Siraha, Dec. 27 -- In Sripur, a small settlement at Bariyarpatti Rural Municipality-2 in Siraha, stands a thatched hut where locals once went to hire daily labourers. Today, that same house draws crowds for an entirely different reason. A family that has long lived in hardship and despair is suddenly alight with hope.

This is the home of Satyanarayan Safi, a young man from the Dalit community who has secured a full MBBS scholarship in the national medical entrance examination conducted by the Medical Education Commission. For a family surviving on daily wages, the prospect of studying medicine-one of the country's most expensive courses-had always seemed unimaginable. But Safi's determination has turned that distant dream into reality. ...