He bagged seats in two IIMs but will join Indian Army to fulfill dad's dream

Prajwal Samrit, son of a Kargil martyr, is set to join the prestigious Indian Military Academy (IMA) at Dehradun as gentlemen cadet. He had cracked CAT entrance test and got seats in two IIMs. But Prajwal, 23, did not have second thoughts in opting for IMA.

Prajwal's father lance naik Krushnaji Samrit, who was martyred in the Kargil War in 1999, wanted his elder son to be commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army. But since his elder brother had opted to be an engineer, Prajwal decided to make all efforts to fulfil his father’s dream.

For Prajwal, it was a tough journey to IMA. It was his nineth and last attempt. “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 Times of India.


Prajwal’s mother, Savita (52), is happy that one of her sons will be able to fulfill their father's 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,” she said.

Savita is working as a data entry operator at the Army Hospital in Pulgaon, Maharashtra.

After his class 12, Prajwal had taken a drop to prepare for the NDA entrance and cleared the first SSB. But he missed out in medical test, Prajwal said.

He then moved to Pune and took 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,” he said.

Prajwal had almost given up on his IMA dreams, after his 8th unsuccessful attempt. But he gave another attempt after neighbour Nitin Kothe urged him.

“Many people had also warned him about the perils of Army life. He almost gave up after 8 SSBs but I told him to not lose hope for one last time. He has topped all his exams in his life. He did everything on his own,” said Kothe, who is a teacher at the Indian Military School at Pulgaon.