Due to a medical condition, 18-year-old R. Vishal is able to eat only small portions of food, taken in frequent intervals, which he may not to be able to hold on to for very long.
However, four surgeries, two procedures, and a medical condition later, his small but steady victories — attending classes regularly, bending backwards to complete his school work, and determinedly working towards a good percentage — added up to a grand score of 478/500 (95.6 %) in the CBSE class XII examination, the results of which were announced on Monday.
The spirited teenager is not only happy to be home, but also glad that the results are behind him now. A student of Modern Senior Secondary School, Nanganallur, Vishal was suffering from a condition called ulcerative colitis due to which his large intestines had to be removed. He developed complications, and had to go under the knife four times in a span of 100 days in 2012, recalled his father K.S. Rajasekar. Skipping a year in 2012, Vishal, who is now a colostomy patient, started class XII afresh in 2013-14.
When he went back though, he had to study with his juniors. “For the first few days, I felt like a stranger, but the students bonded very well with me after that,” said the CA aspirant who has already started preparing for the Common Proficiency Test. He is also planning to do B.Com through correspondence.
His parents, both bank employees, took a break to be with him on the day of the result. “I recently got a transfer to Tiruppur. After the ordeal, I wanted to be with him when the results were announced. It was an overwhelming experience. I keep telling people that this is about hope,” Mr. Rajasekar said. Though Vishal was permitted extra time during the final examination, he insisted that he finish the exam like any other student, his father said. Not one to speak about the difficulties he faced, Vishal said that his focus was on performing well.
K. Mohana, principal, of the school who was also his accountancy teacher, said that Vishal’s resilience was commendable. “He not only recovered, but did extremely well in school. His parents have been very supportive and would come to school to collect notes and school work. On days that he could not attend school, he even made submissions by email,” she said. “It could not have been possible without support from the school and teachers,” Mr. Rajasekar said.
However, it was not all work, he addded. “Even a day before the exam, he was playing on his X-Box,” he said. Every time he needed a break from studying, Vishal said that he would turn to his X-Box 360 to bail him out.
