Taking control of his own fate

Biswajit Das, a student at the Institute of Business Administration, Rajshahi University (IBA-RU), is not like his other classmates. Born with a disability that prevents him from walking, and a bent spine, he overcame physical difficulty to achieve brilliant results in every public examination -- PSC, JSC, SSC and HSC.

When he got admission to IBA-RU, however, his success and misfortune met at a critical juncture. Unable to pay the Tk 14,000 necessary for his enrolment in the first semester, Biswajit decided to dig deep and resolved to take control of his own fate. Mounted on his wheelchair, he now delivers food through foodpanda -- an online food delivery service -- to cover the cost of education.

Every day, he uses his motorised wheelchair to go to classes from his hostel. After classes, from 6:00pm to 11:00pm, he works as a delivery person for foodpanda. The battery on his wheelchair does not normally last through the day, so he has to manually roll the wheels for much of his delivery journey every day. He has been doing this for the better part of a year, now.

Biswajit endures the pain and difficulty because his dream is to become the best student he can possibly be, and achieve recognition as a top student in the country.

Photo: Star

Born at a village called Rajbari in Jhikargacha upazila, Jashore, Biswajit is the second of three children born to Shyamapado Das and Sushmapado Das. His parents struggled to make ends meet by weaving baskets using bamboo wicker, but despite these physical and financial obstacles, Biswajit excelled in his studies.

He achieved GPA 5 in all four public examinations, and placed first in the upazila in his HSC.

Now a first-year student of IBA-RU, who is financing his own education through his physically demanding job, he found himself needing a laptop. But there was no way to afford such an expensive device even after he worked day and night.

Touched by his story of resilience, the upazila nirbahi officer of Jhikargacha in Jashore, Bitan Kumar Mandal, gifted Biswajit a laptop.

The laptop was bought using the office expense funds of the upazila, Bitan said.

"The laptop will be helpful for me," said Biswajit. "I can earn money by doing some freelance work along with my studies now. I am thankful to the UNO sir. I hope to stand first in my class in the university."