Bantwal: This young lad from Kalladka has no control over the movement of his own body. He cannot walk and hence he has been confined to a wheelchair.

He cannot pen down words even if he wishes to as Muscular Dystrophy has unleashed tragedy in his life.

But, it is the same boy who has emerged as ‘top scorer’ in academics in an integrated school with a romping 601 out of 625 marks.

This is Aditya Bhat, son of an agriculturist named Ganesh Bhat from Mani village of Kalladka and Aditya’s achievement has only shown to world that nothing is impossible, if someone puts his heart and soul into his goal.

The rare physical condition did not deter Aditya from moving forward in life. What drives him every moment is his self confidence.

Aditya was a normal child till the age 12. He used to go to school and play around like most children do. All of a sudden ‘Muscular Dystrophy’ took him to its ugly clutches and slowly degeneration of body parts began.

Muscular dystrophy weakens the musculoskeletal system and hampers locomotion – movement of hands and legs.

With this condition, he continued studying in an integrated school. Instead of school van and wheelchair he relied on his parents. Everyday his father used to carry him to school in his arms and his mother stood rock steady to support him.

Their love coupled with support from his school mates’ injected confidence in Aditya. He started moving ahead in academics though he could not put a foot forward on his own.

Today he’s hogging the limelight! He has scored 123 in Kannada, 98 in English, 92 in Hindi, 100 in Social studies, 91 in science and 97 in English totaling 601 marks.

Aditya’s father Ganesh Bhat is delighted by his son’s academic performance and felt it was his son’s self confidence which made him surpass everyone and overcome all the hurdles.

“Aditya had appeared for the exam with great difficulty. He was provided auxiliary support during exams. As parents, we never treated him like a special child,” said Bhat adding that while the family expected 98 per cent marks, they are elated with 96 per cent that Aditya has scored.

Speaking about Aditya, Bala Vikas Institution, Mani Convener Prahlad Shetty says that Aditya is special not because of his condition, but because of his brightness.

“He has achieved this feat by fighting all odds. His achievement has made us very proud and he will always remain special to the school,” said Shetty.

Is Aditya DK’s very own Stephen Hawking in the making? Only time will tell…