In the green folds of the Kalvarayan Hills in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu, a remarkable story has broken through the silence. A. Rajeshwari, a 17-year-old from a tribal community, has etched her name in history as the first-ever student from a Government Tribal Residential Higher Secondary School in Karumandurai to earn a place in an IIT. 

Ranked 417 in the Scheduled Tribe category in JEE Advanced 2025, her achievement is not just a personal triumph, it is a loud and clear message to the world from the tribes: talent lives here too.

From Tailor’s Daughter to India’s Top Institute

Rajeshwari’s rise is deeply rooted in the quiet strength of her family. She lost her father, Aundi, a humble tailor, to cancer. After his passing, her mother, Kavitha, became the family's sole pillar of support. She worked as a daily-wage agricultural labourer and toiled tirelessly to raise her five children.

In a household where survival was a daily challenge, education became Rajeshwari’s rebellion and her hope. She studied entirely in the Tamil medium and scored 521 out of 600 in her Class XII board exams. Her story shines a light on the resilience of India’s tribal families.

The Coaching That Changed Her Destiny

Behind Rajeshwari’s success lies an example of what targeted public intervention can achieve. Under the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department, a special coaching programme was introduced for select students after Class XI. Expert teachers from Chennai held daily online sessions, offering academics and confidence.

Following her board exams, Rajeshwari was sent to Perundurai in Erode district for an intensive IIT preparation camp. The headmaster of her school, D. Vijayan, describes her as an example of what can be achieved when talent meets the right support system. The result: a tribal student from the hills broke into India’s premier engineering institute.

From Karumandurai to Aerospace Engineering

Rajeshwari has enrolled in a soft skills programme in Kumizhi near Chengalpattu. She speaks with clarity and humility. “I want to study Aerospace Engineering, maybe at IIT Madras or IIT Bombay,” she says. She recalls how JEE Mains being in Tamil gave her an edge, while JEE Advanced in English was tougher, but not impossible. 

Her message is loud and clear: “Language isn’t a barrier if you have the right support.” Her journey has not only uplifted her own life but also sparked a sense of purpose in many tribal children across Tamil Nadu, proving that dreams from the margins deserve center stage.