Muhammed Munavvir's rare achievement of scoring 960 out of 960 marks in the Kerala medical entrance examination is worthy of emulation on many counts. He proved that determination and hard work were the only ingredients that ensured success. He also proved wrong those who tried to write him off because he chose to go to government or government-aided Malayalam-medium schools up to the tenth grade.
Munavvir's victory is a policy statement too. In his first attempt in 2015, he came 1,144th in the rank list, missing admission to the Idukki Government Medical College by a whisker. He had come at the 503rd place in the engineering entrance exam. But he chose to repeat the medical entrance examination because he was intent on becoming a doctor. And he wanted to study in a government medical college.
He said he was driven by his mother's words that there were not enough doctors in rural Kerala.
He had started entrance training along with the plus-two studies. He passed plus-two with 99 percent marks.
After the first try at the medical entrance, Munavvir got more serious as his determination steeled. He made a plan for himself. Classes went on from 7:30 in the morning to 4:30 in the evening every day. He followed it up with a personal study routine from 7 pm to midnight. He took a weekly break nevertheless.
He made it a point to revise the day's lesson on the same day. He trained himself by answering previous years' question papers. It was tough in the initial days. But he overcame it with a little help from friends.
He would get up at 5:45 am but did not immediately sit down for studies. After the morning namaz, he went fresh to the class.
Munavvir said he has not seen a movie in the last one year. He had gone to his house in Kannur only four times.
He said he was not sure of getting all the marks even after he had written the examination. But he was convinced when he saw the answer index though he kept it to himself.
Curious codes to crack the exam
To crack an entrance exam, you need to devise your own schemes, Munavvir said. He invented something of a code language to remember huge volumes of technicalia. Knowing was not all. To use them at the right place within a short time, you needed short cuts, he said.
He had remembered everything from carbon dioxide to water as codes.
NEET could be neater
Munavvir said the National Entrance Examination Test (NEET) that would come into force next year had its pros and cons. Most importantly, students are supposed to write only one exam, potentially doing away with the smudging of rank lists by some managements.
On the flip side, any interruption on the exam day could deprive a student of a valuable year. The difference in syllabus may also work against some students, he said.
The All-India medical entrance and the Kerala entrance are completely different. State exams mostly cover questions from the text books. Sometimes, you could see textbooks sentences copied as questions. In short, the state exam is theory-oriented.
In contrast, the all-India test may have 5-10 percent questions from outside the books. You have to prepare by answering earlier question papers you tackle such questions. Munavvir had gone through question papers from 1995.
Destination AIIMS
Munavvir is not contended by the top slot in Kerala. His dream is to study in the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. He wants to study further and join the government service.
Munavvir shows us that nothing is impossible if you go for it with all your heart. The reputation of the school or the medium of instruction hardly matters. He said he had seen so many students who joined the entrance coaching at the behest of their parents. You have to follow your calling, he said.
Munavvir's reading transcends academics. His favourite writer is Vaikom Muhammed Bashir and the novel he liked most was S.K. Pottekkad’s ‘Oru Deshathinte Katha’.
He is the son of P.P. Muhammed Ali, a special village officer at Makreri, and V.V. Nadheera, a teacher at Payyambalam Government Girls' School.