From night watchman to IIM Asst Professor- the remarkable journey of Ranjith Ramachandran
Kasaragod, Apr 11: From a night watchman earning a pittance to graduating from the hallowed portals of IIT and now an Assistant Professor at IIM, Ranchi, it has been a remarkable journey for 28-year-old Ranjith Ramachandran, inspiring many to fight adverse circumstances in their lives.
"An IIM professor was born here," reads his post on Facebook, along with a picture of his dilapidated tiled hut covered with a tarpaulin sheet to prevent rainwater from seeping in.
His inspirational April 9 post in which he shared his story, went viral, garnering over 37,000 likes.
Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac also took to Facebook to congratulate Ramachandran, who goes by the name 'Ranjith R Panathoor' in the social media, saying he is a source of inspiration to everyone.
Ramachandran was working as a night watchman at a BSNL telephone exchange at Panathur in Kasaragod, while he pursued his Economics degree from Pious Xth College in the district.
"I attended college during day time and worked at the telephone exchange at night," he posted.
Graduating with honours, he got into IIT, Madras, where he found it difficult to study as he knew only Malayalam.
Despondent, he decided to quit the PhD programme, but was persuaded by his guide Dr Subhash not to do so.
"I decided to fight and realise my dream," he wrote.
Fight he did and earned his doctorate last year.
For the last two months, he was an Assistant Professor at Christ University, Bengaluru.
"I never thought the post would go viral. I posted my life story, hoping that it would inspire a few others. I want everyone to dream good and fight for their dreams.
I want other people to get inspired from this and find success," he told reporters.
Ramachandran recalled in his post that he nearly gave up his school education due to financial hardships
His father is a tailor and mother, a daily wage worker under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.
The Finance Minister in his post, praised Ramachandran, saying "From the moment he felt he was defeated, he turned his life and achieved success and it's an inspiration toeveryone.
We have before us the life storiesof great personalities,including K R Narayanan, who attained success with extraordinary willpower and became the first citizen of the country," he posted and shared Ramachandran's post.
"The lives of people like Ranjith, who refuse to get discouraged due to various crisisand use education as a weapon to overcome social and economic backwardness, are an inspiration to all," he said.
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Sena (UBT)-MNS alliance announcement for civic polls likely next week
Mumbai (PTI): The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) are likely to announce next week their alliance for the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Maharashtra, with seat-sharing for all the civic bodies, except Mumbai, almost complete, leaders of both the parties said.
Elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the all-important Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), will be held on January 15, and the counting of votes will take place the next day.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) and the MNS will forge an alliance for the polls in municipal corporations of Mumbai, Thane, Mira-Bhayandar, Kalyan-Dombivli, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune and Nashik, among others.
The Sena (UBT) is headed by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, while his once-estranged cousin Raj is the president of the MNS.
"Talks for all civic bodies, except Mumbai, are complete. The sticking point is about the seats that we are demanding in Marathi-dominated areas. The Shiv Sena (UBT) is not still not agreeing to it which has delayed the seat-sharing. But the talks have to be over soon since the date of filing nominations starts next week (December 23 to December 30)," an MNS leader said.
Talking to reporters, MNS leader and former MLA Nitin Sardesai said, "It is appropriate to say that the talks are in final stages but it is difficult to say when it will be officially announced. I can only say that all sides are putting efforts to complete the talks and they are working towards it."
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Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anil Parab met Raj Thackeray to discuss seat-sharing.
A Sena (UBT) leader said talks are in final stages and there is no hurdle in the seat-sharing agreement.
"The two brothers are expected to officially announce the alliance between the two parties on Monday in a public event or through a press conference that will set the tone for the civic body polls," he said.
Raj Thackeray quit the undivided Shiv Sena blaming Uddhav for his exit in 2005 and floated the MNS in 2006. They had been political rivals since then.
However, after the drubbing of their parties in the Maharashtra assembly polls in 2024 - the Sena (UBT) won 20 seats, while MNS drew a blank - both leaders decided to put behind their political acrimony and find a common ground for survival.
Over the past few months, the two cousins shared the stage or were spotted at public forums together multiple times for various reasons.
The cousins publicly ended their two-decade-long estrangement in July, where they addressed a joint rally. At the event, Uddhav said they have come together to stay together.
