Mumbai (The Hindu): Rohit Gupta, the 16-year-old son of a security guard, by scoring 91% in the Senior Secondary Certificate (SSC) examination has proved poverty is not a barrier in achieving academic excellence.

Rohit, who stays with his parents and sister in a chawl in Sun Mills Compound in Lower Parel, did most of his studies at night under the street light. A student of the Hindi-medium Marwari Vidyalaya High School in Charni Road, Rohit says he hopes to pursue higher education at K.C. College in Churchgate.

His father, Dhanesh Kumar, who works as a security guard in Mumbai Central, says he still can’t believe that his son has scored so well in the SSC examination. “This is the moment I have been waiting for. I want to thank my son for giving me reason to celebrate. He has made me so proud.” Mr. Kumar said that he was unwell for a few months and couldn’t report for work. Yet, he managed to feed his family and pay his children’s fees. “I hardly earn ?10,000 a month even if I work extra time. I don’t want my kids to end up like me. I appreciated his hard work and encouraged him to just concentrate on his studies.”

Rohit says, “My father asked me to join coaching classes, but I knew my family could not afford it. I put in double the hard work to get good marks. I want to pursue Science and become a mechanical engineer, but it will be too expensive. So I will opt for Commerce.”