In his school magazine, Sharad Ji was named 'Sharad Aheer'. Aheer was a belittling term used for the poor and the weak in his village. This disturbed him as he thought that his family was affluent, yet why he was called an 'Aheer'. He didn't respond to his roll call as he was called 'Sharad Aheer'. Sharad Ji was beaten by his teachers for doing so and this gravely affected him. This incident brought the issue of casteism to light and raised multiple questions inside him; he started realizing the inequalities that exist in society. Due to his personal experiences, he became against the unjust system to the point that it infuriated him. So he changed schools where he excelled in his studies as he was not outcasted. For his higher studies, he got admitted to Robertson Model Science College where he lived in a hostel. He was a Science student and it required hours of practice and effort, but he never ran away from any hard work. Rather he was diligent throughout his studies and even took keen participation in sports which made him well-known amongst the others. 
As his father was a freedom fighter, even Sharad Ji had a penchant for politics. He got into Jabalpur Engineering College and completed his Electrical Engineering with a gold medal in it. He was placed by the university but the mere thought of fighting for the rights of the less fortunate refrained him from doing a job. The politics of striving to give people what they deserve settled deep inside him. Recalling those days, Sharad Ji has said, "I got appreciated for my work. It became my duty to pay the respect that I got and under the burden of that duty, I got buried that I disliked doing any other work." 
Sharad Ji became the president of the Student Body and as a gallant student politician, he led 3 major agitations in his university. 
Regardless, his parents were always worried about him. They wanted him to study, do a stable job and settle down. His family didn't want him to go into politics.