What started as a normal discussion between friends soon became a passion and a dream for Ramlal Bhoi, a 21-year-old resident of Ghosunda village (Rajasthan) who cracked the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET UG) 2023. Married off at the age of 11, Bhoi has to surpass many hurdles to be able to pursue his studies.
“Child marriage is a common practice in my village. I was married off when I was studying in Class 6. And while it felt exciting at that time because of all the attention and new clothes that I was getting, I realised while growing up that this practice needs to be stopped,” said Ramlal.
At the time of marriage, Ramlal had no dreams of a career and had no idea what it takes to become a doctor. It was a conversation with a friend later in Class 1o that made him realise that it is possible to become a doctor by studying hard.
“I had a friend in Class 10 who wanted to join the Indian Army. He told me the value of being a doctor in society and what it takes to get into the medical profession. I was fascinated and decided to become a doctor when I grow up,” he told indianexpress.com.
Ramlal Bhoi with his daughter and wife.
However, his domestic life became a hindrance for him. “When I was married at the age of 11, my wife did not immediately shift with me. I knew I had a wife but she lived with her parents, as per the custom. It was after 5-6 years when she started visiting my home and I was told that I have the responsibility to take care of her and build a life. All of that was overwhelming, so I started helping my family in farming,” he recalled.
Keeping in mind his new found passion for the medical field, Bhoi chose the Science stream in Class 11 and started self-study for the NEET exam after Class 12. “I relied on self-study through Hindi-medium books since I didn’t know about any coaching centre. After 6-7 months of self-study, Covid hit the world and it became difficult to study while helping out at home, however, I kept working on it,” he said.
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Asked if self-study was sufficient for the exam, he admitted that while understanding the concepts was not a problem, it was the evaluation that suffered in self-study. “I was able to understand things on my own and was doing well. But I had to join a coaching centre because I was unable to understand my progress. Since I was not appearing for any tests, I was not able to assess how much had I understood.”
Bhoi took coaching classes for two years and appeared for the NEET UG exam in 20221-22 when he scored 490. He decided to try once again and this time he scored 632. While he is happy that he has cleared the entrance exam this time, he is still clueless about the online counselling process and is waiting for his tutors to explain the process to him.
Bhoi with his family
“I want to pursue MBBS from a government college now, but even the government colleges will ask for fees of nearly Rs 1 lakh. I want to request the state government and others to help me. My dream is to become a doctor and help others like me who come from a humble background, especially in Rajasthan. I want to serve the society,” he said.
A victim of child marriage, Bhoi wants his daughter to grow up and choose a career for herself. “I have two sisters who were married at a similar age, and two other sisters who are still studying and I am motivating them to pursue a career. My wife has studied till Class 10 and I am encouraging her to pursue Class 12 from an open school. Looking at our lives and how I struggled to pursue my dreams while balancing the domestic responsibilities, I will always encourage my daughter — who is six months old right now — to complete her studies and choose a career for herself,” he said.
