Kota, October 16:
NEET Results 2020: Odisha boy Soyeb Aftab (18) has scored 720 out of 720 marks to emerge as the topper of NEET 2020 exam, the results for which were declared on Friday. Akanksha Singh, from Delhi, has also scored 720 marks but bagged AIR 2 as she is younger to Soyeb Aftab. In case two or more candidates score same marks, higher rank goes to the elder candidate.
Soyeb was taking coaching from Allen Career Institute in Kota from the last 2 years. Soyeb’s father Sheikh Mohammad Abbas is a businessman, while his mother Sultana Raziya is a housewife.
When asked, whether he was expecting AIR 1 Rank in NEET 2020, Soyeb said “I had attempted all the questions in the NEET examination and was expecting under 100 Rank, but later when I checked my score with answer key and got full marks, I started thinking of getting AIR 1.”
Director of Allen Career Institute Kota, Naveen Maheshwari said, “Soyeb is our classroom coaching student from last two-and-a-half years and his feat is a proud moment for us.” Maheshwari further said that it was for the first time that any aspirant had scored full marks in NEET.
Soyeb completed Class 11 and 12 from Sarvodaya Paramount School of Kota. He is all set to be the first doctor in the family. Soyeb said that his dream of becoming a doctor is now going to get fulfilled.
In his words, “I came to Kota in 2018 and took admission in Allen Career Institute and stayed as a PG with my younger sister and mother.”
“In class 12 this year, I secured 95.8% marks. In KVPY, I got AIR 37 and in class 10, I secured 96.8%,” he said.
“Lockdown benefitted me as I didn’t stop; I overcame my weaknesses; I revised the topics in which I was weak again and again”, he said. “This way, I came across many doubts. The topics in which I was strong, I didn’t focus much. During coaching, I daily used to do the classroom homework and gave equal time to all the three subjects”, he said.
Soyeb also appeared for JEE Mains
Though Soyeb is a NEET aspirant, he also appeared in JEE Mains 2020 January attempt, to check his preparations of physics and chemistry. Soyeb said, “I scored 99.97 percentile in physics and 99.93 percentile in chemistry and 15 percentile in mathematics as it was not my subject”. “I appeared for JEE Mains just to check my preparations for NEET,” he added.
Want to discover treatment for diseases with no cure
“After doing MBBS from AIIMS, I want to be a specialist in cardiology. Along with this, I also dream of discovering treatments for diseases that have no cure till now; want to do research in such field,” Soyeb said.
Did not go to home for two-and-a-half years
Soyeb’s seriousness towards his goal can be seen from the fact that after coming to Kota, he didn’t go to home for a period of two-and-a-half years. He said, “There were many instances when my father asked me to come home, but I didn’t go. There were holidays for Diwali and Eid but I stayed in Kota so that studies don’t get disturbed. During Corona lockdown period also I stayed in Kota, as there can’t be a better isolated facility than Kota. As my mother was staying with me, there was no trouble regarding food. After board exams, there is not much time to revise the complete syllabus of NEET, hence; I made complete use of the 5 months lockdown period. I revised the topics multiple times so that there was no possibility left to miss out on anything”.
Hobbies
Soyeb said that he did not use any leisure time for himself but occasionally used his android smartphone for relaxing a bit by playing games on it. When asked about his hobbies, Soyeb said, “Painting is my hobby, but I kept it on halt for last couple of years, after I started NEET preparation.”
