Mangaluru: Of the at least 35,000 students that appeared for the II PU board examinations in Dakshina Kannada, one of them was Arjun Adyanthaya – a physically-challenged teenager – who wants to carve a niche of his own.

Arjun suffers from a rare genetic disorder, osteogenesis imperfecta, which has left him with fragile bones, due to which he can’t even walk. His body is so fragile, that he is yet to recover from a fracture on his hand 12 months ago. However, Arjun, said with a broad smile that he is determined to face the world despite his disability.

“I have accepted myself the way I am. I see the positive side of it. For example, as I cannot play, I invested my time fully on studies during the revision holidays. There are days which I have used completely to study. This helped me prepare better for the exams,” Arjun told TOI, after giving his first paper, which was economics, on Thursday.

LLB student Rashmi K Mallya was Arjun’s scribe for the exam. Rashmi is the daughter of Arjun’s father K Bhagwandas Adyanthaya’s, colleague, and also a neighbour. It was Rashmi who wrote Arjun’s I PU final exams as well.

Bhagwandas is an executive at a private firm, while his mother Vanitha B is a homemaker. A few years ago, the family bought a first-floor apartment, hoping that Arjun’s condition will improve. However, as it didn’t and Arjun wanted a place that will be more suited to his needs, the family shifted to another residence.

“Arjun said he wanted to study. We did not want to dash his hopes as he has pinned them on us, so we shifted to a place that suits his academic needs, ignoring the monetary issue,” Vanitha said.

His parents say the St Aloysius PU College, has helped Arjun immensely. However, he still struggles with certain issues, such as attending nature’s call.

“We give him water only in the morning before he leaves for college, so that he doesn’t feel the urge to relieve himself in the college. We pack his lunch box. After having lunch at college, he drinks only half a glass of water.

He answers nature’s call only after reaching home in the evening. This has been the practice for the last three years,” Bhagwandas said, adding that they cannot expect help from anybody in college, to help a grown-up Arjun relieve himself.

Considering his case, the PU education board has relaxed rules for Arjun. The board has said Arjun can answer only four core subject exams, and that he need not appear for the language exam.

Arjun aspired to become an automobile engineer. However, as it wouldn’t be possible for him to stand for long hours during the practical classes, Arjun took up computer science in commerce. Arjun now wants to focus on computers and has zeroed in on taking up the Bachelors in Computer Application (BCA) course next.