Prior to making his name in the pages of history, 28-year-old Balbanka Tiwari who worked at a snack factory for 12 hours just to earn Rs.50-100 a day to meet the daily essential needs of his family, fought against all the odds to become one of the 325 cadets who passed out as newly commissioned army officers in Indian Military Academy.
Overwhelmed with emotions, Lieutenant Tiwari celebrated the victory for two major reasons— Firstly, to get an opportunity to serve the Indian Army, and secondly meeting his daughter for the first time. Belonging from Sundarpur Barja village in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, looking back to his journey he said, struggled a lot to see this day.
“My family’s financial condition was not so good. My father is a farmer and we used to live in a joint family. The only son of the two siblings (the other being daughter), I had no choice but to work after passing class X,” said the officer, reported Hindustan Times.
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Tiwari had to take up small jobs in order to support his family. He said that he started working at the namkeen factory for a pitiful amount of money while trying to manage the school as well as working as a tuition teacher after passing out from high school.
“To find work after passing matric, I went to Rourkela in Odisha in 2008. There, I first worked at an iron fittings factory for a few months, then at a snack factory earning Rs 50/day till class 12 which I passed from Odisha,” he explained.
His major inspiration has been his uncle who is a sepoy in the army, he motivated him to serve the nation as well as earn a dignified living.
“I appeared in the test and passed in the second attempt and joined as a sepoy. My posting was at the army’s EME centre in Bhopal in 2012,” he said.
While living in Bhopal, he was introduced to the Army Cadet College (ACC) for getting promoted to the rank of an officer from a sepoy.
“I cracked the test and joined ACC in IMA in January 2017. From there, I finally commissioned as an army officer today,” he said.
“He has struggled a lot in his life to see this day. I am now very happy to see him fulfilling his dream. I am sure he will make us and the country proud by serving as an army officer,” said his wife, Ruchi.
Tiwari has not only made every Indian proud but he also serves as an example that one can achieve anything.
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