‘There were sirens, blackouts…it was difficult to concentrate,' says Kashmir's JEE Advanced ranker Janees

Indian Express

8 hours ago

'Exams se kuch din pehle bahut mushkil the. Raat ko padhte time par mujhe Pakistan ke explosives ki awaaz aarahi thi, phir blackout, sirens aur drones ki vajse bahut dar lagata tha. Ek time par aisa laga ki IIT Kanpur JEE Advanced exam ko postpone kyu nahi kardeta hai. Halat itne kharab aur daravane the ki muje laga ki mein exam de bhi paungi ya nahi,' said Kashmir's JEE Advanced ranker Janees.
Three young Kashmiri girls — Janees, Maleeha, and Sadaf — have qualified for the JEE Advanced 2025 and will fulfill their dream to study at IIT. But preparation for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) was not easy. Days before the exam, their preparation was derailed by the terrorist attack and India's subsequent Operation Sindoor. Moreover, their JEE exam centre — which was originally in Srinagar — was shifted a few days before the exam, making them and their parents anxious about their future.
'I did not know about JEE during my school days. In Kashmir, parents encourage their wards to pursue MBBS. However, opting for JEE is uncommon in the union territory due to limited quality coaching centres. It was in Class 12 when I got to know about the exam and wanted to prepare for it. I used to search about the JEE exam pattern etc on Google, if there was no internet shutdown. Even my school teachers did not know much about the engineering entrance exams,' said Janees, who cracked JEE in her second attempt.
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Hailing from Pulwama, which is also known as the rice bowl of Kashmir, Janees lives with her father, who is a journalist by profession, and her mother, a homemaker. 'In our region, engineering is a male-dominated industry. My parents also did not know much about the exam, and they wanted me to pursue the medical stream after Class 10, but I had to explain to them about JEE and my interest in maths and physics. I am lucky my parents understood and supported me in this journey,' said the girl who wants to take admission at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.
Recalling an incident before preparing for JEE, 'Several relatives of mine tried to persuade my parents not to encourage me to appear for JEE, rather I should go for NEET. Relatives used to come and say why are you making your daughter do non-medical? There are only boys in the engineering field,' she said.
To pursue her IIT dream, the three girls took admission in RISE, a centre co-founded by IIT Kharagpur Alumnus, Salman Shahid. Janees found herself in dire straits, as various conceptual loopholes were making it hard for her to understand the Class 12 chapters.
'First of all, there were various conceptual loopholes. My foundation in Class 10 and 11 science was not strong. All the topics are interrelated in the exam. I was in a distressed as I could not score well on the first attempt. It was a new thing for me, but with the help of coaching, I did well,' she said.
Recounting an experience, she shared how unpredictable internet shutdowns are in Kashmir. 'On the day exam forms were scheduled to be released, I would stay alert and try to fill them out the moment they went live, just to avoid any internet issues. I did the same during the JEE Advanced form submission,' said the 17-year-old. 'These shutdowns really impact students here and hold them back from competitive exams like JEE and NEET, especially when compared to those in metro cities.'
'For me, travelling was not a hurdle during my JEE journey because we had vans available,' she said. 'In cities, you can study late at night or travel anytime, but in Kashmir, travelling after sunset is nearly impossible—especially during winters when snowfall and slippery roads make things worse. On top of that, some areas also face frequent power cuts after dark.'
Sharing about her preparation amid Pakistan's attack, she said, 'There were sirens and blackouts. We could not concentrate and study. I was scared whether I would be able to fill the JEE Advanced forms, but luckily I did. The forms were released on April 28, and the Pahalgam attack was on April 22. Then Operation Sindoor was on May 7, and the JEE Advanced exam was on May 18. It was a crucial phase. It was all chaos, explosions, and we were all scared. I just did not want to miss this attempt, that's all I had in my mind,' said Janees, recalling the border tensions.
Because of the border issues, her exam centre, which was Srinagar, was changed to Jammu. Janees opted for a flight and reached Jammu. 'We took flight as weather conditions were not good on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. So, I was not sure if we would get stuck for 2-3 days in Jammu. The flight was also delayed. So, two days before the exam, on May 16, I left for Jammu. I travelled with my parents. But there was a lot of fear. The main thing was that it was an important exam for which I had worked so hard. Two days before the exam, you had to change city. That was a very difficult situation,' said Janees.
Shedding more light, she said that weather conditions were harsh in Jammu. It was difficult for them to tolerate the heat. She claims that if the exam centre had not been changed, she would have performed better.
'Those days were the hardest. I also used to talk to my friends, which calmed me down. Initially, I was scared, but then adjusting to the situation was the only solution we all Kashmiri JEE aspirants had,' said Janees.
This year, 9404 female candidates cracked the JEE Advanced, making it the highest since 2017. To increase the number of female students, concerned efforts are taken by IITs, like the introduction of a supernumerary quota. Janees might also get IIT Kharagpur under this quota, as per Shahid.
The co-founder added that Kashmir has only one premier institution—NIT Srinagar—which, in his view, doesn't match up to the standards of any IIT in the country. 'NIT Srinagar is the best institution in the union territory, but when compared to national or international education standards, it doesn't stand anywhere close. I always encourage my students to dream big and aim for IITs. Once you enter an IIT, a world of opportunities opens up—opportunities that students might not find at NIT Srinagar,' he said. 'I recently met a student of mine who got into an IIT and went to Manchester for his third-year internship. Another student, Mehran, went to Warwick for an internship opportunity.'