Gaurav Rajora: From Resettlement to Resilience

In the heart of a resettlement colony in Delhi, Gaurav Rajora, a young man with a passion for reading and a heart for teaching, stood at a crossroads.

Despite his outstanding score in the 12^th grade Board exams and 81.2 percentile in the competitive engineering exams, Gaurav's dream of pursuing a B. Tech degree seemed like an unattainable goal, overshadowed by his family's financial struggles.

His father, working in a private company, earned a very modest salary, while his mother was employed as a fieldworker at an NGO. With a twin brother aspiring to pursue B. Tech, a younger sister still in school, and various family expenses, the prospect of Gaurav's higher education appeared dim.

However, fate took a hand when Gaurav learned about the Cadence Scholarship program through a local NGO. Seizing the opportunity, he wasted no time applying for the program for himself and his brother.

After successfully navigating the interview, Gaurav and his brother, Saurav, became beneficiaries of the Cadence Scholarship Program. Throughout their academic journey, Cadence and Joining Hands played pivotal roles as mentors and guides, paving the way for them to pursue their dreams.

Gaurav, now in the final year of his electronics and communication engineering course at Netaji Subhas University of Technology, proudly boasts a commendable CGPA. Thanks to the support of Cadence, he has already secured a promising job through campus placement at a telecom giant as a Network Engineer and will be joining them in August 2024.

Reflecting on his transformative journey, Gaurav expressed his gratitude and said, "I cannot express in words how this scholarship has changed my life. It has helped me not only in terms of financial support but also through constant guidance and mentoring, which has given me a sense of peace and confidence. I want to thank my mentor from Cadence Mr. Nitesh Kalwani, his guidance throughout my course helped me a lot."

Cadence Scholarship Program

Introduced seven years ago in India, the Cadence Scholarship Program aims to address the issue of retaining students from underprivileged backgrounds in the academic cycle through funding and support to undertake graduation and professional courses for livelihood. Over the years, it has benefited more than 500 students across Delhi/NCR, Bangalore, Pune, and Ahmedabad.

The execution and administration of the program are managed by our NGO partners Concern India Foundation (CIF) and Joining Hands. The students are selected through a rigorous process of due diligence carried out by Joining Hands. Concern India Foundation oversees the student’s performance throughout their coursework. Cadence employees in each of these locations volunteer as mentors to help them with their studies, develop their personalities, and improve their communication and employability skills.