The story of Rakesh Yadav, the man who would go on to teach math to lakhs of students, does not begin in a classroom. It begins with his mother.
"My mother was very good at math," he said in an interview with Richa Anirudh. "I think it's because of her that I started to get a little bit interested in it." She was a housewife, not formally lucky enough to have a good education, but she was deeply intelligent. In the heart of their village home, she began to fulfill her own dreams through her son. She worked hard and had fun teaching him.
Rakesh Yadav's childhood was built on the hard work and honesty of his parents. His father was a constable in the Delhi Police. His mother managed their small farm land in the village alongside raising her children. "We saw the struggles of our parents very closely," he recalled. From them, he learned the values of hard work and moving forward, no matter the circumstances. Their struggle made his goal clear that he had no option but to study. "We always kept our education as our only target."
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This focus led him to a government job as a math teacher in a Delhi school. He was happy but a visit to Mukherjee Nagar, the hub of competitive exam coaching opened his eyes. He saw batches of 500-600 students and was in awe of the teachers who commanded them. When he was given a chance to teach there, his first class felt like going to war but he quickly discovered that the joy he found in teaching school children was the same joy he found here. He learned that if your teaching is filled with good content and love, even the most mischievous student will respect you.
A single, pointed comment from a colleague changed his path. "You teach students to become inspectors, but you yourself are not an inspector." The words hurt because they were true. To prove his own worth to himself, he took the SSC exam, cleared it and was posted as an Excise Inspector in Mumbai. But his heart was in teaching and he soon returned to it.
But the true turning point wasn't fame or numbers. It was a student. One morning, Rakesh Yadav noticed a student with a bicycle covered in white plaster. He asked him why. The young man explained that both his parents had passed away. He cared for his younger brother, attended class and then worked with a plaster contractor to make ends meet. He prepared for his exams at night.
Hearing this story, Rakesh Yadav's perspective shifted. "I was feeling good about my position in life, but after hearing his story, I felt that I hadn't achieved anything." He realized then that his mission was to reach the countless students who, like this boy, could not afford the high costs of coming to Delhi to study.
This vision, born from seeing his parents' struggle and his mother's unmet potential, led to the creation of Careerwill. Along with a student named Pawan, they built an online platform to provide serious education for a minimal fee. "A poor child today cannot say that he can't study because of a lack of money," he stated.
The ultimate validation of this mission came in a phone call. It was the plasterer-student. "Sir, I got selected," he recalled. He is now an Income Tax Inspector for the Government of India. For Rakesh Yadav, this was more than a success story, it was the entire reason for his work.
Throughout his journey, his core motivation has never changed. "From the beginning, I've had only one thought," he said. "How can I make my parents' lives better?" He believes no one can ever repay the debt of their parents, but giving them happiness provides some relief. "My ultimate goal still is, and always will be, to give some happiness to my parents."
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