The Boy From Thune Village Who Refused to Quit

Talent doesn’t belong to cities. It belongs wherever opportunity finally reaches and for Durgesh Jaywant Murbade, from Thune village in Murbad taluka, Thane district, that reach took years to arrive. When it did, everything changed.

Durgesh grew up working in the fields alongside his studies, in a remote rural area where resources were thin but his determination never was. He never let go of first rank at school, not once, despite everything stacked against holding onto it. In 2023, he scored 84% in Class 10, topping Bandal Pada High School. This year, he passed his HSC exams in First Class.

Today, he has a clear answer when asked what’s next: he wants to become an IT Engineer. Getting to that answer wasn’t simple.

Science That Lived Only in Textbooks

For most of his schooling, science was something Durgesh read about, not something he did. No labs, no equipment, no way to turn a diagram into something real in his hands. Concepts stayed abstract words on a page, not things he could test or touch That changed when Seva Sahayog Foundation’s Mobile Science Lab reached his school.

The Day an Idea Became a Plan

Through live demonstrations and hands-on experiments, science stopped being theoretical for Durgesh. In his own words: “While learning science practicals through Seva Sahayog’s Mobile Science Lab, I realized I too can become an Engineer.”

What years of textbooks hadn’t managed, one real exposure did. Rural students aren’t short on potential they’re often just short on access. The Mobile Science Lab closed that gap for Durgesh, and it’s been doing the same for others, too. For 4 years running, Seva Sahayog volunteers have organized a Science Exhibition in Murbad, where over 20 schools bring science models, more than 1,600 students take part every year, and teachers, principals, villagers, and education officers all show up to see what these students have built.

Science, in Murbad, has stopped being just a subject on a timetable. It’s become something students actually reach for.

The Wall Money Almost Built

After Class 10, Durgesh needed to get into college to keep going. But there was no money for the fees. A plain, hard fact that could have ended the story right there.

Seva Sahayog stepped in again. Through a scholarship supported by Seva Sahayog Foundation and Aditya Birla Capital Foundation, Durgesh received financial assistance to see him through 11^th and 12^th grade. That support didn’t just help, it kept the dream moving instead of letting it pause.

What This Story Actually Proves

Durgesh’s path holds three things worth remembering: rural talent is not rare, exposure changes what a student believes is possible, and support that arrives at the right moment can change the direction of an entire life.

From fieldwork to an engineering dream. From textbook diagrams to real experiments. From a fee he couldn’t pay to a scholarship that carried him through. Durgesh isn’t just a student who succeeded, he’s proof of what happens when opportunity finally makes it to the last mile.

And somewhere in Thune village right now, another child is watching him and thinking the same thing: if he can, I can too.

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Video Link:- Durgesh Murbade- The Boy Who Refused to Quit #Science #education