It is one thing to get success in CAT, but it is no small thing to achieve success blindfolded in a dark room. Karan Kankhara, who is visually impaired, has done something similar. Not only did he crack the test, but he also got a seat in IIM Calcutta.
For 20-year-old Karan, the motivation to not give up in despair and beat the odds was found long back in Class 8 itself. He was then diagnosed with an inherited disease called retinitis pigmentosa (RP). This disease slowly started snatching away his eyesight. But Karan, a Jamnagar native, held firm to hope and belief: “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently!” According to Karan, whenever life pushed him to despair, this fact filled him with confidence again.
Presently with only 20 per cent vision he is ready to face the challenges of management life. Karan is grateful for the support and tireless support he has received from his parents- Jeetendra and Pooja Kanakhara, elder sister Shraddha, besides his teacher Illaba Sodha. He has no doubt about achieving his goals.
With this support, he changed his learning style. He started listening to the study material and tried to memorize it. When he prepared with the help of audio material his mother helped him a lot and prepared the audio study material for him.
Karan had given his SSC exam as a normal student but after that his difficulty in seeing increased. He then appeared for the HSC exam under the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) category, in which he was given some more time to write the paper and also allowed separate lighting in the exam hall. Karan scored 99 percentile in both the board exams.
Father Jeetendra Kankhara had an ice cream parlor in Jamnagar. But recognizing the talent of his son, he sold the property there. Then the family shifted to Ahmedabad to support Karan in his further studies.
Karan Kanakhara started preparing for CAT from the very first year of his graduation, as his dream was always to study in IIMs. However during the pandemic, Karan not only found it difficult to find a writer, but also had to sit for online exams. He accepted the challenge and gave the exam with the mobile phone near his eyes. Karan got full support from his college principal Sanjay Vakil, Professor Chetan Mewada, and many others. He took the CAT last year and on Wednesday he received his offer letter for MBA from IIM Calcutta and will join next month as he specializes in marketing.
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