When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Adversities only made P. Vishnu Vardhan tougher. Right from an early age he had to fight his way to realise his dream of making it to the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun, and he made it in style being the first one from the State to be selected in last seven years.
Vishnu’s performance can also be gauged by the fact that he was the only student to be shortlisted by RIMC whereas, as per the procedures, RIMC shortlists two students from each State and selects one.
Losing his father at a young age, Vishnu faced hardship on several fronts. His mother P. Rama, an illiterate, could hardly make the ends meet working as a cook, and he was literally brought up with the help of friends and relatives. “Vishnu’s mother hardly earned anything to pay for his education,” Sandhya S. Kumar, a family friend said.
Vishnu was enrolled in Korukonda Vidyaniketan, Miyapur, with the help of friends and relatives and was staying there in a hostel since his fifth standard. He also failed in the entrance test of Korukonda Sainik School twice but his persistence paid off as he stood first in the RIMC entrance exam which saw about 8,000 students from the State taking part.
Vishnu is all set to enrol in RIMC in 9 class and wants to become a fighter pilot. “It’s my dream to join the defence forces and I have been working towards this goal for long,” he said. “It took six months of concentrated preparation to crack the exam,” he said adding that he was keen to join National Defence Academy, Pune after graduating from RIMC.
But financial troubles still haunt his prospects, Ms. Sandhya said. “To join the course Vishnu has to pay an amount of about Rs. 40,000 and we are still searching for sponsors,” she added.
