NEET Success Story: Ritu And Kareena Yadav, Daughters Of Shepherds, Defy Norms To Ace Medical Entrance Exam

The cousins said they avoided using smartphones and spent at least 12 hours a day self-studying. Their parents did not ask them to help around the house either.

Ritu with her parents Hanuman Sahay and Sushila and Kareena with her parents Nanchuram and Geeta (Image credit: Allen Career Institute)

New Delhi: Ritu and Kareena Yadav, cousins from a poor shepherd's family, recognised the importance of education as a means of achieving success. The girls' uncle, a retired science teacher and the only literate member of the family, helped them prepare for the NEET as soon as they graduated from high school. Defying the odds, Ritu Yadav (19) and Kareena Yadav (20) of Nangal Tulsidas village in Jamwa Ramgarh of the Jaipur district passed their prestigious medical entrance exam on their second and fourth attempts, respectively.

"I was confident of succeeding after I gave my first attempt in 2020. I focussed on improving my score rather than getting qualified for admission in a good medical college," said Kareena Yadav, who scored 680 marks and achieved an all-India rank of 1621 and category rank of 432 in the exam.

"I want to become a neurologist and serve the community," she added.

On her first attempt in 2022, Ritu Yadav received 645 marks, good for an all-India rank of 8179 and a category rank of 3027.

The cousins claimed that instead of using cellphones, they studied on their own for at least 12 hours every day. Nor did their parents ask them to assist with household chores.

"I nourished the dream of seeing my children becoming doctors after I failed to clear a medical entrance test in 1983-84. The sight of someone wearing a stethoscope would inspire me," the girls' uncle Thakarsi Yadav said.

"Bade papa (uncle) not only guided and taught us, but stayed with us in the hostel in Sikar and did all routine work, including cooking, so that we could study uninterruptedly," Kareena Yadav said.

Now there will be two doctors in the shepherd's family, said Thakarsi Yadav, beaming with pride and joy. Kareena Yadav's father Nanchu Ram and Ritu Yadav's father Hanuman Sahay own two bighas of land each besides a few goats which is the main source of the family's income, Thakarsi Yadav said.