Tabassum Jahan, from Bihar overcame injury, poverty, and a 1.5-year gap to score 550 in NEET 2025 and win a ₹4 lakh scholarship from PhysicsWallah Vidyapeeth.
Eighteen-year-old Tabassum Jahan’s NEET score—550 out of 720—is just a glimpse into a much bigger, tougher journey. Behind that number lies a path filled with struggle, uncertainty, and cold nights spent sleeping on a railway platform.
“We couldn’t afford a hotel room,” recalls Tabassum, who hails from Bonda, Bihar, thinking back to the 3–4 nights she and her mother spent at Gorakhpur railway station. A year before those nights, she had a serious fall while cleaning at home, injuring her elbow.
A blocked nerve left her unable to hold a spoon, let alone write. “We visited multiple doctors over 9–10 months, but there was no progress,” she remembers. One hospital gave medicines for a couple of months, but it left them with no money to travel back home or rent a room.
“My mother would drop me at the clinic, then leave to do stitching work so we could survive,” says Tabassum. Eventually, a relative recommended a traditional healer, whose sons gave them hope. “I fainted after those injections, but still went every day,” she recalls.
Her recovery stretched over 18 months. But it wasn’t just the physical pain that troubled her. “Watching my mother borrow money broke me more than the injury ever did,” Tabassum says.
This pain sparked a bigger dream—one where she could one day help others, so her mother would never have to ask again.
TURN YOUR STRUGGLE INTO STRENGTH
Tabassum’s father, a farmer from Gonda district, barely earns ₹6,000 a month. “He never had a stable job. He’s worked as a mall security guard, sold clothes, and done manual labor. Now, he’s back to farming in the village,” she says.
Her mother also contributes through sewing work. She never completed her BA after marriage, but always encouraged her daughter. “She would say, a girl must be independent—always.”
While most NEET aspirants enrolled in coaching classes and read from full sets of textbooks, Tabassum had no such luxuries. She relied on a basic phone, free YouTube lectures, and pure determination. “I didn’t even own all the NCERT books,” she admits. The medicine often made her drowsy, but she pushed herself to read. “I read because I couldn’t write.”
A GAP, BUT NOT A DEAD END
The injury resulted in a 1.5-year academic break. Many would have given up. Tabassum didn’t have that option. “When people insulted my mother for asking for help, it crushed me. That’s when I decided—I wanted to be a doctor, a respected profession. I wanted people to treat us with dignity,” she says.
That pain became her fuel. “Others might have more resources, but I had grit, books, and the will to work hard,” she explains.
Initially, even her father was skeptical. “He’d say—what’s the use of English-medium studies when we can’t even afford the basics? But my mother kept saying—study in a way that something good comes out of it.”
Extended family raised doubts too, warning that medical education is expensive. But Tabassum stayed quiet and kept going.
HOW A SCHOLARSHIP CHANGED EVERYTHING
In 2024, she scored 621. That opened a door—PhysicsWallah Vidyapeeth offered free offline NEET coaching to anyone scoring 600+. Tabassum didn’t hesitate. “I’ll always be thankful to PW and Alakh Sir for giving students like me a chance,” she says.
She credits the coaching center’s support, study materials, and practice tests for helping her prepare seriously. In 2025, she scored 550 and cleared NEET again—but her dream still hung in the air, financially.
That’s when PW awarded her a ₹4 lakh scholarship. “Now, I can study MBBS without worrying about money,” she says, smiling.
HER MESSAGE: ‘FIND STRENGTH WITHIN’
To those facing tough times, Tabassum offers honest advice: “Money can buy books, but not knowledge. That only comes from your effort.”
She especially wants girls to aim high. “Be independent. Recognize your strength. It’s in you, even if the world tells you otherwise,” she says.
From a motionless elbow to an unstoppable spirit—Tabassum Jahan’s journey is proof that when you refuse to give up, life eventually gives in.
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