Ludhiana: A childhood promise to his late grandmother has driven a Punjab teenager from this city to secure India’s top medical entrance rank in pursuit of his dream of finding a cure for cancer.A crucial retest paved the way for Aryan Gupta’s dream of becoming an oncologist when he scored 715 out of 720 marks in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG). While he shared the top score with Haryana’s Panshul Banal, Aryan beat him to All India Rank 1 (AIR-1) under the tie-breaking criteria.For Aryan, the milestone is the culmination of a promise made over a decade ago. “My grandmother died of cancer when I was in Class III,” Gupta said. “I took a pledge then to be an oncologist. It is a surreal feeling now… I feel like I have finally built the bridge to that goal.”Gupta, who studied up to 17 hours a day to prepare, plans to pursue his medical degree at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi .The breakthrough followed a disappointing first attempt, says his father, Dr Sachin Gupta. “Four of his questions did not go well in the previous examination, but this retest turned out to be a golden opportunity. The family was having dinner when the National Testing Agency declared the results. This time, he was only unsure about a single question.”The Gupta family has a history of academic success. Gupta’s mother, gynecologist Dr Reenu Gupta, noted that her elder son, Aditya, had secured rank 54 in the medical entrance the previous year. “I started crying the moment my family confirmed Aryan had topped the exam,” she said. “He has made us all proud.”
