'Never Heard Of IIT': Tea Seller's Daughter Secure Seat In IIT Bombay
Yogeshwari Selvam, a girl from the Government Higher Secondary School, Padanthan in the Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, has cleared the JEE (Advanced) with flying colors and realised her dream of doing aerospace engineering at IIT Bombay.
For most of her life, Yogeshwari Selvam had never heard of IIT. One chance session in class XII introduced her to the JEE Advanced, giving her wings to dream, and from there her dream took off. She once attended the Kalloori Kanavu vertical under the Naan Mudhalvan scheme and got to know about the IIT examination.
Read also: Rajit Gupta Tops JEE Advanced 2025; Devdatta Majhi Leads Girls
Despite being an ‘above average’ student, Yoegeshwari developed an interest in aerospace engineering, which helped her overcome all obstacles, including the poor economic situation of her family.
Her father runs a small tea stall, and her mother works at a fireworks factory. Notwithstanding financial hurdles, her parents ensured that their sons complete college and also their daughter.
Yogeshwari also drew motivation from attending the ‘Coffee with Collector’ program, under Virudhunagar Collector V.P. Jeyaseelan, who interacted with students regularly.
Yogeshwari secured a top rank in JEE (Advanced) without any private coaching. She was among the 230 students from government schools selected for special coaching under Naan Mudhalvan.
Read also: NEET UG 2025 Result Out: Mahesh Kumar from Rajasthan Tops With 686 Marks.
However, her parents were initially reluctant to send her away for the coaching, but later mustered the courage to get the guidance. The 40-day training in Erode after her Plus-Two exam was the only coaching she could get to sit for the toughest entrance exam in the country.
She learned all subjects with Tamil as the medium of instruction, and she picked up English words during the training, which helped her crack the JEE (advanced) exam on her first attempt.
