For the first time in their life, twins M.V. Nila Bharathi and M.V. Anbu Bharathi are living miles apart from their home in Vandavasi in Tiruvannamalai district.
The medical aspirants, who had scored high marks in Class 12 board examination but could not make it to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) merit list, did not let this dampen their spirits and had chosen to take an entirely different path. .
Eyeing the Union Public Service Commission examination (UPSC), the twins decided to move on and had opted for B.Sc. Agriculture. While Nila joined the four-year-course in a private college in Tuticorin, Anbu is studying in a college in Pollachi.
Students of Government Girls Higher Secondary School (GHSS) in Vandavasi, Nila scored 1,169 marks and Anbu 1,165 marks in the Class 12 board examination. However, Anbu scored 151 marks and Nila got 146 marks in NEET.
The twins did not take the NEET lightly. “We bought Central Board of Secondary Examination books and prepared for NEET. But we did not make it to the list. My medical cut-off mark was 195.5. In the meantime, we decided to appear for the agriculture counselling that was held in July,” said Anbu.
Though the twins were disappointed that they could not pursue medicine, they knew all was not lost. “I am a little sad that I did not get a medical seat. We have an elder sister studying agriculture. So, it would have been nice if one of us in the family studied medicine. Many are spending lakhs to study medicine in private institutions but I did not want to do that,” she added.
For Nila, opting for agriculture was a conscious decision.
“When I was much younger, I have heard my mother say that she wished to have taken the civil services. I took my mother’s desire and made it my ambition to become an IAS officer. I thought I could do medicine and then appear for UPSC examination as it comes with a good reputation. Nevertheless, I have fixed a goal but taking a different path to achieve it,” she observed.
She also had a piece of advice for students, who were heart-broken on not getting a medical seat . “Medicine is one of the professions. We might not have got MBBS admission but we have a life to live,” she said. In fact, the girl has been called for Veterinary Science counselling but chose not to go.
Separated for first time
What the twins missed the most was each other. “This is the first time that we have been separated. When we were in school, we cried when we were put in two sections after which they put us in the same class,” recalled Anbu.
“Anbu is such a good judge of my thinking and actions. She can understand my thoughts and see my actions. We even think of the same songs sometimes,” Nila added.
Their mother, A. Vennila, poet and Mathemdatics teacher at GHSS, Vandavasi, said the last six months were an agonising period for parents like her as there was no clarity about NEET in Tamil Nadu. “It was like a parent’s aspiration to have a doctor in the family, though civil services were the ultimate aim for them. But the last six months put us in a painful process. When we reached the dead-end, we had to make up our minds. But my daughters said they had an aim and were going towards it,” she said.
