Securing the 9th all-India rank in the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) examinations and emerging Gujarat state topper came as a surprise to 17-year-old Zeel Vyas on Thursday. What followed was euphoric congratulatory calls from across the country, news interviews, and the sudden realisation that she needs to renew her goals.
Five Gujarat students were among the top 50 candidates in the NEET examinations, the results of which were announced late Wednesday by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The others were Jay Rajyaguru (AIR 16) from Ahmedabad, Helly Mehul Patel (AIR 31), Nitant Bhavik Joshi (AIR 32) from Surat, and Rupavatiya Rushi (AIR 33) from Surat (AIR 48).
Zeel, a student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavans school in Makarpura in Vadodara, said, “I am happy. I had expected the marks, but not the rank. It came as a pleasant surprise… But, now, I realise I have achieved my aim. I need to sit back and aim for something again!”
Zeel, who prefers to secure her admission to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, is the only child of a Vadodara-based physician and pharmacist couple.
Zeel’s father Dr Vipul Vyas and mother Vaishali are ecstatic. Zeel says, “My parents are very proud of my achievement and that makes it even more important.. They have played a very important role in shaping me. Although I come from a family with a medical background, pursuing a career in medicine is out of my own interest… However, I do not plan to become a practicing doctor. I am keen on pursuing medical research after taking up MBBS.”
Following his family’s footsteps, Jay Rajyaguru (18) from Ahmedabad is about to become the latest member of his family to study MBBS.
Both his parents-Dipak and Nina and his sister, the only sibling, are doctors and so is his maternal grandfather.
With the score of 706 in NEET UG 2022, and an AIR of 16, Jay is hoping to complete his medical education from AIIMS Delhi. He has topped in Gujarat among the male candidates.
Having seen the kind of respect his parents got from the society, Jay decided to follow in their footsteps, when he was in Class 8. “I looked up to my father as a role model. He is a renowned urologist. Even though I liked engineering almost equally, growing up in a family of doctors tilted the scale in favour of medicine,” he says.
He was so determined to achieve his goal that he would drive 70 kilometres every other day for months from his home in Mehsana to Ahmedabad to clear his doubts with his coaching teachers.
His father, Dipak says, “He is an allrounder, very down to earth and much focussed, be it his studies or any other activity.”
Jay had to complete his NEET preparation through online classes while the Covid pandemic was raging.