AHMEDABAD: When the going gets tough, the tough get going. This adage found an exemplar in Kishore Chandarana, an autorickshaw driver’s son, who was crestfallen when it took him four attempts to clear the CA intermediate exams.
Then he made up his mind that he will score an All India Rank in the final exams, come what may!
Chandarana realized his dream when he scored AIR 41 in the CA final exams; the results were declared on Monday. Five students from the city have found a place in the Top 50 list of the country. Chandarana’s success is sweetest as it comes in the backdrop of a bitter struggle with poverty and huge sacrifices made by his family and the support shown by his community.
Chandarana says people from his community helped his father pay his fees for CA coaching and also fees for the library where he would study. His one-room-kitchen house in Sarkhejwas too congested to offer an environment conducive to studying. The big blow came when his father’s income shrank during Covid-19 lockdown and the library shut citing pandemic curbs. Forced to stay home, Chandarana made his terrace his study room under the open sky. Rain or shine, Chandarana would spend hours with thick CA books.
His sister Gopi dropped out of the education system due to the poor financial condition of the family. She took up a job paying Rs 10,000 to help the family make both ends meet and enable Chandarana to study without worrying about the next meal.
“I am extremely sensitive to the sacrifices my sister has made for me. It is my duty and dream to put Gopi back in college,” says Chandarana. “She wants to become a lawyer and I will ensure that she takes admission in the LLB course.”
The young man has trained his sights on a corporate job and wants his father to retire as an auto driver. “I know the importance of society putting its might behind a youth. Just like people helped me, I will fund the education of needy youth.”