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Over 23 Julys later, Prajwal is set to join the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) at Dehradun as gentlemen cadet in the first week of June. After his elder brother Kunal opted for engineering, Prajwal (23) took it upon himself to fulfil their father’s dream which eventually also became the wish of everyone in the family.
However, it was not easy for Prajwal who had to face nine service selection board (SSB) interviews to achieve his goal. “This was my last attempt so I had to prepare a strong backup plan. I cracked the common admission test (CAT) and got offers from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore and Khozikode this month,” Prajwal told TOI.
Savita (52), Prajwal’s mother, said though she lost her husband in the Kargil war, she was determined that one of her sons fulfil his dream. “My husband wanted to see my elder son become an Army officer. After Kunal couldn’t do it, we hoped Prajwal did it. I feel very proud,” she said.
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Kargil martyr’s son join dad’s battalion
Savita is working as a data entry operator at the Army Hospital in Pulgaon. She was married to Krushnaji in 1991. The couple lived at Trivandrum, Belgaum and Kolkata as per Krushnaji’s postings before he left for Kargil. As Krushnaji’s parents were no more, Savita stayed at Pulgaon close to her parents’ home.
“We don’t know the exact date but we observe his death anniversary on July 30,” said Prajwal. In 2018, Prajwal had taken a drop after his Std XII to prepare for the NDA entrance and cleared the first SSB. “I was recommended but missed out in medical test,” he said.
The same year he moved to Pune and took admission in BSc at Fergusson College. “I made it to seven more SSB interviews. Each time I went past the screening but got conference out (exit). The reason was not mentioned,” he said.
After his 8th unsuccessful attempt, Prajwal almost gave up when his neighbour Nitin Kothe urged him to attempt his final opportunity.
“Many people had also warned him about the perils of Army life. He almost gave up after 8 SSBs but I told him to not lose hope for one last time. He has topped all his exams in his life. He did everything on his own,” said Kothe, who is a teacher at the Indian Military School at Pulgaon.
Prajwal said he has no second thoughts on grabbing the IMA offer over the top two IIMs.
