Rejected by IITs and BITS Pilani, Gaurav Khetrapal later honoured with award by BITS alumni
Gaurav Khetrapal, who failed JEE thrice and missed BITS Pilani's cutoff, later did his master's there and won a Startup Excellence Award.
Every engineering student dreams of studying at a top institute such as an IIT or BITS Pilani. Often, however, failure comes instead, the dream remains unfulfilled and the heart breaks. Gaurav Khetrapal's story is one such. He moved past his early setbacks and not only changed his fortunes but has now been honoured by the very institution that once turned him away.
Khetrapal recently shared the inspiring story on social media. He took the JEE three times between 1995 and 1997 but did not get into an IIT. He then tried for admission to BITS Pilani, but missed the cutoff by less than 0.5 per cent, and that dream too went unfulfilled.
He was so hurt by the rejection that afterwards he would cover his ears whenever anyone mentioned the institute.
After the doors of the IITs and BITS Pilani closed, Khetrapal began his studies at a tier-3 college. He did not, however, treat it as his final destination. Refusing to compromise on his goal, he kept trying. He later topped a lateral entrance examination, which gave him the chance to move to a tier-2 college.
His life then took an interesting turn. He enrolled for a master's degree in 2002-03 at BITS Pilani, the same institute that had refused him admission at 18. The institution whose name once reminded him of failure became an important part of his higher education.
The next stage of the journey was even more special. Some years later, at an alumni event in Jaipur, he was given the Startup Excellence Award. He received the honour for the outstanding work he and his team did at Vanshiv Technologies.
Khetrapal's journey shows that failing one examination or missing out on one college does not decide a person's entire future. With determination and hard work, a person can succeed in any field.
