Father’s labour bears fruit as daughter aces GATE

D Bharathi, the daughter of a labourer employed in a private company in Chennai has stood second among students who took Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) from exam centres in Tamil Nadu. Bharathi is pursuing final year B Tech (textile technology) at Anna University’s Alagappa College of Technology (AC Tech), Chennai. 

Speaking to DT Next after the results were announced on Saturday, Bharathi said that she aspired to pursue a Master’s degree in Textile Engineering and subsequently pursue PhD at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi as it was the only IIT which had the programme. 

“I want to become a teacher and serve society, which is a childhood dream. Now I have been placed in a private firm, so I will work there for two years and then pursue my PG as the GATE score is valid for three years,” an elated Bharathi who secured 953 out of 1,000 score. 

Pointing out that her father T Dasarathan and mother D Bhuvaneswari had motivated her to take up GATE, the young achiever said that her parents managed to pay school fees and now pursues B Tech with scholarship as she got admitted to Anna University. 

Speaking about her preparations for the All India test, Bharathi says that her teachers coached her very well, which helped her prepare and excel in the exam. “I revised for two months before the exam and the test turned out to be easy due to which I was able to score 953 out of 1,000 score,” she added.

Meanwhile, Arjun I, a native of Chennai, born and raised in Mumbai stood first among those who sat for the exam from centres in Tamil Nadu scoring 969/1,000 scores. Arjun studies final year B Tech in Engineering Physics at IIT, Madras. 

“Most of the things asked in GATE were the ones we had encountered in our course in IIT, so GATE was not difficult for me. I’ve got admission to pursue research in Physics at University of Rochester, in the US. As now I’ve scored top marks in the test, but I am yet to take a final decision,” an elated Arjun said.