Under the first golden rays of the morning sun, a young athlete moves swiftly across a tennis court in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. Twenty-two-year-old Om Kakad wipes the sweat from his forehead, glances briefly at the clock, and fires back another serve. The match is still alive, the intensity still high. But even as he focuses on the game before him, his thoughts briefly drift to another opponent waiting at home.
A Chartered Accountancy textbook.
In a few hours, he will leave the court, head home, and settle into a study routine that often stretches late into the night. For years, this was his reality: athlete by morning, CA aspirant by day and night.
“People think you have to choose between passion and profession, but I always believed I could do both,” he tells The Better India.
Today, the boy who once rushed from the tennis court to his study desk has emerged as a winner in both arenas, clearing all levels of the Chartered Accountancy course in his first attempt while building an impressive Soft Tennis career that includes national gold medals, three golds at the Maharashtra State Olympic Games and recognition as Maharashtra’s own ‘Golden Boy’.
At 22, Om has already won national medals and three golds at the Maharashtra State Olympic Games, earning recognition as Maharashtra’s ‘Golden Boy’.
His story is not simply about talent. It is about discipline and about a family that believed in him. Most of all, it is about challenging a belief that has long shaped the lives of young Indians — that passion and profession cannot coexist.
Refusing to pick just one dream
Growing up in a farming family in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Om’s earliest ambitions had little to do with balance. He simply loved sports.
While academics were always important at home, it was the thrill of competition that excited him. Every tournament became a new challenge, every victory a reason to dream bigger.
His father, Ravindra Ramdas Kakad, remembers a young boy who was happiest when he was playing.
“He always liked sports,” he says. “But we also wanted him to get a good education and become financially independent. We never wanted him to feel that he had to choose one over the other.”
That support would become crucial in the years ahead.
Om’s sporting journey truly began in Class 9 when he took up Soft Tennis. The sport was still unfamiliar to many around him, but he quickly showed promise. That same year, he won his first national gold medal.
Even today, years and dozens of medals later, he considers that victory one of the most special moments of his life.
“It was my first national medal, and I was representing Maharashtra,” he recalls. “Winning at that age gave me confidence that I could achieve something big.”
The win marked the beginning of a journey that would take him across district, state and national competitions. But unlike many young athletes, Om’s report card was keeping pace with his medal tally.
Om discovered Soft Tennis in Class 9, and within the same year, won his first national gold medal.
He scored 95.20 per cent in Class 10 and later secured 88 per cent in Class 12 while studying Science.
For most students, those scores would naturally lead towards engineering or medicine.
But Om’s path took an unexpected turn.
The leap from Science to CA
After Class 12, he faced a question familiar to countless young athletes: what comes next?
Sport remained his first love, but he also knew he needed a profession that would provide long-term stability.
The answer came in the form of Chartered Accountancy.
“It was a respected course, and it offered nationwide recognition,” Om says. “I knew that if I worked hard enough, the result would depend on my effort.”
The shift was unconventional. Moving from a Science background to Commerce and then entering one of India’s most demanding professional courses was never going to be easy.
Yet the challenge appealed to him.
Looking back, he believes sport had already prepared him for the grind.
“When you play competitive sport, you learn how to handle pressure,” he says. “That helped me during CA preparation. And CA taught me patience and consistency, which helped me in sports.”
The years of juggling two demanding worlds
If winning medals demanded physical endurance, pursuing Chartered Accountancy demanded a different kind of stamina altogether.
For nearly five years, Om’s life revolved around a schedule that left little room for leisure. His mornings began before sunrise. By six o’clock, he would already be on the court, training for hours. Once practice ended, the athlete in him had to make way for the student.
Om’s parents never asked him to choose between sport and studies. Their belief gave him the freedom to pursue both with equal commitment.
“There were days when I studied for 14 to 15 hours,” Om says. “When articleship started, I would train in the morning, work in the office from morning till evening and then attend classes at night. It was hectic, but I knew what I wanted to achieve.”
What made the challenge even harder was that neither of his pursuits allowed shortcuts. Competitive sport demands consistency. Chartered Accountancy demands discipline, and excelling in one often requires sacrifices. Excelling in both requires a level of commitment that can quickly become exhausting.
Yet giving up was never something he seriously considered.
“It was always a mental game,” he says. “People see the medals and the result, but they don’t see the sacrifices behind them. Every day was about managing time and staying focused.”
There were moments when exams approached, and tournaments loomed large. Moments when he wondered whether he should skip a competition and study instead. Moments when training sessions felt impossible after long hours with textbooks.
Each time, his family reminded him why he had started.
“My parents always supported me,” he says. “Whenever I thought about focusing only on studies or only on sports, they encouraged me to continue both. They believed that balancing both would make me different.”
