Shivam answered all our questions in English!
He is 19, and a BSc Student and has an excessive interest in Stocks and Computer Sciences. But he has always been shy and under-confident until this change happened in his life.
Shivam said that his friends noticed the incremental changes in him with respect to speaking, understanding and fearlessly talking in English.
His friends said and we quote”Shivam bhai, humein bhi karna hai jo bhi tu kar raha hai. Please!” Shivam lives with his father who is a policeman in Haridwar, and he is very proud of Shivam!
(Brother, even we want to do what you’re doing, Please!)
4.Rajat Kumar, 22, Rajori District, Jammu and Kashmir
In this short span of time, he was able to comprehend, register and respond in what we call “faratedar angrezi” with our team member for the interview!
Rajat comes from a middle-class family, from J&K, and even though he has 3 older siblings, he never had any guidance for his future.
He is a first-generation graduate and has a whopping 9,408 points in the course!
What really left a mark on us, was his passion to continue working on his dream to be an IAS officer and the gratitude he holds for Josh Skills in his life-helping him discover more of himself!
5.Anmol Jain, 22, Madhya Pradesh
Anmol is an engineering student who struggled with his coursebooks because of their medium being English. He shared how significantly difficult it was for him to talk to his teachers in English. He is one of the firsts in the family to speak in English.
He recalls how mischievous he was when he was in class 5 and still is! His mother, Smt Rekha Jain, he mentioned had him transferred to live in a stricter environment because of his habits! His father runs a grocery shop, and both of them would be extremely proud of his work today- 9402 points.
6.Yogeshwar Paswan, 18, Madhya Pradesh
He is 18, with over 7,369 points and is a class 12 commerce student hailing from Panna, Madhya Pradesh. He wants to make it big as a CA and started living a very simple life from the age of 10.
He lives in an Ashram, wakes up at 4, and is very sincere in his efforts. He considers his “bade papa” to be his inspiration.
We asked him a simple question about his dream- and his young and innocent self said “Ma’am, main apne aas paas ke logon ki madad karna chahta hoon, jaise bhi- chahe padhai ya fir rozgaar se.”
(Ma’am, I just want to help people around me, either through education or employment)
Yogeshwar maybe someone who speaks less, but executes with sincerity twice as much!
7.Jaynath Maurya, 32, Sirkina Gaon, Jaunpur
“I would’ve dropped English as a subject in 10th if it were an option!
I was scared, and just did not want it” Imagine living with that fear as a student.
Jaynath was equally intimidated when he found out his Bsc medium was entirely English. One language became a big barrier in him moving forward.
But when we spoke to him in 2021, he took his entire interview in English.
He has a mad score of 8,012 points with a full-time job! He is so proud of being able to let go of his “fear”- that he is after his younger brother Amarnath Maurya’s life to start his journey with Josh!
8.Subhashree Sahoo, 21, Odisha
When we asked Subhashree about her dream job in life, she said: “I want to help people and help them become better, that is why I am in a profession of healing people.”
Her village has seen a lot of diseases that come in and take away lives with a lack of resources and healthcare. Her challenge was that her profession requires them to interact a lot in English.
She decided she wasn’t going to let English become a barrier in achieving her dream, and we are taking a bet on her being able to madly follow them!
9.Tabarej Alam, 22, Bihar,
He has already completed the course and scored a perfect 98% in all the exams of the Spoken English course! Tabarej studied all of his student life in a Hindi-medium environment but wanted to learn English because it is a global language.
He mentioned that in his village, people do not want to spend on education at all. Despite these social situations, his father, Mr Syed Mazhar Alam, a 55-year-old farmer, always defied the odds and supported his son’s dream.
Tabarej said and we quote “agar main aapse aaj baat kar paa raha hoon, it is because of my father.”
(If today I’m able to talk to you, it because of my father)
Tabarej is a UPSC aspirant.
We salute the parents, teachers and mentors of these students. We are proud of you, India is proud of you.