From Village Classrooms to IIT Kanpur: Bhaiyasaheb’s Quiet Road to Gate AIR 403

Author’s note

Bhaiyasaheb Chaudhari is a close friend from our college days, the kind you share meals and milestones with. His GATE 2025 score is 72.34, with an All India Rank of 403, and he has recently joined IIT Kanpur. For him, the method mattered more than the medal, but the medal feels good too.

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How I know Bhaiyasaheb

We first met through a mutual friend, Krushnal, and the connection stuck because our study rhythms and goals lined up. We were in different colleges on the same campus—same grounds, same canteen lines, same exam seasons.

We played Kushti (video link) together on the college ground, the kind of sport that teaches patience, leverage, and timing. But honestly we played just for fun. We ate together at his flat because we had hired a maid to cook; those simple dinners became our routine check-ins—what worked today, what’s next tomorrow.

We also sat for a bunch of exams in the same seasons—NPTEL tests, GATE attempts, and regular college assessments—often walking out of the campus comparing approaches and weak spots. Over time, that became a quiet accountability pact: fewer excuses, more improvements.

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How this story was gathered

I sat down with Bhaiyasaheb for a 1.5-hour virtual interview and recorded the conversation on video. I’ll be posting the full interview soon as a podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Amazon Music so readers can hear his journey, routines, setbacks, and advice in his own voice.

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A start far from the spotlight

Bhaiyasaheb grew up in Udhali, a small village in Raver taluka, Jalgaon, and studied in nearby Savda at Swaminarayan Gurukul School. Childhood was steady and ordinary by design—nothing dramatic, just routine. Extra reading only started after 10th. “Computer” meant MS Paint and moving shapes around, not lines of code.

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Chance, choices, and a seat that changed everything

With 94.8% in 10th, he got into Government Polytechnic, Jalgaon. Choosing a branch felt like a raffle: IT first, Electrical second, Mechanical third—because “Computer Science” didn’t even appear in the form, and no one explained the difference anyway.

He landed IT, and found a teacher outside college who shaped his fundamentals: Kedar Kabra. With him, syntax turned into substance across C, Java, Digital Logic, and Microprocessors. It was proof that good teaching can bridge a lot of gaps.

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What coaching built when college didn’t

College labs focused on getting programs to run. Coaching focused on why they run at all. His semester scores climbed from 78 up to 93.8, with mathematics keeping him humble—EM2 was a close shave around 40 marks. Those struggles built respect for the basics.

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Engineering, YouTube, and the long detour to IIT

At SKN College, there wasn’t a single “guru,” so he stitched one together: PhysicsWallah for fixing concepts, GoClasses videos for the deeper “why” when test series exposed leaks, and selective dips into CLRS, Galvin, Ullman, and Forouzan.

GATE attempt 1: 29 marks—just qualified.

Attempt 2: 39 marks—strong Networks prep and a 10-day Discrete crash.

Attempt 3: structure—lectures, handwritten notes, PYQs, test series. The boring discipline that works.

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A job he didn’t want that helped anyway

He joined Accenture because saying no at home wasn’t simple. It turned out to be oddly helpful: a month lost to pre-joining modules, then pockets of empty office time that he turned into study sessions. In training calls, he’d stay on mute and solve problems.

One friend cleared BEL; on the same day, he chose the BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Center) exam, cleared the test, and made it to the interview. He didn’t convert it, but it was a solid reality check, and a once in a lifetime experience.

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Routine, rest, and the power of boredom

Early on, he did 3–4 lectures a day with meticulous notes. Later, he shifted to 2/day to make space for PYQs and DPPs. Mornings were for new learning and problem sets, afternoons for one more deep session, evenings for revision when possible.

If sleep came, he took a nap and reset. Eight hours at night wasn’t a luxury; it was a strategy. Memory needs rest to stick. Test scores went up and down, and he learned not to read destiny off a single dashboard.

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Find your people: the peer gap and how to close it

He’s honest about a disadvantage he felt: for long stretches, he didn’t have the right competitive circle—people to debate concepts with, trade solutions, and push the pace. That slowed his feedback loop. His advice is simple and strong:

• Find peers with similar goals. Make discussion a routine—study partners, group PYQ sessions, weekly check-ins.
• Choose lift, avoid toxicity. Stay around people who raise your standards and energy. Step away from circles that drain focus or normalize excuses.
• If local peers are hard to find, build a virtual circle. Use small online cohorts, Discord/Telegram groups, or scheduled Zoom sprints to recreate healthy competition.

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Studying without a personal laptop

Here’s a part most people miss: he didn’t own a personal laptop until after joining Accenture. He studied on Krushnal’s laptop when it was available; when it wasn’t, he watched lectures on his phone.

That constraint forced better planning—download early, batch lectures, reserve high-focus slots for when a laptop was free, and practice whenever the window opened.

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Minimalist social life, maximal focus

He never used Instagram, Snapchat, or Twitter, and he didn’t go clubbing—the typical signals of “cool” on campus. It wasn’t about being austere; it was about attention.

He also never chased girls; he kept his circle small and his priorities simple. Fewer feeds meant fewer detours, more evenings at the desk, and a routine that favored depth over noise.

In other words, the less people you chill with, the less bullshit you deal with.

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Takeaways for GATE/ JEE aspirants—and anyone chasing a big goal

• Start with foundations, not hacks. Master core subjects first; shortcuts can’t replace depth.
• Notes are non-negotiable. Handwritten notes turn lectures into memory. Without them, most learning leaks.
• Build a compounding study loop. Lectures → notes → PYQs → tests → review → repeat. It feels slow until it’s fast.
• Protect attention. Fewer apps, fewer late nights, fewer detours. Attention is a currency—spend it where it compounds.
• Sleep like it’s part of the syllabus. 7–8 hours is strategy. Retention and insight show up after rest.
• Engineer your environment. Shared meals, regular check-ins, and the right peers reduce friction and sustain momentum.
• Find or build your circle. Discuss, debate, and teach—fast feedback beats solo guesswork.
• Constraints aren’t excuses. Limited devices or time? Plan tighter, batch harder, and keep moving.
• Practice at exam tempo. Train instincts with timed PYQs; then use test series to expose blind spots.
• Choose hard things on purpose. Saying yes to tough checkpoints (like the BARC test/interview) clarifies your level and sharpens your next lap.
• Be smart about money. Wait for big discounts, split costs, and prioritize resources that move the needle.

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The finish line that starts another race

In GATE 2025, he scored 72.34 and secured All India Rank 403—enough to step into IIT Kanpur and the next hard beginning. Not prestige for its own sake, but a place where asking “why” is the default.

                                        

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What he’s carrying to Kanpur

A bias for first principles over shortcuts.

A stack of notebooks that read like a personal textbook.

And the calm confidence of someone who knows where he struggled, where he improved, and how to improve again—because processes travel better than outcomes.

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For readers chasing their own pivot

If notes feel tedious, they’re working. Crash courses help, but they don’t replace a year.

If a job intrudes, steal time back. If a test hurts, learn what it’s saying about your process, not just your syllabus.

If money is tight, partner up and plan your buys. If devices are scarce, coordinate and improvise—borrow, batch, and keep moving.

Share a table. Play kushti if that’s your ground. Build a life that feeds the work—and find the people who lift you.

Here are some pictures, that'll help you imagine his dedication, consistency and discipline.