Punjab boy Navdeep Singh, who topped the CBSE’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), was confident of securing a high score but never dreamt of securing first position in the examination.
The son of a Government school principal in Muktsar’s Charewan village, he has scored 697 marks out of 720 in the exam the result of which was declared on Friday.
“I was expecting a good rank in the NEET, but never thought I would top the entrance exam,” said Navdeep, who aims to study at the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) in Delhi.
With a percentile score of 99.99, the Punjab boy is followed by Madhya Pradesh’s Archit Gupta and Manish Mulchandani at second and third rank respectively.
About his interests, the 18-year-old said, “I have just two passions, studies and cricket.” He completed his Class XII from Shivalik Public Senior Secondary School in Mukstar with 88 per cent marks and later took coaching for the NEET at a private institute here.
Describing his son as hardworking, Gopal Singh said, “He slogged hard as his focus was to be among the top 10 in the NEET. Right from his childhood, my son did only two things — study and sleep. He slept for just six hours after passing his tenth with an aim to be among the toppers.”
“Since, I am a teacher of Physics, my son too developed an interest in the subject. Its the hard work you put that matters and not the place from where you do your Class 12,” Gopal said. He said his son secured the 202 rank in AIIMS as his general knowledge was not good, but that did not matter in the NEET. Navdeep has a younger brother, who is studying in Class 10, and his mother Simarjeet Kaur works at the life Insurance Corporation of India.