For the last two years, one door in Nishkarsh Singh’s home remained effectively closed.
It was the door to his study room. Friends and family knew that once he stepped inside, distractions stayed outside. The room became the centre of a journey that demanded patience, discipline, and countless hours of effort.
Now, after securing AIR 72 in JEE Advanced 2026, the rule has finally changed.
“For two years, there was no entry, but now the door’s open because I cracked IIT,” Nishkarsh says with a smile.
Behind that light-hearted remark lies a story shaped by curiosity, family influence, self-doubt, and steady growth. It is a journey that began long before JEE preparation officially started.
A Childhood Built on Questions
Nishkarsh’s interest in engineering did not begin with textbooks or coaching classes. It started somewhere closer: at home.
As a child, he often watched his father repair electrical items and household appliances. What fascinated him was not just that things could be fixed, but understanding how they worked in the first place.
During Diwali, his father would repair decorative lights around the house. Instead of simply watching, Nishkarsh would sit beside him and ask questions.
“Like, I used to watch my father. During Diwali, he’d fix those decorative lamps. He would explain things like this is the bulb, this is the filament. I kept asking questions because I was curious.”
The more his father explained, the more interested he became.
Whenever an appliance stopped working, he would watch closely as his father opened it up, examined the components, and brought it back to life.
“Whenever something at home broke, my dad would take it apart and fix it. I was amazed at how perfectly they fixed it.”
That curiosity slowly grew into something bigger. What began as a fascination with how things worked eventually became an interest in engineering itself.
Learning From His Parents’ Experience
Nishkarsh’s parents were uniquely positioned to guide him because they had travelled a similar path themselves.
Both his mother and father graduated from NIT Patna and understood the challenges of competitive examinations. Their own experiences shaped the advice they gave their son.
His father often spoke about the opportunities he wished he had explored earlier.
As a result, Nishkarsh received one message repeatedly while growing up: start early.
His parents believed that preparation becomes easier when students build a strong foundation before the pressure of board examinations and entrance tests fully arrives.
Their experience helped Nishkarsh avoid mistakes that many students make.
Rather than treating JEE preparation as something that begins after Class 12, he was encouraged to start building concepts much earlier. This gave him a clearer understanding of what lay ahead and allowed him to approach preparation with greater confidence.
When Self-Doubt Became the Biggest Challenge
Despite his interest in engineering and the support he received at home, Nishkarsh’s journey was not without setbacks. Like many successful students, he did not begin Class 11 believing he would automatically achieve a top rank. In fact, one of his biggest challenges was comparing himself to others.
At the start of his preparation, physics often felt intimidating. While some students solved questions quickly, Nishkarsh found himself taking much longer.
“At the start of Class 11, I wasn’t that good. I used to doubt myself in class, especially when physics questions came up.”
Watching classmates solve problems effortlessly made him question his own abilities.
“It took me some time to solve them, while most other kids would finish quickly. That made me scared and confused.”
For a period of time, he wondered whether he was falling behind. However, instead of allowing those doubts to define him, he continued showing up every day and working on his weaknesses. This consistency gradually changed everything.
As concepts became clearer, his confidence improved. Better understanding led to better problem-solving. Better problem-solving led to stronger test scores. Those results, in turn, reinforced his belief that he belonged among the top performers.
“But as time went on, I got a little better. After that, I started enjoying it more because I began solving problems and my test scores improved.”
Looking back, he believes many students experience the same phase during preparation.
“If you’re feeling like this at the beginning, don’t worry. Don’t think you’re the bad one or that everyone is better than you. Your time will come someday.”
A Shared Dream
For Nishkarsh’s father, this achievement represents more than an examination result.
Like many parents, he carried dreams that remained partially unfulfilled during his own academic journey. Watching his son achieve what he once aspired to achieve brings a deep sense of satisfaction.
“It seems like every parent has the same dream, that their kids achieve what they couldn’t.”
His goal was never for Nishkarsh to chase ranks for the sake of rankings. Instead, he wanted his son to earn enough opportunities that future regrets would never become part of the conversation.
“I used to tell my son, make sure you do it in a way that you don’t regret later. Keep all the top colleges open for yourself.”
Throughout the preparation process, father and son often discussed difficult concepts together. Their engineering backgrounds created countless opportunities for conversation, debate, and learning.
Those discussions occasionally included some friendly humour as well.
“Sometimes there would be some silly mistakes, and I used to tell my dad, ‘Dad, you’re an electrical engineer and you’re leaving the circuit problem and coming here.'”
The shared journey made the final result even more meaningful.
Opening the Next Door
Securing AIR 72 in JEE Advanced 2026 is a significant milestone, but for Nishkarsh and his family, it is also the beginning of a new chapter.
His father sees a part of his own journey continuing through his son.
“He looks a lot like me, too. So, in a way, you can think of it as me going there. The life I didn’t live, he’ll live now in that college.”
For Nishkarsh, the result is proof that growth often happens gradually. The student who once struggled to keep up in physics classes eventually learned to trust the process. The child who constantly asked questions about bulbs and circuits found himself pursuing the engineering dream those questions first inspired.
And now, after two years behind a closed study-room door, a new one has opened.
This time, it leads to IIT.
