A Facebook post that begins by declaring “This is where I was born and grew up” has taken Kerala by storm with ministers and Opposition leaders joining ordinary netizens in congratulating the writer.

The picture accompanying the post shows a two-room shed built with stone and mud, its presumably leaky tiled roof covered with black plastic sheets, in a small village in north Kerala’s Kasaragod district.

It’s from here that the writer, Ranjith R. Panathur, 28, rose to become a university lecturer in Bangalore — working as a night-watchman to fund his college studies — and a soon-to-be economics teacher at IIM Ranchi.

“My only intention in posting that message and picture of my home was to inspire young people like me to have the same determination to overcome difficulties,” Ranjith, who teaches economics at Christ University, Bangalore, told The Telegraph on Monday.

Ranjith, who has a doctorate in economics from IIT Madras, said he had received the IIM job offer recently and would soon be leaving for Ranchi.

His post has fetched congratulatory calls from Kerala minister E. Chandrashekaran, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala and the Congress MP from Kasaragod, Rajmohan Unnithan, as well as a Facebook post from state finance minister T.M. Thomas Isaac.

Ranjith credits much of his success to his IIT Madras guide, associate professor Subhash Sashidharan, who had helped change his mind when the young man had thought of quitting the PhD course.

“I wanted to drop out since I was not fitting in with what was a new environment for me. I was at the time proficient only in Malayalam. But my guide changed my mind and instilled the confidence in me to continue,” he told this newspaper.

Ranjith is the eldest of the three children of Ramachandra Naik, a tailor, and Baby R, a regular beneficiary of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Scheme. His Marathi-speaking grandparents had migrated to Kasaragod.

Although his parents had studied only up to Class V, they had ensured their children received good education. They sent Ranjith to a government-run model residential school for tribal kids in Kasaragod.

“I studied there from Class V to X since it was fully funded for all students,” he said.

Ranjith studied higher secondary at another government school in the district. He then enrolled in St Pius X College in Rajapuram, also in Kasaragod, and graduated in economics as the college topper.

He worked as a night-watchman at a telephone exchange in his village, Panathur, for five years to fund his higher secondary and BA studies. He had started out on a salary of Rs 3,500, which gradually increased to Rs 8,000 in the fifth year.

“It was tough — I had to attend classes during the daytime and work at night,” Ranjith said. He quit the job after clearing the entrance test for the Central University of Kerala in Kasaragod, where he did his master’s.

“Apart from a monthly grant of a little more than Rs 1,000, I had to depend on my parents to support me,” he said.

Ranjith joined IIT Madras in 2015 and earned his PhD in 2020, writing his thesis on “foreign direct investment and industrial agglomeration”. He has since published two papers.

His former guide, Sashidharan, lauded Ranjith’s “hard work and determination”.

“It’s a proud moment to see him achieving great heights. I’m happy that I could contribute to his academic journey,” he told this newspaper.

Sashidharan recalled how he had sent Ranjith to Japan against formidable odds. He said he had received an invitation from the Western Economic Association International to present a paper in Japan before the Robert Lipsey Memorial Panel. “I suggested that Ranjith present the paper. They were initially not happy with a student presentation but eventually agreed. I came to know later from the panel chair that Ranjith had done a fabulous job,” he said.

Ranjith’s sister has a master’s in economics and has completed her BEd; his younger brother works at a hotel in Thrissur, having earned a diploma in hotel management.

Ranjith says he wants to build a new house for his parents, who still live in the old house with their daughter.

He also plans to help students from poor families. “Once I settle down in my new job, I want to help educate poor children and show them there’s a bigger world out there,” he said.