Piyush Kumar Gupta, AIR 5, GATE 2018 (Electrical engineering)
Hailing from a small village, Timawa (Rajasthan), where the literacy rate is low, Piyush Kumar Gupta’s achievement as GATE 2018 topper is a reason to celebrate. Gupta secured the all India rank 5 in electrical engineering in the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) this year. Like many aspirants from the rural area, Piyush was unaware of reputed entrance exam JEE till class 10. But when he got to know about IITs, he made a pact to secure a seat in one of the institutes. Gupta left home and joined a coaching institute in Kota. He cracked JEE and got admission in IIT Dhanbad.
His father owns a small shop in their native place and mother is a housewife. He has three sisters and one brother, who is also preparing for JEE. “My parents have always motivated me and my siblings to accomplish whatever we desire. It is only because of their love and faith in me that I’ve reached this position today”.
Understanding the need of students like him who do not have the right guidance and to manage expenses, while in college, Gupta started teaching maths to IIT JEE aspirants.
GATE is achievable
The moment Piyush received the GATE 2018 paper, he found it extremely easy. He said, “My preparation was not great but the paper was so easy that I was completely satisfied after going through it. As I was eyeing PSUs and they offer jobs to only those with rank 1 to 200, my target was to give my best and fall into this category. I was expecting a high cut-off as well”.
Future goals
After pursuing B Tech, he got a job offer from a reputed coaching institute to join as their maths faculty. But he declined it and started preparing for GATE and UPSC’s engineering services. Piyush added, “I cleared the engineering services prelims exam also and will now be appearing for the mains. But PSUs will always remain my first choice because I possess a great deal of technical knowledge and want to utilise it in an appropriate manner. PSUs will give me an opportunity to do the same and achieve my dreams”.
Gupta has applied in ONGC, NTPC, GAIL, BHEL and IOCL and is expecting interview call letter in May.
Coaching not mandatory to crack GATE
The topper feels that one can easily crack GATE without coaching. He explained, “The only reason I took coaching was because for four years in college, I did not study seriously at all due to my poor financial condition in the family. I therefore needed a guide to clear my concepts, polish my knowledge and show me the right direction. I studied with full focus for 9-10 hours and utilised my free time to solve puzzles and play games on mobile.”
GATE: Preparation strategy
Piyush suggested to divide the entire syllabus into two parts and then study as it becomes more convenient. He recommended aspirant to put more focus on important topics like network control system, digital electronics, engineering mathematics and general aptitude. “Power electronics is challenging, so clear your concepts regarding the same”, he said.