"I was born to light lamps. One student, one lesson, one honest effort at a time, until the darkness had no place left to stand."
Introduction
A school began with three students. Three. The number was small enough to invite doubt, small enough to make most people turn away. But Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh saw no reason to be afraid. Growth, as he understood it, had never been sudden. A plant does not rise to its full height in a single day, and neither would an educational institution. What mattered was the care poured into the beginning, the discipline held steady through uncertainty, and the patience to let honest work build its own credibility.
His early experiences shaped the way he viewed education, responsibility, and service. The values formed during those years became the foundation upon which he later approached teaching and institution building.
His academic interests gradually shaped the direction he would later take, creating a connection between scientific learning, teaching, and his understanding of education.
His first ambition was medicine. After completing intermediate education with Biology in 1996, however, he could not afford the coaching required for the medical entrance examinations. The plan had to change. He began conducting tuition and coaching classes, using the income to continue his own education while also helping his younger brothers. Teaching first emerged as a practical answer to financial pressure. But the classroom gradually became something more. It became the place where his abilities and principles found their purpose.
Formal work at Swami Shraddhanand Saraswati Intermediate College, Govindpur, Varanasi, sharpened his understanding of the profession. An early difficulty while handling combined student batches exposed the true cost of insufficient preparation. He responded by adopting a rule that would later shape his entire leadership: study before teaching. Qualifications mattered, yes. But they could never replace subject knowledge, preparation, or the ability to explain a lesson in language students could actually understand.
His academic path continued through science, teacher training, and specialised education. A B.Ed. in Special Education from Madhya Pradesh Bhoj Open University, Bhopal, prepared him to teach students with visual impairments. His posting in Chandauli gave him direct experience with Braille-based instruction. Later, an M.Sc. in Biochemistry from U.P. Rajarshi Tandon Open University, Allahabad, strengthened both his academic standing and his understanding of food, plants, energy, and the human body.
The educator eventually became an institution builder and principal. He faced limited infrastructure, financial strain, local resistance, and the difficult task of earning parental trust. Steady communication changed suspicion into support. Families who once questioned the institution began recommending it to others. Recognition from the District Inspector of Education, alongside 34 other principals, acknowledged that sustained work.
Around him stood his wife, Kavita Singh; his son, Hritik Kumar Singh; his daughter, Yashvi Singh; and his wider family. Ahead remained another goal: the establishment of a graduate college. His life presents education as work that must be prepared carefully, shared clearly, and allowed time to grow.
"Poverty never broke me. It taught me the weight of every rupee, the value of every choice, and the strength of a mother’s quiet faith."
Phase 1: Lessons Carved by Scarcity
Born on 23 September 1977, Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh entered a family sustained by farming and constrained by an income that could not always keep pace with its responsibilities. His father, Prabhunath Singh, worked the land and had no additional source of earnings to fall back on. Money arrived according to the uncertainties of agricultural work, while family needs followed their own fixed rhythm. Expenses could not always be met when they arose. Choices had to be weighed carefully. In such circumstances, even an ordinary requirement could carry unusual importance.
He was the second of four brothers, with one elder brother before him and two younger brothers after him. That position placed him near the centre of the family. He was still expected to listen to those older than himself, yet he could also see the needs of those growing up behind him. The family did not include a sister, so his earliest world was shared with three brothers whose lives unfolded under the same financial limitations. Their household had little room for waste. What was available had to serve many people, and every decision carried consequences beyond the individual.
Economic difficulty was never an abstract subject in his childhood. It was part of the structure of family life. There were ambitions that could not immediately be supported, plans that had to wait, and needs that competed for limited resources. His father sometimes discouraged certain undertakings because he could not provide the required money at the necessary time. This was not presented as an absence of concern. It reflected the pressure upon a farmer responsible for maintaining a household without dependable secondary income.
Within that reality, Man Kuwar Singh became a consistent source of support. Even when money was scarce, his mother encouraged him and contributed whatever financial assistance she could manage. Her support did not remove the family’s limitations, but it gave him room to continue believing that those limitations did not have to define every choice. She stood behind his efforts when circumstances made progress difficult. That steadiness became one of the strongest influences of his early life.
The contrast between limited means and sustained encouragement taught him something precise. Support could not always be measured by the amount of money a person was able to provide. Sometimes it appeared as faith maintained during uncertainty. Sometimes it meant giving from resources that were already stretched. His mother’s contribution carried weight because it came from within the same hardship everyone in the family was facing.
Poverty, in his understanding, was severe but instructive. It taught him to recognise the value of resources before possessing many of them. It made carelessness costly and delay familiar. He came to believe that the memory of such conditions should remain alive even if financial circumstances later improve. To forget the beginning would be to lose the discipline learned within it. His early difficulties therefore became a permanent point of reference, a reminder to value what was available and to remain conscious of those who continued to live with less.
"I rarely spoke, but my mind never rested. Every crop, every reaction, every lesson pulled me deeper into the why behind things."
Phase 2 : The Silent Mind That Refused to Accept Surfaces
Long before professional choices demanded answers from him, curiosity had already begun shaping the way Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh observed the world. He was quiet by nature, deeply inclined towards study, and never one to fill silence with empty noise. But his calmness did not suggest an absence of interest. Beneath it lived a mind that wanted to understand why things happened, how they worked, and what could be learned by paying closer attention.
