The glitz and glamour of a multi-million dollar EdTech empire often mask a past filled with grit, sacrifice, and dark moments.
Anil Nagar, the powerhouse behind Adda247, recently left social media in shock during an emotional sit-down where he revealed that clearing the IIT-BHU entrance exam, the ultimate dream for millions in India, was actually the start of his deepest mental health struggles.
Nagar confessed that during his first year at the elite institution, the pressure became so immense that he actually contemplated suicide, proving that even the most prestigious titles cannot always shield a person from inner turmoil.
Before he was a CEO, Nagar was a young boy in Amarpur, a small village near Uttar Pradesh’s tech hub of Noida, where the source of income was far from stable.
He took to the camera to share how he spent his mornings milking buffaloes and walking miles to school, often without shoes because his parents simply couldn’t afford them.
The founder recalled a particularly gut-wrenching moment when his father decided to sell two of the family’s four buffalo just to afford his coaching fees.
In rural India, cattle are not just assets but members of the family, and Nagar described this sacrifice as a matter of dignity that he carried on his shoulders every single day.
The narrative of “once you clear the exam, life is set” is a common myth that Nagar is now working to dismantle. He shared that arriving at IIT was a culture shock that left him feeling unrecognisable among his peers from elite backgrounds.
While other students arrived in expensive cars and spoke fluent English, Nagar was the student in slippers who lied about having a medical foot condition just to hide the fact that he didn’t own proper shoes.
This deep-seated inferiority complex, combined with the rigorous academic load, led to a period of isolation where he didn’t ask a single question in class for an entire year.
Despite the early darkness, Nagar’s journey is now sparking a debate about social mobility and the true cost of education in India. He reflected on how his childhood “business” of renting out comics for 50 paise helped him understand affordability, a principle he now applies to making education accessible to millions.
By returning to the very pond where he used to dream with his friends, he emphasised that it was his background of struggle, not just his degree, that gave him the resilience to build a company that now serves students from similarly humble beginnings.
