Bhatta Ram, a Nalanda Academy alumnus, has been awarded the prestigious Rotary Foundation International Scholarship and will pursue his Master’s studies at the UNESCO-IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands.
We are glad to share his journey.
Early Years
Bhatta Ram grew up in Tapra, a village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district. Like many students from rural backgrounds, his early years were shaped by limited resources and long distances to school. He walked nearly seven kilometres each day to attend classes.
Along the way, he also encountered the social realities of caste. At roadside water points, he was often made to drink from a distance, with water poured from above so that he would not touch the vessel. In everyday spaces too, there were quiet boundaries about where one could sit, eat, or enter.
He did not stop studying.
Finding Direction
After school, he worked alongside his studies. At one point, despite completing the required years at his job, he was not promoted. That moment led him to reconsider his path.
In 2017, he came to Wardha after hearing about Nalanda Academy.
At Nalanda, he spent time preparing for higher education and reflecting on his own experiences. This was also where he began to see his journey with greater clarity, and to think about what he wanted to do ahead.
He applied to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai, and was selected for the MA in Water Policy and Governance.
A Step Forward
At TISS, he continued his studies while navigating a new academic environment. In 2019, he was elected President of the TISS Mumbai Student Council — an important milestone, and a moment of recognition among his peers.
His academic interest in water was rooted in his own childhood — in the distance he walked to access it, and in the ways access itself was sometimes shaped by social boundaries. As Dr. B. R. Ambedkar had once shown, questions of water are often also questions of dignity.
The Journey Continues
After completing his Master’s, Bhatta Ram was selected as a Mahatma Gandhi National Fellow at IIM Udaipur, where he worked on development challenges at the district level.
He has now been awarded the Rotary Foundation International Scholarship. He will pursue his Master’s studies at the UNESCO-IHE Delft Institute for Water Education in the Netherlands.
A Note from Nalanda
Bhatta Ram came to Nalanda in 2017, looking for a way forward.
Today, as he prepares to begin his doctoral journey in Delft, we feel a deep sense of pride — not only in this achievement, but in the journey behind it.
From Tapra to Wardha. From Wardha to Mumbai. From Mumbai to Udaipur. And now, Delft.
We wish him the very best for the work ahead.
