Differently-abled student from Andhra Pradesh aces CAT to bag IIM Ahmedabad seat

Dwarapudi Chandramouli lost all his limbs after getting electrocuted while trying to retrieve his younger sister's ring from a tin roof.

ByPTI

Published May 14, 2023 | 7:57 PMUpdatedMay 14, 2023 | 7:57 PM

Andhra differently abled IIM

Demonstrating indomitable spirit and zeal despite all odds, a differently-abled 27-year-old man from a remote village near Narsipatnam town in the Anakapalle district of Andhra Pradesh managed to secure an MBA seat at the prestigious Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A).

Dwarapudi Chandramouli, a resident of Pedda Bodepalli village, lost all his limbs after getting electrocuted in 2018 while trying to retrieve his younger sister’s ring from a tin roof.

“I tried to retrieve the ring using a rod which got pulled by the magnetic force of the power lines abutting our home, leading to the shock and subsequent amputation,” Chandramouli told PTI.

Also read: Vijayawada youth among specially-abled contestants at Abilympics

Pursued a career in law

After three months of hospitalisation, Chandramouli, who studied engineering in Kakinada, was staring at a hopeless future when one of his father’s friends and a well-wisher advised him to study law, instilling in him the ambition of becoming a judicial magistrate in the future.

Heeding these wise words, Chandramouli enrolled for an LLB course at Anakapalli while his unwavering bunch of friends cheered him up ensuring that his sudden disability did not come in the way.

However, the disability poured cold water on his magisterial ambitions as he had learnt that under the existing rules, only a person with at least one functioning hand is eligible to become a magistrate.

Despite these dampeners, Chandramouli said he took it on the chin and worked for e-commerce giant Amazon from home to support his family.

Also read: Kerala HC directs MGU to consider a college for differently-abled

The IIM dream

A conversation with a friend who graduated from IIM Calcutta changed his outlook as to why he could not pursue MBA cracking the tough CAT examination in search of a corporate job which does not require physical strain.

“Then, I started preparing for the CAT exam following the ‘Rodha’ Youtube channel which provided all the study material for free. After doing my job, I used to prepare for the CAT,” he said.

Amazingly, without shelling out money on CAT coaching, Chandramouli aced one of India’s most difficult examinations by taking up preparation on his own.

The results for the CAT exam were declared in December 2022 and the final selection list of students for the upcoming academic year came out recently.

Poised to join India’s top business school in June, Chandramouli added that he would take his mother along with him to complete the joining formalities and is hoping for a bright future.

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