Son gives autorickshaw driver a new identity

“I have no words to put my feelings into words. It is like a dream come true. Actually I wanted to be an Army officer but the conditions at home and my father’s untimely death when I was in Class X shattered my plans,” says Chandrakant. “And that is the reason that I decided to support my son completely when he told me his dream to join the Armed Forces. Today,my son is fulfilling a dream I cherished for years.”

Having done his schooling from Ramanbaug High school and HSC from Poona College,Krishnant appeared for the NDA written exam in August 2006,but could not clear the interviews. “He was always a focused student and needed a few touch-ups such as general knowledge,reading skills and so on. He reworked and appeared for the test and the interview once again in 2007 and was selected,” says Colonel Pradeep Brahmankar of Apex Careers,who trained Krishnant for the NDA entrance.

Her eyes glow with pride when Rohini talks about her brother. “Over the three years,he would frequently come home. He was well organised and studious right from childhood,but three years at NDA have transformed his personality. The biggest change is in peoples’ approach who now look at our family with respect,” says Rohini,a third year student at Engineering MMIT.

When neighbours would ask his mother why she allowed her only son to join the Army and that he would be posted far from home always,she had one answer for them. “I told them: I love him and love simply multiplies with distance,” she says.