SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY [email protected]
PANJIM: While the question of political representation for Goa’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) community continues to occupy the public discourse, a young woman from Old Goa has quietly broken a different, less visible barrier.
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Dipshikha Karmalkar has become the first girl from Goa’s ST community to graduate as an engineer from an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)—an achievement that has taken her from a family rooted in farming to one of India’s most competitive institutions.
Dipshikha recently received her Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree in Electrical Engineering (Power and Automation) from IIT Delhi. Her journey, however, was not paved with expensive coaching or privileged access to resources. Much of her preparation for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) was done at home, with her brother Deeptesh as her mentor.
“Students from my community are equally capable and have the same potential, but many may not get the same exposure to opportunities and guidance… I hope examples like mine can help make those possibilities more visible and encourage people to recognise the abilities of students from our community as well as those from the general, without making assumptions about what they can or cannot achieve” — Dipshikha Karmalkar, BTech from IIT Delhi
“It means a lot to me because I have seen the importance of education very closely within my own family,” Dipshikha said, recalling the journey of her grandparents, who came from a farming background and had very limited resources.
Her father taught for more than three decades at Dnyanprassarak Mandal’s Higher Secondary School, Mapusa. “Both my parents worked hard for our upliftment,” she said.
That emphasis on education eventually took both siblings to IITs. Deeptesh completed his BTech in Engineering Science from IIT Hyderabad and is now based in Japan. Together, the brother and sister have become the first siblings from their community in Goa to complete engineering degrees from IITs.
For Dipshikha, getting there involved making do with what was available rather than waiting for ideal circumstances.
She prepared for the JEE from Goa through self-study, relying heavily on her brother for guidance.
“I prepared from Goa, with my brother as my mentor, who helped me with guidance,” she said.
Her parents also made a conscious decision to give her uninterrupted time for her studies. During those crucial two years, they relieved her from helping with farming so she could concentrate on her preparation.
Before the pandemic, she would study at the Central Library. When the library closed during the pandemic, she had to shift entirely to studying at home.
Then, just weeks before the JEE, the entire family, including Dipshikha, contracted dengue.
“It made an already difficult period even more challenging,” she recalled.
Yet she managed to stay the course and secure a place at IIT Delhi.
Getting into IIT was one challenge. Staying away from home and adjusting to life in Delhi was another, particularly as a young woman from Goa entering an unfamiliar environment.
“After entering IIT, being away from home in Delhi as a girl was an adjustment in itself,” she said. The campus, she added, provided a safe environment that made the transition easier.
More importantly, her years at IIT exposed her to people and perspectives beyond what she had known growing up.
“It was fortunate to meet people with very open minds, which broadened my perspective,” she said.
That exposure has shaped what she wants to do next. Rather than seeing her IIT degree simply as a passport to a career, Dipshikha wants to use what she has learnt to create opportunities for other students back home.
“I would particularly like to contribute through education,” she said.
Her interest in education deepened during her time with the National Service Scheme (NSS), where she worked with students with visual impairments and children from financially constrained backgrounds.
“That experience stayed with me because I saw how much difference the right guidance, encouragement, or even the right study material can make to a student,” she said.
It is a lesson she now hopes to pass on to young people from her own community, particularly those who may never see institutions such as IITs as places they can aspire to reach.
“Students from my community are equally capable and have the same potential, but many may not get the same exposure to opportunities and guidance,” she said.
Dipshikha hopes her journey will make those possibilities more visible — not as an exceptional story that belongs to one student, but as evidence of what is possible when talent gets an opportunity.
“I hope examples like mine can help make those possibilities more visible and encourage people to recognise the abilities of students from our community as well as those from the general, without making assumptions about what they can or cannot achieve,” she said.
Her message is especially directed at girls.
She urged young students to take their education seriously and work towards their goals, while calling on parents to invest equally in their daughters’ education and give them the same encouragement and opportunities as their sons.
