Pappu pass ho gaya, after 24 attempts at MSc (maths)

JABALPUR: He’s done it. He doesn’t have a home, a family, savings or a steady job. “But mere paas degree hai (I have a degree),” Rajkaran Baraua now says, with pride. An MSc in maths at that, and one that took 25 years.
For nearly half his life Rajkaran (56) chased his dream of a master’s in maths. He failed 23 times, but in between double shifts as a security guard and endless odd jobs, he kept his passion alive and finally passed in 2021.
“But I could only celebrate behind closed doors.I jumped and gave myself a high five. But I couldn’t go out and tell anyone because my employers used to taunt their children by giving my example. They would say look at his determination and how hard he is studying at this age. I didn’t want to embarrass them so I celebrated quietly and kept it to myself,” Rajkaran told TOI on Monday. “Now I have quit that job, so I can tell people.”
On the way, a TOI report on him in 2015 came as a boost. “I had failed in my 18th attempt and was feeling low, but once the report was published, people started seeing me differently. TV channels came looking for me. It was a huge dose of motivation,” he said.
Rajkaran works as a security guard for Rs 5,000 per month at night and doubles up as a help at a bungalow in lieu of food, shelter and Rs 1,500 per month. “I can barely make a living but over the last 25 years I believe I spent Rs 2 lakh on books, exam fees and related expenses to get this MSc maths degree,” he said, adding: “All I ever wanted was to pass this examination and be called a postgraduate in mathematics.”
Why didn’t he marry? “Who would have married me? Besides, I was married to my dream,” he said.
Why this obsession with a masters in math degree? “After doing my MA in 1996, I went to a school and interacted with students there. The teachers appreciated the way I taught mathematics to children. This led to the thought of doing a postgraduation in mathematics. In those days, you had the option of pursuing MSc with an elective subject. I applied for an MSc in maths at Jabalpur’s Rani Durgavati University in 1996 and was accepted,” he said. He hadn’t calculated how hard it would be, and certainly didn’t know it was the beginning of a “25-year tapasya”. “I didn’t even know I had these reserves of determination,” he laughed.
“In 1997, I appeared in my first MSc examination, and failed. For the next 10 years I would pass in only one of the five subjects, but never gave up. I didn’t bother about what people said, and focused on my dream. Then, I began passing in two. Finally, in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, I passed my first-year examination and in 2021 I cleared the second-year as well. I was elated,” he said.
And what has he learnt? “Effort and patience. They will get you through anything,” he said.