Thursday, January 05, 2006

Physically-challenged boy tops Senior Secondary Exam

Physically-challenged boy tops Senior Secondary Exam - Deccan Herald - Internet Edition

I just love to read and share these kinds of stories where people are not restricted by their limitations and dare to dream beyond and achieve. Way to go Akshit.

DH News Service Jaipur:
A physically-challenged boy from Kuchaman city in Rajasthan has made his family proud by topping the Senior Secondary Examination in the Commerce category. Akshit Kheralka was declared the topper by the Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education in Ajmer on Saturday. He secured 90.92 per cent marks.

It was a double pleasure for Akshit and Noble Senior Secondary School, as his classmate Abhishek Jain stood second in the examination for Commerce. But for Akshit, it was indeed a great moment that will go a long way in boosting his morale and achieving his aim of becoming a management expert in the future.

Akshit was born without properly formed hands but he never let this handicap obstruct his progress. He never went to coaching centres for tuitions but achieved the first position with regular studies, his father Chetan Kheralka, a salt merchant said. He told Deccan Herald that one should never feel inferior whatever the disability.

What makes Akshit's success special is that he wrote the exam with his half-formed hand. He said he cannot write with great speed but was given some extra time that helped him perform better. Nearly 34,000 students had appeared for the examination. The chairman of Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education, Dr Bimal Prasad Agrawal said had he opted for another ‘writer’, he would not have been able to secure the first position.

Akshit had secured 9th position in the VIIIth Board examination and secured 89 per cent marks in the Secondary examination. His proud parents said, “We have always told him not to let his disability dishearten him.