Nagpur: Students who appeared for NEET twice this year said taking two high-stakes exams within a month took a heavy physical and emotional toll, with some even requiring hospitalisation before the June 21 re-test.Seventeen-year-old Charudutt Podey, who was admitted to hospital two days before the re-test, said the uncertainty following the cancellation of the May exam affected both his health and preparation.“I was very disturbed after the May NEET was cancelled. I was not able to pay attention to my health — no physical exercise, no diet restrictions, no sleep cycle — which led to a lot of complications,” he said.Despite the setback, Podey said his ambition to study medicine remained unchanged.“I’ll still want to become a doctor because, at the end of the day, problems are going to be everywhere; we just need to face them,” he said.Podey said security at the June 21 re-test was much tighter than during the first exam.“Even the zippers of pants were getting cut off because they thought we might hide chits in them. Nothing metal was allowed, which became a problem because there were no prior instructions about it,” he said.However, he praised the conduct of the examination.“The arrangements were pretty good, and the teachers were quite helpful this time. During the previous exam, the invigilators at my centre were not very clear about the procedures, and there was quite a delay in distributing the question papers. This time, they ensured every teacher knew exactly what to do and when,” he said.For Kalash Patil, who expected 575 marks in May and scored 539 in June, the experience left an emotional scar despite qualifying.“I am happy because I will get admission to a college. But the entire paper leak episode and having to take the exam again made me very sad. It’s something I would never like to go through again,” he said. (With inputs from Sophie Hocquet)
