Fighting cerebral palsy, 21-year-old cracks JEE

Kota: Paralysed below the neck, 21-year-old Tuhin Dey writes exams holding a pen in his mouth and operates his mobile phone and computer the same way. This has not stopped him from getting admission to a prestigious engineering institute.

Tuhin, who suffers from cerebral palsy, secured Rank 438 in the JEE (Mains) this year and got admission in information technology at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology in West Bengal’s Shibpur.

Tuhin has so far undergone 20 surgeries and several plates have been inserted into his body to keep his bones straight.

A resident of Midnapore in West Bengal, Tuhin prepared for the exam at a coaching institute in Rajasthan’s Kota.

He had cracked the JEE (Advanced) last year but failed to score required marks in Class 12.

“Everybody in the institute is delighted that such a candidate has taken admission. I am very glad that he has received so many awards and he will definitely be a good student for us,” a senior official at the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST) said over the phone.

The official said it is for the first time that a student with 90 per cent disability will be studying at the institute.

The institute is in process of providing his family a lodging facility.

Stephen Hawking, an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author of several books, is Tuhin”s idol.

Since engineering has got less physical work, I chose to pursue it to realise my dream, Tuhin told PTI.