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Last Updated Wednesday November 25 2020 06:03 AM IST

A NEET victory amid big struggles

Ayyappan R
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A NEET victory amid big struggles Manjusha was born into a poor family in the coastal town of Thumpoly in Alappuzha. But that didn't stop her from chasing her dreams. Her elder sister Maheshwari greets her with a kiss after she bagged the 77th rank in NEET. Photo: Manorama

Kottayam: On Tuesday, when Onmanorama got in touch with K P Manjusha, she was on a public bus, taking her 60-year-old mother to a psychiatric clinic in Alappuzha. Since life has been relentlessly hurling complicated questions at her right from a tender age, Manjusha responds to her stupendous triumph in the hugely competitive NEET and JIPMER examinations like someone who knows fully well that soul-wracking worries hide just around the corner.

“I am happy, but I also know that our troubles have not gone away. But this win gives me hope,” the teenager said. Her all-India rank in SC category for NEET was 77. Three days ago when the JIPMER results were out, Manjusha stood 38 (SC category) at the national level.

Manjusha's preparation was done in trying circumstances. Her mother's condition worsened a week before the NEET model examination held at Darsana Academy in Thiruvalla. Manjusha fared badly. Sensing that her mother's health was affecting her studies, Darsana authorities found a private psychiatric hospital where her mother could be given efficient in-patient care. Darsana Academy, which was providing Manjusha free tuition and lodging, bore the hospital bills, too. “She was an exceptionally gifted child, and we wanted her to be in the right frame of mind before the examination,” said Samson S S, the head of the academy, and physics faculty.

Manjusha was born into a poor family that lived near the coastal town of Thumpoly in Alappuzha. Her father, Purushothaman, was a lottery vendor. “There was not much money but we were happy, very happy, my father and mother, my sister and me,” Manjusha said. Life subjected her to the first big test when she was in seventh. Her father died after a heart attack. Her mother, Chellamma, then took over from her father. “My mother was insistent that we should study, and the little that she earned by selling lottery tickets kept us going,” she said. This, too, stopped when her mother was felled by a freak accident. While Chellamma was busy selling tickets, a private bus that was reversing in a hurry knocked her down. Initially, there were just a couple of fractures. “But four months later her mother developed serious neurological issues, which the doctors say was the consequence of the accident,” Samson said.

A NEET victory amid big struggles Finance minister Thomas Isaac met Manjusha and her mother at her house in Alappuzha after she bagged the 77 rank in NEET. Photo: from Isaac's Facebook

Chellamma was so desperate to get her daughter educated that she started selling tickets a few months after she was diagnosed with neurological disorders. (The teachers at Navodaya School where she studied, too, played their part by constantly reminding Manjusha's mother and sister how good she was.) Eventually, her mother's determination rubbed off on Manjusha. Her first shot at NEET resulted in a rank as low as one lakh three thousand. “She was good, she had A Plus for all subjects in her class XII examination, but was not adequately driven,” Samson said. But her mother's dedication, even when her senses threatened to desert her any moment, was spur enough for Manjusha.

When finance minister Thomas Isaac visited Manjusha at her house on June 9, there was just one thing she asked of him. “Sir, please ensure that the pipeline gets extended to our house. If we have water in the house my mother need not have to walk all the way to an open well to fetch water and carry it back.”

Thomas Isaac has posted a note about Manjusha, and her struggles, on his Facebok page. The minister, realising that Manjusha would need financial support for her higher education, has also shared her account number. (Account No. - 37033699608; Account Name – Manjusha; IFSC – SBIN0003054; Bank and Branch - SBI Alappuzha)

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