Anand Kumar is a beacon of hope for the bright students coming from poor families, who cannot afford expensive coaching classes.

TIME magazine included his educational initiative in its ‘Best of Asia - 2010’ issue, while Newsweek included it in the list of the four most innovative schools in the world. This wonder-school is not located in Delhi or Kolkata, but in Patna the capital of Bihar, a state historically known for its patronage of education, but today, hardly the first choice of a scholar. Then, what’s so special about this school?

Meet Anand Kumar, 38, mathematics teacher and founder of the Ramanujan School of Mathematics. Kumar’s philanthropic initiative ‘Super30’ has made him a famous man. Launched in 2003, this program helps meritorious students from needy families crack the IIT-JEE, the extremely competitive exam by which students are selected for the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology. And during this one-year program, students are provided free coaching, food and lodging.

In the year of its inception, 18 out of 30 students entered the IITs, the Indian School of Mines and Benares Hindu University. The following year, the success rate climbed to 22; 26 in 2005; and 28 in 2006 and 2007. Anand Kumar’s euphoric moment arrived in 2008 when all 30 students cleared IIT- JEE. The best was yet to come. In 2010, Super30 scored a hat-trick by getting all students into the IITs, thus earning a place in the Limca Book of Records. This year, 24 students of Super30 made it to the IIT – the others were accepted by the National Institutes of Technology. Super30 is, today, a brand to reckon with.

“That’s where the challenge lies,” says Anand Kumar. He has to grapple with imposters claiming to represent his school and seeking funds from government bodies and corporate houses. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi met him last year with a proposal to start a similar school in Assam. “He told me that someone had approached him as a representative of Super30,” Kumar says. He had not dispatched any representative. Another case was reported in Chhattisgarh. “This person walked off with a contract for Rs. 1.6 crore to start a branch of Super30.”

In reality, Kumar tries to steer clear of all bureaucratic strings, and has no desire to start a Super30 franchise. “We don’t accept financial support for Super30 from any government or private agencies,” he says. “We generate money by running evening classes for plus-two students at a nominal fee, which is 15% less than other coaching centers.”

Anand Kumar did not plan life this way. This eldest son of Rajendra Prasad, a postal service employee, he grew up with a passion for mathematics, and aspired to be known as a mathematician of repute someday. While pursuing a degree from Patna University, he contributed papers to several national and international journals. Around this time, he also formed the Ramanujan School of Mathematics, a club where he encouraged free discussion and training in mathematics.

Tragedy struck the family in 1994 when his father died, bringing Kumar’s dreams of higher education crashing down. Despite an acceptance for a master’s degree from Cambridge University, he could not join, now that his family depended on him for survival. In the early days after his father’s death, Kumar shelved his interests to make the rounds of the city on his bicycle, selling his mother’s papads.

But his passion refused to die. He decided to extend his mathematics club into a coaching school. The Ramanujan School of Mathematics thus became a tuition centre for students for various competitive examinations.

Looking back, Kumar remembers a key moment. “There was this boy, a potato farmer’s son, who was keen on joining my institute but could not afford the fees. He told me he would pay it in installments after his father harvested potatoes. I took the boy in.”

It was a turning point in his life, and his first step onto the long road in the world of philanthropy. Meeting more students caught in similar predicaments, Kumar thought, “Why not start a program for meritorious students from humble homes?” He called his younger brother, Pranav Kumar, a musician in Mumbai, and with his assistance, launched Super30 in 2003.

A Robin Hood of Education, Kumar teaches the rich to generate funds for Super30. While Kumar teaches mathematics, he has a team of teachers for physics and chemistry. Students are selected on the basis of a competitive examination held in May or June every year. Classes begin in July, and continue for the next ten months.

“Retaining teachers is a challenge,” says Kumar. Other coaching centres bait his teachers with better remuneration. Sometimes they lure his students, too, with laptops and other goodies. “Not to forget physical threats from mafia groups,” Kumar says, talking about how he survived a knife attack in 2004. Undeterred, this Good Samaritan continues on his chosen path.

“Seeing the smile on the parents’ and students’ faces is rewarding,” says this father of one. Come next May, Kumar hopes to include poor students from other states too. Until then, he remains a beacon of hope for Bihar’s bright but poor students, egging them to dream of a life beyond the meagre one they have known.

By Mythily Ramachandran