He left a remote Maharashtra village to study in Australia, then came home to work

Ignasiyus Prakash Bada grew up in a remote Gadchiroli village, studied Arts in Nagpur, then completed a Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Curtin University in Australia through a sponsorship programme. He has now returned home to join a mining and metals company as a management trainee.

In Short

• Ignasiyus Bada grew up in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra in a family of seven with farmer parents
• He moved from village schooling and an Arts degree in Nagpur to a Master's in Australia
• After studying abroad, he returned to Gadchiroli and joined a firm as a Management Trainee

Australia was not part of Ignasiyus Prakash Bada's childhood plans.

Growing up in Bande, a remote village near the Surjagarh Iron Ore Mine in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, the idea of studying overseas was so distant that he had never seriously considered it. His world was the village school.

His family, he says, has always been his biggest strength. His mother Sarita works as an Anganwadi helper, while his father Prakash is a farmer. “Both of them have worked hard all their lives so that we never fell short of anything,” he says.

For Bada, education had a more immediate purpose.

"I saw education as a way to build a better future, become independent and support my family," he says in a conversation with India Today Digital.

He studied in his village before moving to Nagpur for a Bachelor's degree in Arts. Australia, however, "never crossed my mind. It felt too far from the life I knew."

Then came an opportunity that changed the course of his education.

Lloyds Metals & Energy gave him the chance to apply for its Curtin University programme in Australia. He went through exams, interviews, IELTS and academic requirements and was eventually selected for the inaugural batch of the Lloyds Infinite Foundation's Curtin University Sponsorship Programme.

The sponsorship covered his tuition fees, accommodation, travel and living expenses.

For the young man from Bande, studying abroad had suddenly become real.

FROM BANDE TO PERTH

"When I found out I had been selected, I was excited and proud, but also a little nervous," Bada recalls.

The excitement came with an unfamiliar question: how would he manage so far from home?

His family was happy too, but there was worry about sending him thousands of kilometres away. As preparations began for the journey from Bande in Maharashtra to Perth in Australia, their support gave him confidence.

The transition itself was far from easy.

At Curtin University in Perth, Bada was pursuing a Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship after completing his Bachelor's in Arts. Some of his classmates already had business or professional experience, while he was entering a field that was new to him.

"I was going to Australia, and I wondered how I would manage so far from home," he says.

He had to learn to manage his daily routine, studies and decisions independently. There were also different accents, teaching styles and unfamiliar academic expectations around research, original work, plagiarism and AI.

"Some of my classmates already had business or work experience, so I had to spend extra time understanding the subjects and finding my confidence," he says.

The experience gradually changed the way he approached learning.

'I DON'T KNOW THIS YET, BUT I CAN LEARN IT'

The classroom at Curtin was different from what Bada had known.

Students were expected to read, research, ask questions, share their views and apply what they learnt. His classmates came from different countries and brought different experiences to discussions.

Initially, Bada worried that his Arts background would put him at a disadvantage. Then came a shift in perspective.

"I realised that everyone had something different to bring to a discussion," he says. "I learnt that I did not have to know everything to take part. It was okay to say, 'I don't know this yet, but I can learn it.'"

That lesson extended beyond the classroom. Bada became more comfortable asking questions, speaking up and learning from people with experiences very different from his own.

His Master's also gave him a practical understanding of what innovation actually means.

His projects included examining UNIQLO's potential in Brazil, studying how AI and changing trends could affect the People Solutions industry, and working with a team on an AI-supported service-desk solution for CloudCore Networks.

The projects changed his understanding of what makes an idea useful.

"One of my major learnings was to look beyond an idea and ask what problem it is meant to solve," he says.

His course covered project management, business analytics, strategy, marketing, innovation and technology. But the most important lesson was not simply about creating something new.

"Having a new idea is only the starting point. You also need to think about the people and the problem behind it," Bada says.

HE COULD HAVE STAYED ABROAD. HE CHOSE TO COME HOME

After completing his Master's, Bada returned to Gadchiroli and joined Lloyds Metals & Energy as a Management Trainee.

For someone who had travelled from a remote village to an Australian university, returning home might appear like an unexpected choice. For Bada, it was a natural one.

"Australia gave me the chance to experience a different part of the world, but my connection to home never changed," he says.

His decision was also shaped by what he had witnessed in Gadchiroli.

"I can say that I have closely witnessed the district transform here in the past few years from being a sensitive, conflict-prone region to the industrial powerhouse it is becoming today," he says.

Bada says he had seen the work of Lloyds Metals & Energy and Managing Director B Prabhakaran in the region and wanted to begin his professional journey there.

Joining the company has also given him an opportunity to see industry from the inside and what industrial development can mean.

"Mr B Prabhakaran has shown me that 'industry' also means ensuring that the communities grow with you, that the people have a chance at employment, and they have opportunities, and a chance at a good life with necessary essential services and world-class facilities,” Bada says.

His experience has also made him think about the relationship between industry and the environment.

"At the same time, I have also learnt the huge role industries play in preserving the ecology around you, because when we give to nature, nature gives us back in return," he says.

For now, Bada is not claiming to have all the answers. His immediate goal is to understand the work on the ground, gain experience and eventually bring some of his learning from Australia into his professional life.

"I still have a lot to learn, so for now my focus is on gaining experience and understanding the work on the ground," he says.

THE JOURNEY HIS FAMILY NEVER IMAGINED

For his parents, the transformation is perhaps the most striking part of the story.

Bada is one of four children. He grew up with his two sisters, Rashika and Risha, and brother Eliyas, in a family he describes as simple and hardworking. “Whatever values I carry today, I've learned from my parents and the life we've built together,” he said.

Their son went from studying in a village in Gadchiroli to completing a Master's in Australia and has now returned to begin his career in the same region he calls home.

"For my family, it means seeing something we never imagined become part of our lives," Bada says.

He hopes other students from villages like Bande will see their own possibilities differently.

"I hope other students from places like Bande can see that where they come from does not have to decide how far they can go," he says.

Bada's own journey began without an ambition to study abroad. It took an opportunity, preparation and support to make that possibility visible to him.

"I never thought studying abroad would be possible for me, but with hard work, support and guidance, it happened," he says.

Now, the first student from the inaugural Curtin sponsorship batch to complete the programme is back where his story began, only with a very different view of what might be possible from a village in Gadchiroli.

- Ends