How a village of weavers in Bihar became a factory of IITians

GAYA: For most engineering students, IIT is a dream destination.But the road to paradise is tortuous and riddled with failed soldiers. Not so for a diligent village on the outskirts of Bihar's Gaya town. In 2017, 15 teenagers from Patwa Toli made it to the coveted portals of IITs across India. Even a small town with a population of a few lakhs or more would find it tough to deliver that enviable number.

For Patwa Toli, the rich harvest is not an exception but the rule. In 2016, this village of weavers had 11 successful IIT aspirants. In 2015, the number was 12. In the past two and a half decades, Patwa Toli has produced more than 300 engineering graduates. A third of them are IITians. Others have made it to NITs and state engineering colleges.There's a running joke, albeit a little dark, that any unguided missile to Patwa Toli is bound to hit an engineering graduate's home.

The village gets its name from its dominant caste, patwas (Hindu weavers), who form 90% of the population. Studying isn't easy in a place filled with the ceaseless noise of powerlooms. Many hopefuls come from hard-up families and are forced to combine study with work. Vineet and Ranjan, two successful candidates, helped their families with dyeing and drying even as they prepared for the entrance tests.

Patwa Toli's love affair with IIT began in 1991 when Jitendra

Kumar

, a weaver's son, made it to the engineering institute. Those were uncertain times. Power loom units, the main source of livelihood in this village of 1500 homes, were slowly becoming less viable due to increasing power outages, rising cost of inputs, dwindling market, tough competition and non-availability of capital. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. Rather than resign themselves to fate, the village teenagers immersed themselves in preparing for the tough engineering entrance test.IIT became their goal and

Jitendra

their role model.They pooled in resources and developed a unique group study model to overcome their flaws. The initiative came to be known as Nav Prayas (New Effor Prayas (New Effort).

Ranjit Kumar with family. Both boys cracked the IIT entrance test, 2017
Jitendra, Patwa Toli's lone IIT-ian then, became a mentor. He would spend his vacations with the young hopefuls passing on invaluable tips. Success followed, albeit delayed. Three boys made it to IITs in 1998.The next year, seven students from Patwa Toli passed with flying colours.The trend continues.

Jitendra has since migrated to the USA. Many other graduates are also employed in different towns and cities of India.But the new-found prosperity has adversely impacted the group study format.“The earlier IITians con centrated on mentoring their co-villagers. The new boys who have tasted success lack the commitment of their seniors,“ says community leader Prem Kumar Patwa.

However, psychology professor Nasimuddin insists that the study group was a compulsion, not a choice. “With prosperity, the compulsion to study in a group has gone down,“ he says.

Former municipal councilor Lalji Prasad wants to rename Patwa Toli as

Abhiyanta Vihar

s' Garden). But (Engineers' Garden). But in recent years engineering has lost some of its sheen as a career for Patwa Toli students. They are opting for other career options, too. Last year, Pitambar Kumar cracked the UPSC's civil services exam and joined the Indian Revenue Service. Nearly half a dozen Patwas have opted for banking jobs. One villager is a deputy commandant in the CRPF. Some have joined law institutes.

What endures is the unrelenting noise of powerlooms, the preferred workstations of the elderly, even as the young seek greener pastures.

Girls who crossed gender hurdles

In the Patwa Toli success story, there was a major shortcoming.None of the students who qualified for the engineering institutes were girls. Until

Deepa Kumari

broke through the gender barrier and entered the roll of honour in 2015.Since then two more girls -Dolly Raj and Saraswati have become engineers.Both come from modest households and helped their mothers with domestic chores even as they prepared for the entrance examinations.

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