Sonam Wangchuk | Iccha Te Poorti

3 Idiots, I hope you all have seen this movie and enjoyed. In this movie, Amir Khan has rolled the character named as Ranchoddas Shamaldas Chanchad(Rancho) whose real name was Phunsukh Wangdu. Do you know that this character was induced by a genius?

Yes, today we will talk about Sonam Wangchuk, whose life is the source of inspiration for us.

This guy is genius and using his talent for a social change, not for himself. To give better education to children he started "School Of Failure" and due to lack of water for cultivation on hills, he started a project "Ice Stupa" which is unique in itself.

Let us move ahead and know how Sonam Wangchuk is changing the lives of people in Ladakh from his own luxury.

There was a time when in 95% of the children in Ladakh failed in board exams. Then Sonam Wangchuk and some more people came together and started an NGO- "Students Educational and Cultural Moment of Ladakh" whose goal was to change the education system. By the help of Board, this NGO did some changes in the school books and also trained teachers. The result was that where only 5% of children passed the board exams in 1996, 23% of children passed in 2000 and by the year 2015, 75% of students passed the board exams.

He has opened a school in Ladakh, where practicals are given more attention than book education. Students are taught to work on a variety of new projects by which they can face real-life problems.

Now let's talk about his story of success.

Sonam Wangchuk was born on 1st of September,1966 in Uleytokpo, near Alchi in the Leh district. He was not enrolled at the school till the age of 9 because there was no school in his village and this village only has 3 houses at that time. Wangchuk considers himself lucky to have been spared the pains of schooling in alien languages which other Ladakhi children were forced to. His mother taught him to read and write in Ladakhi language.

Then suddenly one day his uncle suggests his parents send Sonam Wangchuk with him and told them that he will take care of his further studies. Sonam has started going to school and within 6 months he has passed 1st,2nd and 3rd standard. After completing his secondary education he gained his degree of mechanical engineering from National Institute of Technology, Kashmir. Within 4 years of mechanical engineering, Sonam Wangchuk observed too much adventure.

When he completed his 1st year he has to choose any one of the streams in which he wanted to do his engineering. Sonam Wangchuk was thinking to choose mechanical engineering but his father couldn't digest this and suggest him to choose civil because his father was thinking that there is no scope for mechanical engineering in Ladakh. But at last, he chooses mechanical engineering. His father was not happy with him for this decision and told him that he does not pay for his education.

It was a very harsh word for him, but Sonam got the voice from inside that "Thank you, dear father, I will earn for my education". Now the question came to his mind that how to earn and he started thinking about his abilities. He was very good at science so thought that he will give tuition to the children in very fewer fees. To work on this plan, first of all, he hired a guest house for the whole winter and manage to put posters in many places.

This idea worked and somehow his innovative coaching center worked. The students started coming to this coaching center and within 2 months he gained money for 4 years. This incident changed his life because the ghost of earning money from his mind has left. This incident also helps him know that those student who is failing in the exam are actually very brilliant in different fields. So after this, he started working on the education system. And we have seen how he changed the education system.

"Don't always follow the footsteps, take time to study them." - Sonam Wangchuk