When one dream strengthened the other
Ask Om what helped him survive those years, and he does not point to intelligence or talent.
Instead, he talks about pressure.
Years of competing at district, state and national tournaments had taught him something that many students struggle with: how to stay calm when everything is on the line.
“In sports, pressure is normal,” he says. “Every important match comes with pressure. You learn how to deal with it. When I prepared for CA Final, I realised it was the same situation. The pressure was different, but the feeling was the same.”
That experience proved invaluable in examination halls.
Sport taught Om how to handle pressure, while CA taught him patience and consistency. Together, they strengthened the qualities he needed in both.
At the same time, the CA journey reshaped him as an athlete.
“CA taught me that hard work matters more than talent,” he says. “Whenever I felt like giving up in sports, I remembered what CA had taught me. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.”
In many ways, the two worlds were not competing against each other at all. They were making each other stronger.
The day the ‘Golden Boy’ was born
By 2023, Om was deep into his CA journey. His articleship was underway, his schedule was packed and balancing responsibilities had become second nature.
Then came the Maharashtra State Olympic Games, popularly known as the Mini Olympics.
The event brought together some of the state’s finest athletes. Competing in the senior category, Om entered multiple events with little fanfare.
He left with three gold medals. “It felt like a comeback,” he says.
The achievement became one of the defining moments of his sporting career.
The following year brought more success when he secured two bronze medals at the 21st Senior National Soft Tennis Championship in Punjab, further strengthening his credentials on the national stage.
From early-morning training to late-night study sessions, Om’s mother, Anita, helped him navigate the demanding routine that made both dreams possible.
Along the way came recognition in the form of the Samajratna Award for excellence in education and sports, as well as appreciation from Japanese coaches associated with Soft Tennis.
But despite the accolades, Om still speaks most fondly about the first national gold medal he won as a school student.
“That was where everything started,” he says. “That medal made me believe I could achieve something big.”
The result that changed everything
If there was one day that rivalled the joy of standing on a podium, it was result day.
Every CA student knows the feeling.
When the CA results flashed ‘Successful’, years of early mornings, long study sessions and sacrifices came together in one unforgettable moment.
The anxious wait, the website refreshes, and the racing heartbeat, along with hope that years of sacrifice will finally be rewarded.
Om remembers staring at the screen as the result page loaded.
“The website usually hangs for a few moments,” he says, laughing. “When it finally opened, I saw the word ‘Successful’.”
For a few seconds, he could hardly believe it.
Then came the realisation. He had done it.
“I shouted at home that I had become a CA,” he recalls. “Everyone was so happy. There were calls, messages and celebrations throughout the day.”
Soon came newspaper coverage, felicitations and congratulatory messages from people who had followed his journey.
For his family, it felt like the culmination of years of effort and for Om, it was proof that the sacrifices had been worth it.
Om’s father, Ravindra, still remembers the long days when his son would wake up before dawn for practice and continue studying until late at night.
The family’s support extended far beyond encouragement.
There were long commutes, tournament expenses and countless adjustments to ensure Om could continue pursuing both dreams. His mother, Anita Ravindra Kakad in particular, played a pivotal role in helping manage the demanding routine.
Looking back, his father says he never imagined his son would become both a Chartered Accountant and a national-level athlete.
With his CA qualification secured, Om is now setting his sights on the international Soft Tennis stage.
But once he saw Om’s determination, there was no question about supporting him.
“When we realised he could do both, we stood behind him completely.”
Today, he hopes more parents will do the same.
“Children should be encouraged to follow their interests,” he says. “Sports can also become a career.”
A dream that is still unfolding
For many people, becoming a Chartered Accountant at 22 would be the finish line.
For Om, it is only one milestone. His next goal is clear: representing India on the international stage.
In a country where young people are often told that success demands choosing one path and abandoning another, Om chose a different route. He carried textbooks and a tennis racquet with equal seriousness. He learnt to live with exhaustion, pressure and uncertainty. And in doing so, he proved that ambition does not always have to fit into a single box.
Somewhere today, a student may be wondering whether to give up a sport for studies. Somewhere else, a young athlete may believe that a demanding professional degree is beyond reach.
From a young athlete winning his first national gold to becoming a CA at 22, Om’s journey has been shaped by the courage to pursue both dreams.
Om’s journey offers another possibility.
The possibility of showing up before sunrise for training and returning home to study. Of embracing both passion and profession without apologising for either. Of understanding that success is not always about choosing between two dreams.
Sometimes, it is about finding the courage to pursue both.
As Om puts it, in words that perhaps best capture his journey: “Education is part of life, but your passion is the art of life.”
And for him, that art is still being perfected — one match, one challenge and one dream at a time.
All images courtesy Om Kakad
