In a small village called Pali in Rajasthan's Bundi district, a young man named Kundan Meena has shown that no hardship is too big to overcome with determination. Kundan scored 602 marks in NEET, the country's toughest medical entrance exam, securing an All India Rank of 9,486 and a rank of 65th within his category, a result that has brought pride to his entire region. Thousands of students across India compete every year in NEET for a shot at MBBS and BDS seats, and cracking it with a strong rank is never easy, especially for a boy from a modest farming family whose journey nearly got derailed more than once.
A Teacher's Son Who Started at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya
Kundan's father works as a teacher at a government school, while his mother looks after the household. Growing up with a teacher for a father meant education was always emphasised at home, and Kundan got admission into Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in class 6. He continued studying there all the way through class 11, building a strong academic foundation early on.
When Covid Forced Him to Trade Books for a Tractor
During classes 8 and 9, when the coronavirus pandemic triggered a nationwide lockdown, Kundan's family ran into serious financial difficulty. Being the eldest son, he had to step up and take charge of the household's farming work, setting his studies aside almost entirely for close to a year. He drove the tractor himself, handled the sowing, and put in the same hours of labour as any experienced farmer would. While his peers were buried in coaching classes and textbooks, Kundan was out in the fields under the sun, an experience that, rather than discouraging him, only strengthened his resolve to achieve something bigger.
His Father's Quiet Sacrifice Became His Motivation
Kundan says that in villages, education often takes a back seat to other priorities, but his father always placed learning above everything else and pushed hard to give his children a good education. Working alongside his father and uncle in the fields during the lockdown, Kundan saw up close just how much they struggled to keep things running. His father would often tell him, "Son, you focus on your studies, we'll take care of everything else." Even so, given the family's financial situation, Kundan felt it was necessary to pitch in on the farm. It was his father's quiet resolve that stirred in him a determination to one day make his parents, his village and his town proud. Once the lockdown eased, Kundan returned to regular studies and made up the syllabus of classes 8 and 9 that he had missed, putting in extra effort during class 10 to catch up.
A Year in Kota Turned the Dream Into Reality
After finishing class 12, Kundan took a one year drop and moved to Kota, the city known across India as a hub for competitive exam coaching, where he enrolled at PW Vidyapeeth for NEET preparation. He admits his performance in class 11 was not particularly strong, but he worked hard through class 12, and after seeing encouraging results there, he chose to stay back in Kota to finalise his preparation. Kundan credits his entire success to his parents and teachers. At one point during the lockdown, it looked like his education might be cut short altogether, but today, through sheer hard work and his parents' blessings, he stands on the verge of becoming a doctor.
