The Incredible Journey of Abhinay Sharma: Overcoming Adversity To Make Quality Education Accessible

Introduction

Abhinay Sharma was born in 1990 and hailed from a small village in Uttar Pradesh. From childhood, he excelled in academics, despite a lack of proper education institutions near him. However, he had heard taunts from various people from childhood due to his family’s poverty. His relatives would ask him not to attend any family function as they had no good clothes to wear. Despite being financially well, his relatives would not help his family and would taunt him. And not only his relative but other people from society too. He recalls having only one pair of clothes and wearing it all week from class 10th to 12th and used to wash them only on Sundays. As a result, other students would refrain from speaking to him and mock him.

Academic Excellence

Despite being financially weak, Abhinay’s family did not sacrifice when it came to education. Abhinay was hardworking and excelled in academics. He scored 100 on his 10th board math examination. He completed his graduation and wanted to fulfill his father’s dream of getting a government job.

Abhinay decided to shift to Greater Noida to prepare for the examination, but his family also decided to shift with him to provide him with help and support. At this time, his father’s construction business was unstable, and they started suffering from a financial crisis where they struggled to get two square meals a day.

Providing Tuitions

Abhinay started coaching the student to manage the family expenses while preparing for the jobs. Although, eventually, he received a job at Indian Tax Department in the Dehradun Branch, he decided not to take it because it was far away from home. But, slowly, his coaching expanded, and he became financially stable. 

After this, his career slowed because of a personal issue, and he started facing financial difficulties again. In 2016 he got a job offer as an Audit officer in Mumbai, and this time he didn’t hesitate to take it.

Handling Crisis

Soon after he joined the job in Mumbai, his father’s business broke down. Abhinay’s father had taken a loan of INR 1.1 crores for a house, and with his failed business, he could see no way to repay it. So Abhinay went from good to worse. He recalls not even having money for an INR 10 recharge. At the same time, his father was admitted to the hospital for diabetes, and his mother suffered from facial paralysis. 

After working for four months, he had to quit to support his family.

Change of Luck

Abhinay would sell his mobile phone and, with some earnings, shift to a rented flat with his brother, where they would sleep at night and provide tuition during the day. Soon he started getting students for tuition, and his financial condition improved.

One day in 2017, one of his students suggested uploading his teaching video on YouTube, and within six days, the video gained a million views. The channel was named Abhinay Math and would become one of the few education channels worldwide to reach one million subscribers in just eight months.

Abhinay also provided a link to a book he wrote on Algebra and Trigonometry, which would become an instant hit among students.

Reaching Success

Soon there would be a queue outside his coaching centre for those wanting to study from him. He started earning well and fulfilled all the dreams he once saw as a kid. He purchased his first car, a Mercedes Benz, and bought so many clothes that he would never have to repeat them.

Providing Affordable Education

Abhinay soon decided he wanted to provide education to financially weak students. He kept uploading videos for free on YouTube but soon started admitting people who couldn’t afford to pay the fees to his tuition centres. He would ask them to pay whatever they could and even admitted several students for free. He doesn’t want money to become a barrier to education and plans to continue providing free education to millions of people.