His choice of company reflected that temperament. He preferred friends who could speak about useful subjects, who could share something worth carrying away. Conversations mattered to him when they held knowledge, a thoughtful idea, or a practical lesson. He kept his distance from those whose discussions seemed purposeless. Even during childhood, attention felt too valuable to be spent carelessly. The people around him could either strengthen his thinking or scatter it, and he gradually learned to recognise the difference.
Science attracted him because it offered explanations. It turned observation into understanding and encouraged questions that could be examined rather than merely accepted. His interest was broad at first, reaching towards new inventions, technology, agriculture, and the methods used to improve production. Each area presented its own set of connections. The more he noticed, the more he wanted to know.
Agriculture placed some of those questions directly before him. Crops did not produce the same results under every condition, and fertilisers could alter their growth and output. This caught his attention. The connection between chemical substances and agricultural production made science practical, immediate, and relevant to what he could observe around him. Chemistry was no longer simply a subject arranged into chapters. It offered a way to understand the materials being used in cultivation and the effect they could have on crops.
That interest gained direction through teachers whose methods remained with him. Sri Mohan Srivastava, his Class VII tutor, taught science at a junior high school and also provided tuition. What impressed the young student was the manner in which he taught. His explanations were clear, his technique held attention, and students responded to him with visible respect. The classroom showed Dr. Ajay that subject knowledge and teaching ability were not identical. A person might know a topic, but a teacher had to make that knowledge understandable to someone else.
Respect was an important part of what he observed. Students valued Sri Mohan because his teaching gave them something useful. Their regard for him was connected to the quality of his work. This left a strong impression. The young learner saw that teaching could carry dignity when it was practised well, and that respect could be earned through clarity, effort, and the ability to help another person understand.
Another influence came through chemistry. Sunil Srivastava taught the subject in a way that strengthened an interest already taking shape. His technique made the material more approachable and gave Dr. Ajay a clearer connection with the discipline. Chemistry brought together several strands of his curiosity: scientific method, agricultural application, chemical composition, and the possibility of understanding change at a deeper level.
"Medicine slipped away. So I taught to survive, and discovered that every class I taught brought my own dreams closer."
Phase 3 : When Teaching Became the Tuition for His Own Future
The year 1996 placed Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh at the edge of a difficult decision. He had completed his intermediate education with Biology, carrying a clear intention to pursue medicine. The academic choice had been deliberate. Becoming a doctor was no passing idea. Yet ambition alone could not pay the cost of the preparation required to compete for admission.
At that time, entry into medical education depended upon examinations such as CPMT and PMT. Preparing for them required coaching, and the fee had to be paid as a substantial amount at once. His father’s income from farming could not provide that sum when it was needed. The obstacle was direct and financial. There was no question of waiting casually for a more convenient moment, because academic opportunities followed fixed schedules.
The decision arrived without ceremony. Medicine had to be set aside.
Giving up that plan did not mean giving up education. It changed the method by which he would continue. After intermediate, he began taking tuition and coaching classes for children. The arrangement placed him in two roles at once. He remained a student responsible for advancing his own studies, while becoming a teacher responsible for the learning of others. Income from those classes helped him pay for his education and reduced his dependence upon money that the household could not reliably provide.
Self-reliance, in this period, was practical rather than symbolic. Fees had dates. Books had costs. Further study required funds that had to come from somewhere. Every class he conducted converted time and knowledge into another opportunity to remain in education. Tuition was no extracurricular activity added around a comfortable academic life. It was the means through which that academic life could continue.
His earnings carried importance beyond his own needs. With two younger brothers following him, he understood the strain created when educational expenses arrived before family income was available. Whenever possible, he supported their studies financially. The amount of help varied according to what he earned, yet the intention remained clear. He was building his own future while trying to prevent delay in theirs.
Teaching children also changed his relationship with what he knew. A lesson understood privately had to be reorganised before it could be explained to someone else. The work required him to speak clearly, respond to questions, and recognise whether a student had genuinely understood the subject. The classes generated income, but they also made knowledge active. What he had learned as a student now had to become useful in another person’s education.
Note of Thanks
A life shaped by learning, responsibility, and service is never built by one person alone. Behind every achievement stand the people whose encouragement, guidance, and presence provide strength during every stage of growth. With deep gratitude, Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh acknowledges all those who have contributed to the person he has become.
First and foremost, he expresses his heartfelt gratitude to his parents, Prabhunath Singh and Man Kuwar Singh, whose values became the foundation of his life. Their guidance and values remained an important influence throughout his life, shaping the principles he carried forward.
He extends his sincere appreciation to his teachers and mentors, whose guidance shaped his understanding of education and responsibility. The influence of educators such as Sri Mohan Srivastava and Sunil Srivastava remained deeply meaningful, showing him the importance of knowledge, preparation, and the true role of a teacher. Their dedication became an example that continued to inspire his own approach towards education.
He also expresses his deepest gratitude to his wife, Kavita Singh, whose support and understanding have been an important part of his personal and professional life. Her presence provided encouragement and stability as he carried various responsibilities and continued working towards his goals.
His gratitude extends to his children, Hritik Kumar Singh and Yashvi Singh, whose love and support brought joy and meaning to his life. He also acknowledges his brothers and their families for the bond, encouragement, and shared experiences that have remained an important part of his journey.
Finally, he thanks every student, colleague, parent, and well-wisher who placed their trust in his vision of education. Their faith and cooperation strengthened his efforts and reminded him that the true purpose of education lies in the people it serves. This gratitude is offered to everyone who contributed, directly or indirectly, to the path he continues to walk.
thanks,
– Dr. (H.C.) Ajay Kumar Singh
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