I failed IIT on purpose: Man shares why he marked wrong answers in entrance exam
For countless students in India, getting into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is the dream. Years of coaching, endless mock tests and family expectations
For countless students in India, getting into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is the dream. Years of coaching, endless mock tests and family expectations often lead to that one exam. But for Rishabh, the hardest part was not the paper itself. It was deciding to deliberately let it go. In a post shared by Humans of Bombay, Rishabh made a startling confession: "I intentionally failed my IIT entrance exam." Read Full Story He admitted that he sat in the examination hall and "deliberately marked answers I knew were wrong." But, as he explained, "it wasn't a rebellion. It was fear. Not the fear of failing an exam, but the fear of succeeding at a life that didn't feel like mine." WHEN THE 'PERFECT PLAN' DIDN'T FEEL RIGHT Rishabh shared that, as the eldest son, his future had already been planned.
"Science in school, engineering, an MBA, and a corporate job. It was the path almost everyone around me admired." Every family gathering came with stories of someone who had cracked IIT or landed a high-paying job. But meeting those people left him with one question that stayed in his mind: "If the destination is happiness, why does nobody reaching it seem happy?" That question eventually changed the direction of his life. (Photo: Instagram/dibsonthewindowseat) CHOOSING ARTS WHEN EVERYONE EXPECTED ENGINEERING Instead of engineering, Rishabh chose to study Arts at Mithibai College, even though, in his words, "people thought I'd thrown my future away." His next stop was Teach For India, where he taught children in Mumbai's Mankhurd area.
Looking back, he believes those years shaped him more than any degree ever could. "A hundred children calling me 'Rishabh Bhaiya' taught me something no degree ever had, that purpose isn't always found in boardrooms. Sometimes, it's found in showing up for someone every single day." FINDING HIS OWN PATH Rishabh also tried corporate life. He said the salary was good, and his colleagues were kind, yet every Sunday evening brought the same feeling of emptiness. So he resigned, packed his bags and spent three months riding his Royal Enfield Bullet through Spiti, Zanskar and Ladakh. Reflecting on that journey, he wrote, "Somewhere between endless roads, beautiful mornings, and a birthday spent beneath the Milky Way, I stopped searching for the version of me everyone expected me to become.
And started becoming the person I actually was." Today, Rishabh lives in Bir as a writer, photographer and artist. Looking back, he says he and his parents wanted the same thing all along. "They wanted me to be happy. I just had to find my own way of getting there." His story ends with a thought that many students may relate to: "Sometimes, the hardest decision you'll ever make isn't choosing between success and failure. It's choosing between approval and authenticity." Ends
The BriefWire