Mumbai: Teen battles crippling pain to ace Board exams

When Kabir Pankaj brought home an 86 per cent result in the ICSE Board exams his parents couldnrsquot have been surprised despite the fact that he was considered by many to be a brilliant student In fact the exams were an uphill battle for the 16yearold who had spent the past two years battling crippling body pain that doctors could neither explain nor cureThe Board exams were an uphill battle for Kabir Pankaj who had spent the past two years battling crippling body pain that doctors could neither explain nor cureHowever with a little help from homeopathy Kabir eventually began to feel an improvement and with just three weeks to go he decided he would brave the Board exams this year Kabir a Mulund resident is no stranger to hard workHaving begun his education in the Marathimedium Wamanrao Muranjan High School he had to adapt to a major change when his parents decided to shift him to an English medium school in Std VI His parents believed that since Kabir was a smart kid an English medium schoolrsquos curriculum would keep him better challenged and engagedDespite this major change Kabir proved his parents right when he began to score well within a couple of years In 2011 Kabirrsquos parents decided to shift him to Pawar Public High School in Bhandup as that was closer to their residence The boy fared well here as well but things took a turn for the worse in 2013 the crucial Board exams yearldquoI felt extreme pain throughout my body I could not even hold a pen properly I did not know what was happening to me and this was happening in Std X a crucial year in any studentrsquos liferdquo Kabir recalled Due to the pain he wasnrsquot able to attend school and had to skip a yearldquoI could not sit comfortably for more than half an hour as I was experiencing excruciating pain Because of this I could not appear for my board exams that yearrdquo said the teen Kabirrsquos mysterious condition baffled several doctors who were unable to diagnose the problemOnly when he started treatment under homeopathy specialist Dr Kshama Meher in October 2014 did he start to feel better ldquoHe had already been to many allopathic doctors but the problem just could not be diagnosed Kabir is a brilliant child his mind was overstimulated and I realised that he could not focus for longI gave him medication that helped set this imbalance rightrdquo explained Dr Meher After skipping one year of school in 2013 and attending on and off in 2014 Kabir decided he had lost enough time to his pain and told his parents he wanted to take the Board examsldquoIn February this year almost three weeks before the examinations were to commence he told us that he wanted to sit for the Boards We werenrsquot sure if it was the right decision but he had already missed out on a year and we did not want to discourage himrdquo Namrata saidCiting his health condition Kabirrsquos school was able to ensure that the Board waived the mandatory requirement of at least 75 per cent attendance through the school year With only 20 days left in hand to complete the entire syllabus the teachers did their best to help Kabir copeldquoInitially when I started studying from the last week of January it felt extremely tedious Though the pain was decreasing thanks to the medication I was not sure if I would be able to finish the syllabus But my teachers would sit with me in the library and help me personallyrdquo said KabirTo everyonersquos shock when the ICSE results were declared recently Kabir scored 86 per cent ldquoI am very happy that I was able to appear for my exams in the nick of time and that I fared so wellrdquo said Kabir adding that he hoped to go on working hard towards his dream of becoming a theoretical physicistlsquoIntelligent boyrsquoSuma Das Kabirrsquos school principal said ldquoWe supported Kabir to the best of our abilities Our teachers as well as the ICSE Board were extremely helpful We offered him a writer but he refused We have been observing him for the past two years and we knew he was an intelligent boy but he has surprised us by surpassing all expectationsrdquo