- An IIT graduate shared his father's IIT JEE failure as a positive life event
- His father hitchhiked 200 km with Rs 10 to take the JEE in 1980 unprepared
- Despite failing completely, his father admired IITians and never showed bitterness
An IIT graduate and software professional based in New York has described his father's failure in the IIT Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in 1980 as the best thing that ever happened to him. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the user named Akash Sampurnanand Pandey detailed how his father hitchhiked 200 km with only Rs 10 to reach the exam centre that summer.
As per Pandey, his father had only heard about the prestigious JEE exam six months ago and decided to take a crack at it without much preparation.
"The best thing that ever happened to me was my father failing the IIT JEE. In the summer of 1980, he hitchhiked 200 km with 10 rupees in his pocket to reach the exam center. He had learned what JEE was just 6 months ago and sat it cold because he was the smartest guy in his humble village," said Pandey.
Despite being the brightest student from his village, Pandey's father failed comprehensively, unable to answer a single question. However, he never expressed any bitterness about it. Instead, he spoke of IITians with awe throughout his son's childhood, treating them like celebrities.
"Failed. Spectacularly. Couldn't crack a single question, he says. But no bitterness ever. Only awe. Throughout my childhood, he described IITians like celebrities," said Pandey.
Pandey claimed that his father's experience removed all pressure from his own attempt.
"His JEE failure handed me a strange gift too. Zero pressure. Fail, and I'd be like him, still doing fine. Crack it, and I'd be the first in my entire bloodline. Zero downside. Historic upside. I got the obsession without the expectations," he wrote.
Pandey added that his father would sometimes say he could not push his son for an examination he himself had failed. Consequently, in what can only be described as a life coming full circle moment, Pandey managed to clear JEE on his first attempt in 2012. His father celebrated the result with great emotion.
Pandey, an alumnus of IIT (BHU) Varanasi with a master's degree from New York University, currently works in software development in New York after earlier stints in consulting and product management.
