I have to do it for them: Girl takes NEET PG as parents go missing after Nepal floods
She had spent years preparing for three hours that could shape her future. But on August 30, Tanvi entered the NEET PG exam hall not knowing where her parents were or whether they were safe.
August 30 was supposed to be another big day in Tanvi’s journey towards becoming a doctor. She had spent years preparing for NEET PG and, like thousands of other aspirants, walked into the examination hall knowing that she had three hours to give it everything she had. But Tanvi’s mind was elsewhere.
Her parents were missing. They were travelling with a 67-member Kailash Yatra group when the group was caught in the floods in Nepal. She had been unable to establish contact with them. Despite that, Tanvi went to the examination centre and sat for her test.
She later spoke about those three hours in an emotional video posted on Instagram. She said she spent almost half the examination crying. “Out of the three-hour exam, one and a half hours, I spent crying.” There were moments when she could barely read the questions through her tears. But she kept going.
She had one thought to hold on to, her father would have wanted her to take the exam.
THE PHOTO ON HER ADMIT CARD...
One of the hardest moments came when Tanvi saw her photograph on the examination screen. It was the picture from her admit card, a photograph her father had taken. “That photo was taken by my dad,” she said.
In the middle of an exam she had prepared so hard for, a routine detail suddenly became a reminder of what was happening outside the examination hall. Tanvi said she kept telling herself that her father wanted her to appear for the exam.
“I just knew that my dad wants me to give this exam and I have to do it for him, I have to do it for my parents,” she said. So she stayed and finished the paper.
‘MY MOM WOULD ALWAYS GIVE ME CURD AND SUGAR’
There was another memory that stayed with Tanvi that morning — one that had nothing to do with medicine, preparation or the examination itself. Before important exams, her mother would give her curd and sugar before she left.
It had become a familiar part of exam day. This time, her mother was not there. “More than the exam, the most difficult part was that before the exam, my mom would always give me curd and sugar,” Tanvi said.
It was a small ritual, but in her absence, her daughter noticed it.
She also became emotional while speaking about her parents in the video, repeatedly expressing hope that they would return home safely.
“They have to come,” she said.
According to Tanvi’s earlier social media posts, her parents, Venkatram Annamdevara and Anagha Annamdevara, were part of a 67-member group travelling on a Kailash Yatra. She has not been able to establish contact with the tour group or the organisation handling the pilgrimage. Tanvi had earlier said the group’s last known location was around the immigration centre and the Friendship Bridge in Nepal.
As the other members of her family wait for information, Tanvi is also waiting — for news of her parents and for the day when they can come home.
On August 30, she had to do something she had spent years preparing for while dealing with something no examination could prepare her for. She sat for the NEET PG paper, and she completed it.