At least 160 student suicides have been recorded across India's top engineering colleges in the past two decades, with 69 in the last five years. Sanjay Nerkar, the father of Varad Nerker, saw his son achieve his dream of attending one of the 23 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) schools across India, including the seven legacy IITs established before 2000. Despite their reputation for academic excellence and social prestige, the IIT is often marked by intense pressure and relentless competition. The average salary of an IIT graduate working in the US ranges between $216,000 and $235,000 annually, nearly four times the national average salary in the UK.