I remember kicking and punching the punching bag in the dojo laying on the mat sweaty and exhausted. I was happy back then. That’s what I want, to be happy again, to be able to use my body again and I will. I know this because I’m stubborn and I won’t stop until I have what I want.
I am an army brat through and through. My dad was in the army, grandfather on my father’s side was in the army, grandfather on my mother’s side was in the army as well, uncle was in Navy, I come from an army background and I guess that’s had a very important contribution in the way in which I was raised. Since my father was in the army we travelled lot during my school years, I did my schooling from various places Jaipur, Meerut, Bikaner and then Jaipur again however the last 5 years of my schooling words from Army School Jaipur. I was the head boy in twelfth standard and whilst I was in 12th I also appear for NDA examinations because I took it up as a challenge when one of my friend said that the examinations are really difficult. I cleared the examinations but did not appear for the interview as I did not want to hog the seat of some deserving candidate.
After 12th I decided to become a chartered accountant, gave CPT right after 12th and cleared it in my first go then waited for one year and gave IPCC, cleared the first group but I was not able to clear the second group and that was my first encounter with adversity and failure. I started my articleship with Agarwal Gupta and Sahu in Vasant Kunj New Delhi and I was able to clear my second group of IPCC while undergoing my internship. I came back home to Jaipur after finishing my articleship and gave my final exams in which I didn’t succeed in the first three attempts. I had exemptions in practical subjects therefore I decided not to put my life on hold and got a job with American Express in order to polish my communication and interpersonal skills whilst I was also preparing for my examination.
I joined American Express in Gurgaon on the 4th of August 2017 and on 25th of August the very day on which I had filled up the form for my November 2017 attempt I was in a car accident when I was coming back to my place from office. When I woke up in the hospital I was not able to move any of my body part my neck was covered in a cast, all I could do was blink my eyes and speak. The doctors told me that I had suffered a spinal cord injury and was suffering from quadriplegia and that I’d never walk again. I didn’t pay any heed to his words, I knew I could heal myself I just had to use my zidd in the right direction. I started that very day, the doctors had some sort of pipe inserted in my nose which went down my throat through which food was supposed to be fed to me, I asked the nurse to remove that pipe and give me food the normal way. She said no. I told her that there was no way she was going to feed me through the nose. She told me that shed have the pipe removed if I could eat an entire sandwich through my mouth while that pipe went through my nose and down my throat. I took up her challenge and I prevailed. She didn’t say anything just got up, went outside and came back with a doctor and had that thing removed from my nose. That was my first victory. I spent 8 days in ICU in Fortis New Delhi and then we came back to Jaipur and spend 8 days in hospital in Jaipur. My life had suddenly turned upside down, my body which I was so proud of was not responding at all. But I wasn’t worried I just knew it in my heart that I’d be alright.
Appearing for the examination was nowhere On My Mind, my first priority was to recover as much body movement as I could. I started doing physiotherapy. A few months later when we came to the conclusion that there was no cure available in allopathy we turned to Ayurveda and it showed some very good results. It was a very tumultuous time in my life. Every third day I used to get depressed but every time I did I used to pick myself back up and start working on myself. My parents were always there for me, they never gave up on me. That’s where I got my resolve from
Two years down the road I had reduced quadriplegia to paraplegia. I still couldn’t write with my Hands but I could do all my chores on my own. I decided to get back to ca course. All my exemption had been lapsed and a lot had changed in the course since I appeared in the examinations. I contacted my friends and got to know the ins and outs of the examination. I started studying, it was very difficult for me in the beginning because to sit one place for a long time was difficult for me but I kept my focus. I used technology to my advantage, I couldn’t write with my own hands so I started solving problems on my laptop, started recording my own lectures and would listen to them over and over again.
Having somebody else write the examination for you was a challenge on its own but I prepared for it as well. About 1 month before the examinations I started preparing with the help of a Scribe. Two days before the examination I got sick again but I had faced bigger mountains and this was not something which was going to deter me from appearing in the examination. My father used to carry me to the car and then go to the examination centre then again place me into the wheelchair and then I would sit there and appear and write the exams and then he again used to carry me to the car and then used to come back home. Every single day was struggle but nobody ever said that it was going to be easy. I finished up all my examinations and almost two months later on the 1st February 2021 I received the result of my labor. I did not just clear the examinations, I had secured AIR 3.
Since the results people have asked me how did you keep yourself motivated? Well here’s my answer. I didn’t have to look too far for motivation. My motivation used to walk around the house in front of me, my parents. These two people saw their 23 year old son get completely bedridden their only child struggling to even move his hands, yet they didn’t give up on me they didn’t loose hope. They cried but never in front of me. When they were not giving up on me how could I give up on myself?
Life is not easy, everyone faces problems. It depends on you what you do with those problems, cower before them or take it as a challenge and come out on top of it.
The road ahead is not easy, I know this. But my parents did not raise a quitter they raised a champion.
I see myself in the future punching, kicking the punching bag, laying on the mat sweaty and exhausted. Happy. And this will happen. Kyunki zid hai meri.