Prashant Kesarwani has quite the inspirational story; he fought against all odds and made it to IIM Rohtak, despite hailing from a humble background. The twenty-one-year-old from Haldwani, Nainital, said, "It was not easy for me to prepare for CAT, coming from a weak financial background as the fee and other expenses are quite high, and I cannot afford them." Prashant's father is a fruit seller who operates a Thela. His father is the sole breadwinner for the family, and his mother is a housewife. He adds, "Despite having a low income, my father is very supportive and was ready to bear the high expenses. But I did not want to burden him any further and decided to prepare by myself."
Despite so many difficulties, Prashant had the zeal to learn and wanted to change his family's condition. He started preparing for CAT by watching videos on YouTube, using borrowed books and photocopied notes and began giving mocks and analyzing them thoroughly. “I was determined, and nothing could stop me then," he claimed. He finally managed to score 97.02 percentile. “My parents were very proud of me, but I was frightened. I scored low in verbal and was afraid that it could stop me from making it to my dream colleges.” He managed to get calls from various private colleges along with IIM Rohtak. “I was ecstatic!” he shared enthusiastically. “I was also very anxious, as this was an opportunity of a lifetime, and I did not want to ruin it. I put my heart and soul into preparing for WAT-PI by practicing with seniors and friends and giving mock interviews. As an introvert, it was challenging for me to appear for GDs and Interviews, but I still gave my 100%,” he added modestly.
“Coming through so much struggle, this was my one chance to make it. I had in mind all the sacrifices my parents made to put me here, and I have to get them out of our current condition. All this put immense pressure on me to do well in the WAT-PI. The third of March was the judgment day, which would decide whether all this hard work will be fruitful or not. It was the day of my IIM Rohtak interview. I arrived at the campus and was mesmerized by the beauty. I wanted to make it. Despite so much anxiety, I managed to do pretty well in the Interview. A few prior interview experiences helped.”
“I was waitlisted at first. I hoped that I converted this call and did not want everything my parents and I went through to go in vain. Finally, on 1st June, I got the offer letter from IIM Rohtak. It was the happiest day of my life as I had finally made it. My parents were very proud. The tears of pride I saw in my parent's eyes and the look on their faces made all the struggles of my life worth it.”
"The college fee was high for my parents to afford, and they were reluctant to take such a huge loan, but I convinced them." As this is an institute of national importance, I got a loan without collateral. And finally, the dream came true."
Talking about his future dreams, he said, “My only priority in the next few years is to help make my family financially stable. I want to be in a position where I can finally tell my father that he does not need to do work anymore.” Adding on, he said, “Five to six years down the line, I want to travel with my family. We did not have the opportunity to travel a lot owing to financial constraints. One of my parents' wishes is to travel and explore the country, and I want to fulfill it. That’s the least I can do for them.”
With final resounding words of advice, Prashant shared, “To anyone reading this who is from a disadvantaged background, I want to say it gets better. Keep working. Despite all the struggles, it will all be worth it. Never give up; if you can dream it, you can achieve it.”