A Bhagalpur institute sends 57 “uncouth” Biharis to NIFT in four years

Son of a Bhagalpur confectioner has designed a prize-wining pair of shoes, to be displayed soon at Italy’s Linea Pple, an international design fair.

The pair of shoes is among top 20 shoes chosen by the Council of Leather Experts, from among 73 pairs designed by students and industry professions from India and Japan two months ago.

The shoes designed by Akash Kumar won him second prize. The final year textile design student at the National Institute of Fashion and Technology, Chennai, now looks up to work with some big leather brand.

But three years ago, this shy small-town boy could not dream big. After his 12th from Mount Assissi School Bhagalpur, Akash only wanted to do something “different”. But he did not know how.

It was JS Education that brought all the “difference” to Akash and 56 others over last four years.

The coaching institute is being run by Rajiv Kant Mishra, a History gold medalist who quit a manager job at the Central government’s Hindustan Vegetable Oil Corporation in 1999 to start an institute from Bhagalpur that can prepare students for competitive objective exams.

“As Biharis and fashion generally do not go together, preparing students for NIFT entrance was the last thing in my mind initially”, said the JS Education director Mishra, 45.

When he finally decided for NIFT entrance coaching in 2002, people laughed at him. His institute’s initial JS (originally named after Jyoti, his grandmother and grand father Smiriti Kant Mishra) would be “expanded by Jeevan Saathi” by passers-by.

“Hamare bachchon ko bigad dega (the institute will spoil our children” said a parent.

The hurt in Mishra was deep. He anyhow managed eight girls and two boys to prepare them for 2003-07 NIFT session in early 2002.

He got creative writers, painters and psychoanalysts to help the “not-so-sure” students. The institute charges Rs 7,500 for a 10-month course and Rs 9,000 for a year-course in NIFT entrance preparation. The NIFT is under Union Ministry of Textiles.

The final merit list had all his 10 students. He did not believe it. But Bhagalpur did and soon eat its words of disdain for Mishra.

The next three coaching batches had nine, 15 and 23 students getting admission into either of seven NIFT centres in the country. Of 57 students, 34 are girls.

Most of them – belonging to Bhagalpur, Purnea, Araria, Muzaffarpur and Katihar, have come from very modest background. At least, five are sons of farmers.

Mishra said those who thought of making their children civil servants, doctors, engineers and bank officers were forced to include NIFT in their list.

Mishra wanted to break the image that Biharis know little of fashion. “Now my students can dream of rubbing shoulders with Manish Malhotras and Ritu Beris and can dream of designing dresses and accessories for Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukherjee,” said the proud institute director.

Speaking to The Telegraph from Chennai, Akash Kumar said “JS Education gave me the right kind of push, yet unheard in a small city”. He said “Seven students from Bihar at NIFT, Chennai have made their presence felt”.

Neha Pragya, a 2004-08 session student at NIFT, Kolkata, had scored 10 out of 10 in a paper, an all-India record, in semester four.

She said though she came from a businessman Agarwal family at Bhagalpur, she never thought she could make it to the NIFT entrance from being at Bhagalpur.

Back to JS Education’s current NIFT hopefuls, all are brimming with confidence. Eighty students, divided in four batches, have been taking the entrance two-tier entrance test seriously.

Brajesh Kumar, a Bhagalpur resident and son of a teacher, said “only IIM and IIT are not the end of the world. Boys are also learning to take up scissors to cut it to perfection”.

Tulika said the institute engages them in intension creative skill, sketching, colouring and designing sessions”.

Manish Jha, son of an advocate, and Shilpi, daughter of a bank officer, have already thought of designing dresses for Tall Dark Handsome guys “Cargo pant and a T-shirt will suit them most”, said Shilpi with a chirp while others say dress designing has to be “simple, yet dignified”.

by Santosh Singh