Nazia is the first girl from Pachpahar village in Rajasthan’s Jhalawar district to pursue the prestigious MBBS; she also teaches children in her free time
By Aabshar H Quazi
KOTA: It requires a very strong will to come up trumps in the face of odds and adversities of the kind that this girl from a small Rajasthan village has faced. On the hindsight, it would have been easy to give up. But not if you have a steely resolve like Nazia’s, who’s now on course to becoming the first girl from Pachpahad village near Bhawanimandi in Jhalawar district to become a doctor.
Consider this: Nazia’s family lives in the village with meagre resources. Her father, Isamuddin, a tempo driver, takes care of the family expenses by driving a tempo he has taken on loan, in Bhawanimandi. Because of the distressful situation, her mother, Amina Bi works as a labourer in the fields of co-villagers.
Nazia has a younger sister who has just passed her 12th and a brother who’s studying in 10th standard. Nazia studied in the village itself until the 8th standard, and in a government school of Bhawanimandi from classes 9 to 12. She used to cycle 5 kilometres daily to reach her school. The cycle was provided to her by the government.
She has finally achieved success this year by clearing the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET, formerly the All India Pre-Medical Test, and making her family, and the village, and the acquaintances very, very proud of her. She has scored 668 marks in the NEET (UG) 2021 results released by the National Testing Agency (NTA). Her All India Rank is 1,759, and the OBC Category Rank is 477.
Currently, her counselling is going on, while her admission to a government college is confirmed.
“Along with the poverty, it was also a challenge not to be coming from a family with a strong educational background. It’s thanks to my father who defied the opinion of the family members and paid full attention to my studies. He provided his full support and cooperation to the best of his ability,” says Nazia.
“I had been trying to clear NEET for the last four years. Every year I got more marks than the previous year. Last year I fetched 602 marks but still couldn’t get the college I desired. This year I worked harder and proved myself,” she adds with a bright expression.
She wants to become a gynecologist
As she pursues her MBBS with all the hard work needed, Nazia wants to specialize as a gynecologist.
Nazia also has heart beating to teach underprivileged children. After clearing the NEET exam and until the time of counselling, she had been regularly going to the government school in the village and teaching young children there.
Given the financial situation of her family, the ALLEN Career Institute provided Nazia a 75 percent rebate in fees last year. Along with preparing for NEET, Nazia also completed her B.Sc. The scholarship provided by the state government also supported her academic journey.
Nazia’s story shows how the empowering light of education is now spreading to small towns and villages – from India’s ‘Coaching Capital’ Kota. With the enabling environment that Kota provides to students aspiring for admission to top medical and engineering colleges, it also facilitates students from humble backgrounds to dream big and realise their potential.
“Allen Career Institute is always ready to support talented boys and girls who have the strong will to succeed,” said Naveen Maheshwari, director, ALLEN Career Institute.
“Nazia has brought laurels to her family and her village. Such children are set to become trendsetters for the region and society and an inspiration to other students. ALLEN will continue to help such children,” he added.
Aabshar H Quazi is a journalist based in Kota.