CHENNAI: Seven years after missing out on a medical seat due to NEET, MV Nila Bharathi has emerged as Tamil Nadu’s top scorer in the Indian Forest Service (IFS) exam, securing All India Rank 24 in the results announced on Tuesday.
Her dream of becoming a doctor was crushed in 2017, the year NEET became mandatory in Tamil Nadu. Despite scoring an impressive 1,169 marks in her Class 12 board exams, she couldn’t secure a medical seat owing to her 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 B.Sc. Agriculture with the aim of clearing UPSC examinations later.
While Nila has cleared IFS, which is considered even more competitive than the Civil Services Examination (CSE) as the cut-off in the preliminary stage is typically higher than that of the CSE, Anbu is in the pursuit of cracking UPSC exams now.
Interestingly, 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.
"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.
Their mother, A Vennila, a poet and novelist, is naturally 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.