“I Didn’t Ask God – “Why Me?””: Jaipur Boy Battles Brain Disease To Rank 35 In JEE-Advanced

Real-life stories of people who achieve whatever they set their minds to never fail to inspire me. For example, recently a Mumbai boy battled cerebral palsy and dyslexia and got into IIM Lucknow, Kozhikode, and Indore. In a previous instance, a 21-year-old IIM girl with visual imparity defeated all odds and landed an exceptional job.

As per a report in TOI, Parth Dwivedi, who is a resident of Bharatpur, was diagnosed with meningoencephalitis (inflation of the brain) three weeks before his JEE-Advanced examination scheduled on September 27. He took a day’s leave from the hospital under medical observation to be at the exam hall. Finally, he notched the 35th rank in the exam.

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Previously, Parth scored 100 percentile in JEE-Main. In the midst of August, in the midst of revision, he reportedly began developing symptoms with adverse body pain. His condition further became worse in the month of September. He took to Quora to share his story. He explained, “On the 8th of September, I started to get an unbearable headache. I took an aspirin and tried to sleep. I kept turning over the whole night and the aspirin gave me no comfort. The headaches kept on increasing in intensity.”

He continued, “My parents came as soon as they possibly could to get me treated. They helped me pack my essentials, which, at the time, were mostly books, and took me to Delhi, from Kota, by car. On the 12th of September, I was admitted to the ICU of a hospital in Delhi.”

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Talking about his diagnosis, he wrote, “Over the next few days, diagnostic tests and procedures were carried out to ascertain the cause of my discomfort. At this point, I was basically bed-ridden. I could sit up only during meal-times, that too with support. Reports came in, I will not bore you with technicalities but to summarize –

  1. Rare Virus
  2. Swelling in the brain
  3. May flare up anytime in the future if the immunity weakens
  4. But, thankfully, responding to medication.”

“Just before the start of the second paper, I was feeling exhausted, which was ironic since I had done nothing but rest between the two papers. I was starting to doubt my decision of refusing painkillers for the second shift. As soon as the paper started, I was so engrossed in it that all the discomfort took a back seat. I was barely aware of the pain.”

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“Some people said that I was “unlucky” or “nazar lag gyi.” As an answer to this, my father told me about the philosophy of Arthur Ashe which really inspired me.

When I received the best facilities and faculties in Kota, I did not ask God – “Why me?”

When I secured KVPY AIR 6, I did not ask God – “Why me?”

When I got 100 percentile in JEE, I did not ask God – “Why me?”

And now, that I was ill, what right do I have to ask God – “Why me?””

“In the end, I feel I deserved everything I got, the good AND the bad. And it is not true that my struggle was greater than anyone else’s. Everyone’s struggle is unique and I believe that, more or less, everyone struggles the same amount, even though it may not be obvious at first glance.”

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He concluded his post by writing, “I was finally discharged on the 4th of October. The results came on the 5th. I secured Rank 35 in JEE Advanced 2020. I am alright now, at home.”

Parth’s parents are based in Lucknow. His mother Neeti Dwivedi, who ASP, Lucknow, said, “I am pleased to see him happy and relaxed after a month of hospitalization. This success will get him a seat in any of the IITs and it has made him feel so good that it will help in his recovery.”

You can read Parth’s entire post here.

This story definitely motivated me to get my act together. Hope we can all take the sourest lemon life has to offer and turn it into lemonade.

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