'Malayalam medium student; gave up mobile phone': Kozhikode native Deepniya, Kerala's topper in NEET UG exam

NEW DELHI: Mahesh Kumar, a native of Rajasthan, secured the first rank at the national level in the NEET UG examination for various medical and allied entrances including MBBS. He scored 686 marks out of 720.

Deepniya DB secured the first rank in Kerala. The Perambra Avala native bagged 109th rank at the national level. Deepniya is the daughter of teachers Dinesan and Biji. Her brother Deepdev is an 8th-grade student.

Deepniya, who studied in Malayalam medium from class 1 to class 12, is now the pride of her hometown. She took a whole year preparing for NEET and gave up her mobile phone. She made sure to sleep only after preparing the daily topic taught in the coaching classes. The areas where she made errors in the previous exams and mock tests were prioritised, and ample time was devoted to correcting them. She made small notes, pasted them in the study hall and revised them accurately. Deepniya set aside 12 hours a day for studying and her only way to escape stress was to find pleasure in learning.

Deepniya exuded temerity and knew well that she would land up with good results if for no compromise in preparation.

Deepniya, who studied at Brilliance College, Pala has secured an A grade in Malayalam essay writing in the State School Arts Festival and first place at the state level in the Maths Talent Search Exam.

Nine among the first ten ranks at the national level were for boys. Madhya Pradesh's Utkarsh Avadiya and Maharashtra's Krishang Joshi shared the second rank. In Kerala, 73,328 candidates qualified.

Meanwhile, compared to last year, Kerala witnessed a dip in students clearing the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG).