Seven years after missing out on a medical seat due to NEET, MV Nila Bharathi has emerged Tamil Nadu’s top scorer in the Indian Forest Service (IFS) exam, securing All India Rank (AIR) 24 in the results announced on Tuesday, May 20.
Her dream of becoming a doctor was crushed in 2017, the year National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) became mandatory in Tamil Nadu. Despite scoring an impressive 1,169 marks in Class 12 board exams, she couldn’t secure a medical seat owing to NEET rank. Her twin sister, MV Anbu Bharathi, who scored 1,165 marks, also faced the same situation.
Not to be bogged down by the disappointment, both opted to pursue BSc Agriculture with the aim of clearing Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations later.
While Nila has cleared IFS, which is considered even more competitive than the civil services examination (CSE) in some ways as the cut-off for IFS in the preliminary stage is typically higher than that of the CSE, Anbu is in the pursuit of cracking UPSC exams now, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
What is even more interesting is that their elder sister MV Kavin Mozhi, recently cleared the UPSC civil services examination with an All India Rank of 546 and is set to join the Indian Police Service (IPS).
"It was our mother A Vennila’s dream to become an IAS officer. When we were in Class 3, we came across her old UPSC application form. Since then, the dream of Civil Services became ours," Nila said.
This was Nila’s third attempt. Last year, in her second attempt, she made it till the interview stage of the CSE. The pursuit does not seem to have ended for her as she sees this result as a beacon of hope to achieve her aim of becoming an IAS officer.
"It is difficult for any aspirant to begin another year of preparation after an unsuccessful attempt. When my name wasn’t in the CSE list this year, I was disheartened. But this result is reassuring, it gives me the confidence to keep going and prepare to clear the CSE," she said.
Vennila, a poet and novelist, is elated. Recalling her own unfulfilled dream, she said, “Though my father was progressive, our financial situation didn’t allow me to pursue UPSC. He used say I have made you a teacher, you can pass on your UPSC dream to your daughters. Today, I am happy his words have come true, that too incidentally on his 18th death anniversary," she said.
