Ramesh Patel's hands still carry the calluses from fifteen years of polishing diamonds in Surat's Varachha area. His monthly salary? Roughly ₹18,000. When his daughter Priya cleared her 12th boards and announced she wanted to prepare for bank exams, Ramesh did what any father would do-he visited the nearest coaching centre. The fee chart made his heart sink: ₹45,000 for a one-year programme. That's two and a half months of his salary, gone before a single lesson begins.

"I came home that evening and couldn't look her in the eye," Ramesh recalls, his voice catching slightly. "She saw the pamphlet in my pocket and understood. She said, 'Papa, it's okay. I'll figure something out.' That night, I couldn't sleep."