NEET UG girl topper credits meditation for staying calm after May exam got cancelled

4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 17, 2026 07:39 PM IST

NEET girl topper Shravani dedicated around six hours a day to self-study after spending nearly seven hours at her coaching institute. (Image via special arrangement)

When the NEET-UG exam she had spent two years preparing for was cancelled following the paper leak controversy, 18-year-old Shravani Kudale decided she would not let the uncertainty derail her preparation. Instead of dwelling on disappointment, she saw the retest as another opportunity to improve her score. Weeks later, the Baramati student has emerged as the country’s top-ranked female candidate in the revised NEET-UG examination, securing 710 out of 720 marks and an All India Rank (AIR) of 5.

Read | NEET UG girl topper credits meditation for staying calm after May exam got cancelled

“Instead of negative feelings, I decided to look at things positively. I started thinking that I was getting another chance to appear for NEET, with additional days to prepare which could help me improve my score,” said Shravani, who believes that mindset helped her navigate one of the most stressful phases of her preparation.

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Apart from being the country’s top-ranked female candidate, Shravani has also emerged as the Maharashtra topper. The daughter of two Zilla Parishad school teachers from Baramati, she studied in a government school before preparing for NEET at a local coaching institute.

Someone who always wanted to pursue a career in biology, Shravani said she drew inspiration from her elder sister, who is currently pursuing BAMS at the Government Medical College in Satara. With her score, she is now confident of securing admission to the MBBS course at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi.

When asked whether she expected to emerge among the country’s toppers, Shravani said, “I was confident of scoring well enough to get admission to a government medical college because I had put in the required effort. But being declared the All India female topper is definitely a cherry on the cake.”

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Her parents, both government school teachers, say education and self-discipline were always central to family life. “Studying, especially self-study to understand concepts, has been an important part of my life ever since I was a kid, thanks to my parents. They paid close attention to our studies until primary school. After that, it became a habit for us siblings to study independently,” said Shravani.

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She said understanding concepts rather than memorising textbooks was the key to performing well in NEET and advised aspirants to focus on consistency rather than last-minute preparation.

Shravani dedicated around six hours a day to self-study after spending nearly seven hours at her coaching institute. “The outcome has definitely been fulfilling. Now I can get admission to MBBS in a college of my choice,” she said.

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She also credits meditation with helping her stay calm after the original NEET examination was cancelled. “And practice of meditation, which helps you remain calm in a stressful environment,” she said.

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Apart from meditation, Shravani found that chatting with her family during study breaks was the best way to unwind. If she still felt stressed, she would speak to her teachers, who would reassure her and help her regain confidence.

Her decision to stay in Baramati instead of moving to a coaching hub was also a conscious one. Instead of joining a large coaching institute in a metro city, Shravani chose to prepare at a local coaching centre in Baramati. “I did not want to go away from my family to a big city. At Success Code, the number of students is limited, which ensures personal guidance for everyone. After all, each student has different doubts and challenges,” she said.

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Pallavi Smart is a Principal Correspondent with The Indian Express, Mumbai Bureau. Her reporting is singularly focused on the education sector, demonstrating exceptional Expertise and Authority across the entire spectrum of learning, from foundational schooling to advanced higher education. She is a highly Trustworthy source for policy, institutional developments, and systemic issues affecting students, teachers, and parents in Maharashtra.

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