A father who chose life over IIT coaching.

After getting relieved of class tenth board exams, the next inevitable step in the life of almost every student who chooses science is to take admission in some reputed coaching institute to prepare for India's most prestigious medical and engineering examinations.

The high expectation of parents from the students to get good ranks and grab a seat in India's first-tier colleges is indeed quite overwhelming. With the consistent upsurge in competition in IIT and medical entrances every passing year, the pressure on children is only multiplying manifolds.

"Not all wanderers are lost", this beautiful quote by J.R.R Tolkein fits true in the case of Nishant Jain, the founder of Sneaky Artist whose father Lalit Kumar Jain, markedly shaped his life by not pushing him to join the most in-demand IIT coaching institutes.

Settled in Vancouver, British Columbia, 33-year old Nishant Jain is an artist, craftsman, author, and webcomic designer. In an endearing Twitter string on Father's Day, in June, he composed – "My dad saved me the day I was going to join FIITJEE."

My father saved me the day I was about to join FIITJEE. We went to pay the fees together. The receptionist explained a daily schedule of 5-6 hours of homework, with no room for sports or other interests. "Everyone is doing it, here's the form for the fee..."
— Nishant Jain | SneakyArtist (@SneakyArt) June 20, 2021

Nishant's highly encouraging and supportive household

It was that time of the year in 2004 when everyone's yearning was to get entrance into India's top-notch engineering colleges. Being an intelligent student throughout his school days, and someone who enjoyed and appreciated learning, for Nishant, it was anything but a characteristic move to prepare for the JEE Main, which is India's most competitive and sought-after engineering entrance examination.

Nishant's family was always a staunch supporter of instilling the spirit of curiosity and varied interests in the household, and his house was packed with numerous books on different genres that led inventiveness to flourish.

He never felt the need for studying only to get a decent score in examinations, which he believes is what avoided the build-up of a lot of stress. Hence, he generally read for the love and curiosity of learning.

The turning point of life!

In 2004, when Nishant was in Class 11 he attempted to get into a coaching institute to read for JEE. Having cleared the coaching entrance test, He along with his dad went to the institute to pay the admission fees and discover more about the preparation strategy.

"It was just when we arrived at the foundation did my dad begin getting some information about the course and what it would involve," says Nishant, who went into the establishment without thinking a lot about it, though what they heard sounded quite displeasing to them.

They were informed that the institute anticipated that the students should preferably allow up to two years of their life and totally devote it towards preparing for the JEE exam. No "different interruptions or time for whatever else", the instructor said.

All this came at a point when he had begun playing badminton and he along with his father partook in playing together.

"I distinctly recall my dad discussing sports and different roads for understudies to investigate. The counselor gave us a very loud and stern look saying that there wouldn't be any time or degree to seek after some other interests. Forfeiting two years was guaranteed," he says.

That was the point at which his father ruled against enrolling Nishant in any JEE coaching institute, advising him plainly that he need not seek after this at the expense of all the other things, which Nishant refers to as the defining moment in his life.

However, this didn't imply that he lost all his focus to preparing for the engineering entrances or not view scholastics appropriately. Nishant did pursue a degree in engineering yet not at the expense of forfeiting two years of his life.

Even while studying for the JEE entrance examination, he likewise invested a ton of energy perusing, keeping a blog, playing sports, and appreciating leisure time. Nishant had even started a blog while he was in class 11, that changed into a webcomic, which today is a site — The Sneaky Artist. He ascribes a ton of what he has become today to those two fulfilling years.

Nishant's sketched his father while he was asleep

How life unfolded itself to Nishant?

Even in the quest to select engineering colleges, He says, "My dad wanted me to willingly visit different colleges in the city, stroll around, explore their ambience and get a feeling of what it had to bring to the table. I went to Presidency College and St Xavier's and explored their campuses."

Consequently, Nishant wound up at Manipal contemplating Mechanical Engineering, where he kept a GPA of somewhere in the range of 8.5 and 9 all through his scholarly term.

"Indeed, even life in Manipal was not just about scholastics for me. I was doing different things, which included being a member of the college editorial board, I was composing write-ups and exploring extra-curricular a lot," he says.

He finished his Bachelors in 2010 and wished to study further. His bubbling curiosity led him to the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands, where he sought after a Master's certification in Biomechanical Engineering.

"I proceeded to begin my Ph.D. program and in 2015, around more than two years into the program, I understood that I wasn't supposed to be a researcher," he says.

Nishant's actual love was for the creative kinds of stuff, having drawn more than 250 webcomics and composed various contents, including penning down scripts for various television shows!

“All’s Well that Ends Well!”

Though the discussion to disclose to his parents his decision to leave his PhD midway and pursue a career in art and writing was quite a tense one, it wasn't pressurizing and didn't cause him any guilt.

"In any event, during that second, my parents remained by me. Despite the fact that they couldn't comprehend why I would stop this well-paying chance to seek after a profession which may not have a future. Nonetheless, my folks have consistently been entirely sensible individuals and when I clarified my perspective to them, they saw rationale in it."

Today, Nishant has more than a hundred sketches in his glory. A dedicated artist, his portrayals draw motivation from regular scenes. He is additionally composing his novel, composing web journals and discovering approaches to creatively express his thoughts and ideas.

"Whatever I have soaked in my personality is from watching my dad. He had faith in putting his words into action. His family was always his top priority, even more than his job. Every one of those supper table discussions and badminton matches we have shared have cultivated me into the individual I am today. He encouraged me to get satisfaction and happiness from properly doing my work", concludes Nishant.

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