A 19-year-old from Kashmir's Qaziabad village of Kupwara District, Sajad Mehraj, qualified NEET UG 2024 while working at a bread stall in his village. The road has been tough, however, the constant motivation of his elder sister, Afshana, helped him sail through the tough times. The two siblings, who are a year apart, share a common dream of becoming a doctor and bringing their family out of the financial slum that they have been battling with for years. While Afshana is a second-year MBBS student at the Government Medical College in Srinagar, Sajad is now taking the first step towards his dream career. Clearing NEET UG was not an easy task for Sajad Mehraj as he used to work around 7-8 hours a day at the bread stall in his village. It was during the dough-making process, that he used to watch online videos of his coaching simultaneously making 300 naans. In his second attempt at NEET UG, he scored 650 out of 720 marks and now will pursue an MBBS degree from the Government Medical College, Handwara in the Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Since childhood, I have balanced managing our naan stall with my studies His daily work starts at 4 am and he returns home late evening by 7 pm. While talking to indianexpress.com, he recalled running a footwear and a crockery stall along with his brother ever since he was in Class 4. By the time he reached Class 8, his father’s illness had worsened the family’s financial situation, pushing him to start his own stall of naan. After his father's recovery, Sajad Mehraj started balancing between education and working at long hours at his stall. "My motivation to pursue NEET comes from my personal experiences and challenges. Since childhood, I have balanced managing our naan stall with my studies, especially when my father’s illness affected our finances. Despite these struggles, I remained committed to my education," Sajad said. NEET is not his only achievement, he also takes pride in the fact that he scored 82 per cent in Class 12. His elder sister helped him to develop a strategy for medical entrance examination. During financial struggles in their family, Sajad's relatives and neighbours suggested putting an end to Afshana's studies to save money, but the family bravely kept working hard to let the young ones of the family achieve their dream. "Even though my father studied only till Class 10, he never undermined our education. He always supported our education, even when there was pressure from our neighbours. His belief in education motivates me to pursue my dreams, and now I am set to live my dream," he fondly recalled. He joined Physics Wallah online coaching for NEET preparation. Using limited resources and gradually increasing the number of hours of study made him succeed, said Sajad who considered this as his 'mool mantra' of the NEET UG preparation. "I did get a bit nervous in the exam hall, but I decided to start with questions that were easy, as I knew that would boost my confidence. This strategy helped me build momentum and I saved a lot of time for the more challenging questions," he said. He also shared that setting a specific time limit for each question helped him avoid getting stuck on any particular question and prevented unnecessary stress. This strategic approach allowed him to optimise his performance and increase his chances of success in the NEET UG exam. Sajad hopes that once he becomes a doctor, he can make a difference in society, especially in rural areas with few medical facilities.
