The ‘Utkal Gaurav International School’ in Odisha is a launchpad for the dreams of many kids who hail from a poor background.

It is the brainchild of Dr Pradeep Sethi, a leading hair transplant surgeon who was once a daily wage labourer in the same area.

Dr Sethi spent many months toiling in the fields around his village to make money to pay his MBBS fees. Recalling his childhood, he speaks of days when the family went without food and wore the same sets of clothes for weeks.

Dr Sethi decided to channel his energies into the one thing that he enjoyed best — studying.

The government residential school he began attending when he was 12 years old shaped much of his future.

Following Class 12, while many of his classmates were planning on pursuing government jobs, Dr Sethi harboured a different dream. He wanted to be a doctor.

A village scholarship of Rs 1,300 a month helped him with his medical fees. In 2004, Dr Sethi completed his MBBS degree and was admitted into AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) for his MD.

But it is the reminder of his roots that compelled him to decide to start a school.

The school focuses on holistic education with academic subjects combined with classes on agriculture, business, industry, etc.

By providing Odisha’s underprivileged with world-class education, Dr Sethi is helping the children leverage their skills and talents in more focused ways.

The school has classes from lower kindergarten to Class 12, and currently, has 450 children. Dr Sethi says that in the coming years, he plans to increase the intake to 2,000 students.

Lectures by professors from the United States, Japan, and Britain give the students insights into these respective cultures.

The school is a light at the end of a tunnel for the underprivileged children of Odisha who study within its walls.