Kota is a city of dreams, dreams of thousands of students who decide to embark on the Journey of NEET/JEE and choose Kota as their partner. Every year, students get down at Kota Railway station with a bag full of dreams and expectations on their young shoulders. But the question is ‘Has Kota been completely honest to them?’

As soon as one hails an auto from the railway station to their institute/hostel, their attention is caught by ginormous hoardings boasting the faces of toppers of that year. Hoardings of every institute, claiming their right on the topper who won the last race, putting everyone and everything behind. At that moment, one is bedazzled, bewitched, a gush of determination fills their heart. Such is the enthusiasm and magic of this city. Kota finally touches their hearts and sows the seeds of dreams, determination and motivation. It is nothing but truth when I say every student dreams of their face on the posters in that moment. But is it dream or a mere mirage they decide to chase in the moment? Are these posters the only and entire truth of this journey? Is your journey only successful if you reach these posters?

Not only this, as soon as the exam concludes, various institutes start claiming their position on the rank list. They have huge roadshows, posters about it. They felicitate the students even before the results are declared. And this escalates to a whole next level as soon as the results are out. Cash-prizes and expensive gifts and tours are announced for the toppers, there are interviews and exclusive sessions. So, is your journey only successful if it ends here?

No. Absolutely not!! Because what you see on these posters is far from even a portion of the truth of this journey. How come posters of different colours have the same faces? How come a single child enrolled in multiple courses over a course of a single year? Is it possible? NO! The topper that you see today was a student like you in the beginning of his journey, right? They got the same opportunities as you, right? NO!

We will never try and undermine the blood and sweat these students have put in to end up where they are. Of course, they did something extraordinary to end up victorious in this race. They put in hours, sacrifices, sheer hard work and focus. But we’ll also not let rest of you be deluded by a small part of the whole truth and question your capabilities.

So, here’s the thing, what you see is actually marketing and not the truth. It’s a way to ensure that the class rooms are filled in the following year. Institutes know completely well how to leave an imprint of young malleable minds. You will be told of success stories, glamourised struggles, spicy personal life titbits. What you will not be told of is the real truth. Truth about how the toppers had a slightly different path than you.

Every batch starts with a few students that have been part of coaching institutes as early as 8^th or 9^th class. In the first month, things are normal. But after the first test the dynamics start changing. The focus now revolves around the toppers of these tests. A few institutes take it up a notch and have special groups for rankers where they have exclusive tests and classes for them. Is it fair? We don’t know. We won’t be talking about that here, because life isn’t fair. We will only put the truth in front of you. However, this kind of distinctions remain in practice till the end of session.

A lot of these students sign up for DLP or change institutes and this is marketed by both the institutes to their profits when the results are out. This is you’ll see various institutes advertising their claim on the same student.

So, is the journey already meaningless before it even starts? No! What we don’t realise or acknowledge is the growth one underwent over the course of this journey. If you secured a college that is as good victory as anybody else, if you didn’t then you realise a new journey of self-retrospection. You either realise, your heart lies somewhere else, or you have a checklist of what not to do the next time. And its not all about whether or not you land up a college, it is also about the basic life skills you learnt, all the new things you discovered in yourself.

Another question that comes is, “So, Will we never make it to  posters?”. Well, we don’t know, neither does anybody else. All that is in your hand is being honest. Honest to yourself and your goals and your dreams.   Once you are honest to yourself, you get focussed. Know that there is no shortcut, there is no alternative to practice and persistence. With a lot of hard work, you never know!