NEET success story: Meet Ritu, Kareena, shepherd's daughters who cracked medical entrance without coaching
The cousins said they avoided using smartphones and spent at least 12 hours a day self-studying. Their parents did not ask them to help out around the house either.
Ritu Yadav and Kareena Yadav, cousins who come from a poor family of shepherds, understood the value of education as a path to success.
The girls began preparing for the NEET as soon as they finished school under the guidance of their uncle, a retired science teacher and the only literate family member.
Ritu Yadav (19) and Kareena Yadav (20) of Nangal Tulsidas village in Jamwa Ramgarh of the Jaipur district defied the odds and succeeded in their second and fourth attempts at the prestigious medical entrance exam.
"I was confident of succeeding after I gave my first attempt in 2020. I focussed on improving my score rather than getting qualified for admission in a good medical college," said Kareena Yadav, who scored 680 marks and achieved an all-India rank of 1621 and category rank of 432 in the exam.
"I want to become a neurologist and serve the community," she added.
Ritu Yadav, who made her first attempt in 2022, scored 645 marks and secured an all-India rank of 8179 and a category rank of 3027.
The cousins said they avoided using smartphones and spent at least 12 hours a day self-studying. Their parents did not ask them to help out around the house either.
"I nourished the dream of seeing my children becoming doctors after I failed to clear a medical entrance test in 1983-84. The sight of someone wearing a stethoscope would inspire me," the girls' uncle Thakarsi Yadav said.
He said while the girls prepared on their own for years, he got them enrolled in coaching classes in Sikar seven months ago after sensing the need for professional guidance.
"Bade papa (uncle) not only guided and taught us, but stayed with us in the hostel in Sikar and did all routine work, including cooking, so that we could study uninterruptedly," Kareena Yadav said.
Now there will be two doctors in the shepherd's family, said Thakarsi Yadav, beaming with pride and joy.
Kareena Yadav's father Nanchu Ram and Ritu Yadav's father Hanuman Sahay own two bighas of land each besides a few goats which is the main source of the family's income, Thakarsi Yadav said.
(With inputs from PTI) via DNA
