Ganesh R – NPTEL STAR
Ganesh R, grew up in a remote tribal village in Telangana, where even transportation was a luxury. From a family of 11, he was the first to receive an education and the only sibling to attend school. “My family’s entire livelihood depends on agriculture, and no one before me even considered getting an education,” he says. His schooling until 10th grade, entirely in Telugu medium, laid a strong foundation and fueled his dreams. However, upon entering junior college and switching to English, he felt overwhelmed. “I was scared and I dropped out,” he shares.
But a turning point soon followed. A teacher at his school gently encouraged him, saying, “If you want to go far, you have to overcome this.” That conversation changed everything. Ganesh slowly taught himself English and went on to top his junior college. Guided by a teacher once more, he took the state common engineering entrance exam and pursued his B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in Hyderabad. However, his first year was rough; he failed and accumulated backlogs. Then came another turning point: NPTEL.
“My basics were weak, and one of the professors introduced me to NPTEL. I took all the basic courses – from electrical circuits, machines, to power systems – and started learning them slowly with intent”. He learnt everything diligently from scratch. “It wasn’t easy. I did not have a laptop, and from viewing lectures to submitting assignments, I did everything on my basic phone with limited RAM. God, Those days were truly something,” he recalls. “The quality of teaching, directly from IIT professors, was simply unlike anything I had experienced before.”
Interestingly, Ganesh had no prior knowledge of what IIT was until then. However, the moment he became aware of it, he began to dream of studying there. He learned about the GATE exams as an entrance for pursuing a Master’s at IITs and set his sights on it.
From his second year of college onwards, Ganesh carefully selected NPTEL courses that would enhance his knowledge.“Each week, I would take notes by hand, do assignments, and revisit lectures if need be. I had a dedicated time for NPTEL, because it was not just any additional certificate course for me anymore”, he says.
Ganesh never stopped learning through the platform even after building his foundation during his undergrad years. “I was pretty sure the job market would demand skilled people, and I wanted to be skilled enough to meet those demands,” he explains. “I found NPTEL offered the right guidance, so I never stopped learning.”
Over time, NPTEL became his teacher, mentor, and guide. With a strong foundational knowledge built through 41 courses, Ganesh successfully cracked the GATE exam and secured admission to IIT Bombay! Since then, he has completed his M.Tech in Energy Systems Engineering and now works at NLC India Limited, a Navratna Company under the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. This is one of the country’s largest and most significant players in the energy sector. “Every concept I apply in my job, I learned through an NPTEL lecture,” he says, feeling grateful.
Along the way, Ganesh has earned numerous STAR certifications, but for him, the true reward was something deeper.
“NPTEL transformed my way of thinking. It didn’t just prepare me for exams; it prepared me for life, teaching me how to think, grow, and discipline myself”.
“I am grateful for a few things in life – my teachers back in school, my professors at college, NPTEL, and definitely my parents. Especially my mother, who believed from day one that I am onto something in life”, he shares smiling.
Ganesh’s heartwarming journey proves that with the right guidance and resources, no dream is too distant to achieve in life.
– Written by Asha Thangaraj