Turning down 2 IIM offers & facing 9 SSB interviews - this is journey of Prajwal Samrit, Kargil War martyr's son who made it to Indian Military Academy

Prajwal Samrit, the son of Kargil Martyr Lance Naik Krushnaji Samrit, is set to join the Indian Military Academy (IMA) next month. He will join the IMA in Dehradun as a gentleman cadet in the first week of June. It is pertinent to mention that Prajwal Samrit chose IMA over offers from two Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) just to fulfil his father's dream.

 

However, making it to the Indian Military Academy (IMA) was no easy feat for Prajwal. He had to face nine service selection board (SSB) interviews to get selected. And finally, he cleared his SSB in his last attempt. He had also cracked the common admission test (CAT).

 

"This was my last attempt so I had to prepare a strong backup plan. I cracked the common admission test (CAT) and got offers from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Indore and Khozikode this month," Prajwal told TOI.

 

 

When Krushnaji died 45 days before Prajwal was born. Savita, Prajwal's mother, said that her husband was determined that one of his sons should fulfil his dream. "My husband wanted to see my elder son become an Army officer. After Kunal couldn’t do it, we hoped Prajwal did it. I feel very proud," Savita told the media house. Prajwal is a resident of Pulgaon in the Wardha district.

 

Savita works as a data entry operator at the Army Hospital in Pulgaon. She was married to Krushnaji in 1991. After Krushnaji attained martyrdom in the 1999 Kargil war, Savita decided to stay closer to her parents' home in Pulgaon as her husband's parents were no more.

 

In 2018, Prajwal had taken a drop after his Std XII just to prepare for the NDA entrance. He managed to clear the SSB but missed out in the medical test. He then moved to Pune to take admission in BSc at Fergusson College. "I made it to seven more SSB interviews. Each time I went past the screening but got conference out (exit). The reason was not mentioned," Prajwal told TOI.

 

After his 8th unsuccessful attempt, Prajwal decided to give up. However, his neighbour Nitin Kothe motivated him to give the final attempt.

 

And this was a turning point in his life. He fulfilled his father's dreams and got selected for IMA!