Meet man who sold golgappas during day, studied at night, cracked tough exam, has now joined ISRO as..., he is...

A man working on a street later joins NASA? Is this believable? Definitely not. Can this be real? Definitely yes. From cracking tough exams like NEET, UPSC, JEE to getting highly paid jobs in Silicon Valley, Indians have made everything possible. One example is Ramdas Hemraj Marbade, who is a simple village man of Khairbodi, in Maharashtra’s Gondia District. He did everything that could allow him entry into India’s space agency the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Determination, hard work, and being hopeful made him consistent in his preparation to join one of India’s most prestigious organisations. 

How Ramdas prepared for ISRO  

His journey to ISRO was not an easy one as he came from a very poor background who sold golgappas or pani puris (puffed rice balls) in the daytime and studied hard in the night and never lost an opportunity to fulfill his dream of joining India’s sole space agency, ISRO. However, he could do this partly because of his parents who maybe poor but encouraged him to chase his dreams. His father was a peon in a government school and mother was a homemaker. Since childhood, his family has seen poverty and financial difficulties.  

But Ramdas was determined to pull his family out of this misery and give them a life of comfort and reputation. So, he used to work during the day selling street food to support his family and studied at night to prepare for a better future. There were not many options for him, or we can say, the options were far-fetched but he chose to work harder to achieve them and provide for his family. For others, he was just a food vendor who sold golgappas from street to street but at night he would become the owner of his destiny by giving him what many privileged people are unable to have-being a passionate dreamer. 

By selling golgappas Ramdas supported his education as well. He completed his schooling two different schools, Ganesh High School, Gumadhavada and C.G. Patel College, Tiroda. He then pursued BA from a private college in Nashik as he could not afford expensive courses.  

How Ramdas joined ISRO 

Ramdas applied for ISRO’s Apprentice Trainee post via recruitment notification in 2023. The next year he passed the written examination in Nagpur and ISRO called him for their skill test at Sriharikota on August 29, 2024. He cleared the skill test as well and was selected to ISRO as a Pump Operator-cum-Mechanic. He recently joined the organisation on May 19, 2025. He is now working on micro aspects of research while holding this position.