Biswanath Das, 18, lives in a bamboo house with a tin roof in a village in Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas.

The roof came apart during Cyclone Amphan and even now water seeps through the cracks on the roof but the teenager who had scored 97.6 per cent in Higher Secondary managed to keep his books safe and study for the JEE (Main).

On Friday, he was at TCS Gitobitan in Salt Lake for the exam he hopes will secure him an entry to an engineering college. “I cannot miss an exam or lose a year.... I have to make it through one of the entrance tests.”

Biswanath and his father Samiran Das took a bus to Calcutta from Kakdwip on Thursday. They got off at Esplanade and stayed at a hotel in Kankurgachhi to report to the centre at 7.30 am.

“The hotel charged us Rs 1,000. It is a lot of money for me under the present circumstances,” Samiran Das said.

Das used to buy whole turmeric from the market and get them grounded into powder before supplying it to grocery stores. “I don’t have the money to buy a machine… so, I used to go to someone who has one and get it grounded there.”

Stores have reduced their purchase of turmeric during the pandemic. “People don’t buy turmeric in huge quantities… and now they have reduced the consumption of turmeric. Naturally, shopkeepers, too, are buying less,” Das, who is a graduate, said.

“The pandemic has hit us badly. Earlier, I used to earn Rs 7,000-8,000 a month; now, it has gone down to Rs 5,000. I know what education means…. I don’t want my son to make the same mistakes I made,” he said.

Das wants his son to acquire a skill so that he is well-prepared even if there are problems in employment. “For the next few years I understand the job situation will not be too good. But if he acquires a skill he should be able to manage and hopefully not struggle to earn.”

The family resources are limited but the family hopes that Biswanath gets a good rank and maybe a scholarship. “His school Sundarban Adarsha Vidyamandir has helped him because he was a good student... if he is able to get a good rank I am sure people will come forward to help him,” Das said.