Affected by polio at the age of two and a half years, H Ramakrishnan had to battle out every step in life. Even when he had to attend school he was denied admission to the local school and had to be taken to a different school in a different town by his maternal grandfather. After he passed the UPSC exam when Ramakrishnan went to join duty as either news reader, translator or reporter but he was not accepted for the post because of his handicap (he has polio in both his legs).