The vast campus of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is set to welcome a fresh batch of 400 Postgraduate Programme (PGP) students on Thursday. But a few students have arrived early for voluntary preparatory classes.

Two of them chat as if they are old friends, although they met only weeks ago.

What’s special about the duo? Bengalurean Kunal Mehta, 24, is visually impaired. After initial schooling in an institution for the visually impaired, his parents shifted him to a regular school in Class 8. His father is in the automobile spare parts business and his mother, a home maker. He shifted to management studies for undergraduate education after taking up arts in pre-university

Mr. Mehta was then recruited to a top multinational finance company. Two years down the line his thirst to learn more caught up with him. “I started preparing for competitive exams such as the Common Admission Test (CAT),” he says. He managed to clear it in his second attempt with an impressive 97.7 percentile.

Awareness challenge

For Himanshu Mittal, 23, who has spent all his life in Faridabad and is wheelchair-bound after an accident at home, IIMB is a dream. Mr. Mittal attended a regular school. “There is very little awareness about the needs of persons with disabilities,” he says on his experience.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by K.C.Deepika / Bengaluru – June 14th, 2017