JOIN USOn a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi took questions from select students from across the country, Bengaluru’s Aatmik Ajoy was stumped when Modi enquired about his health.
The Class X student was diagnosed with Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease, a type of disorder which affects kidney growth, five years ago.
The 16-year-old, who seemed hesitant to discuss about his health issue, said:
“It was a really nice experience and I feel extremely honoured to be able to speak to the PM...However, I was not able to speak much due to the bad audio. This is the reason why I answered only with a straight yes to some of his questions.”
Aatmik’s father Ajoy said in a lighter vein: “By nature he is the type who would not like to talk much about such things. Probably it might also be due to the fact that he is not very good in Hindi.”
The conversation began with Aatmik drawing the prime minister’s attention to the fact that talented individuals were not taking up teaching as a profession. To this, Modi asked whether he would like to become a teacher.
“I told the prime minister that I would definitely like to become a computer science teacher,” he said.
Modi signed off saying: “Ok Aatmik, wish you all the best. Are you undergoing regular medical check-up ? You don’t have any problem. Ok, wish you all the best.”
Aatmik’s kidneys have not been functioning efficiently since his birth and have degraded slowly. Around five years ago, Aatmik needed a transplant but he did not have to look far as his father donated one of his kidneys.
“The operation took place on July 6, 2011, and since that day, I have been taking a lot of medicines. But it’s ok,” said a cheerful Aatmik.
Five girls from New Horizon Public School, who won the Technovation Challenge, 2015, held at San Francisco, were the other students from the City who interacted with the prime minister.