Three members in a family of five have serious mental disorders.

The head of the family earns Rs 300 or thereabouts per day, not enough to feed the family or treat those ailing.

Overcoming these odds, Bidhan Das, 17, managed to get enrolled in class VIII of Jawajar Navodaya Vidyalaya at Monacherra and subsequently cleared his class X board exams with 88.2 per cent, securing letter marks in five subjects.

His never-give-up attitude is helping the Higher Secondary student in his goal to become an educationist despite personal and financial hardship. He stays in the school hostel, 10km from Hailakandi town, 360km from Guwahati.

Bidhan received The Telegraph School Awards scholarship at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital auditorium in Guwahati on Saturday, a function he could not attend due to unavoidable engagements. “I am so happy to get the scholarship, I can't express my feelings in words,” he said.

The teenager said that he has constantly been encouraged by his teachers at JNV. The poverty and family problems cannot be a hindrance to studies, he added.

Bidhan’s hostel is 12km from his house but he goes home regularly to see his brothers and parents. They live in a thatched little house with kind neighbours. The villagers often help them with cash or kind.

Bidhan’s mother and two older brothers are mental health patients. His father Bimal struggles to make ends meet. He cooks for the family and has to keep his wife and two sons tied before he can venture out to work.

Bidhan is extremely positive despite these circumstances. He enjoys studying and takes the help of his teachers to search for details on the Internet. He does not have a mobile phone.