NEET-UG 2025: AIR 4 Mrinal Jha's journey of quiet consistency, discipline

Indian Express

14-06-2025

Every morning for the past two years, Mrinal Kishore Jha followed the same routine: wake up in his PG room in Lajpat Nagar, head to his coaching classes, rest briefly, and then make the long commute to school in Rohini. 'All I did was wake up and go to my coaching, then come back, rest for some time, go to school and then follow through with my coaching,' he said. 'In my free time, I enjoyed watching movies.'
That routine — quietly disciplined, rarely interrupted, culminated in his dreams coming true. On Saturday, Mrinal, 17, secured All India Rank (AIR) 4 in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2025, placing him among the top five among nearly 2 million aspirants scoring 99.9998189 percentile.
Originally from Bihar's Bettiah in West Champaran district, Mrinal is the elder of two sons. His father, Manoj Jha, works in government service, and frequent transfers meant the family moved often. 'I keep moving from state to state, so our kids also kept moving with us,' Manoj said. 'We moved to Delhi about four years ago and I got placed at the head office in Faridabad for the last two years.'
Mrinal completed his 11th and 12th at Indraprastha Public School in Rohini. But for much of that time, he lived alone in a paying guest accommodation in Lajpat Nagar, where his coaching centre was located. 'For the last two years, I wanted to stay close to my coaching centre as I wanted to focus more on my NEET preparation,' he said.
'So I used to go to school by cab and make sure I had an attendance of 75 per cent. I used to go up and down from Lajpat Nagar to Rohini for the last two years. This is one of the smallest sacrifices that I consider — a price I paid to achieve my goal of cracking the NEET examination.'
'In my free time, when I felt like I needed a break, I would always go out for a walk,' Mrinal said. His decision to prioritise NEET over boards also reflects in his academic record. He scored 89.6% in Class 12 and 87.4% in Class 11. 'I had focused more on my NEET preparation throughout,' he said.
Mrinal began preparing for NEET in Class 9, but he describes the past two years as the most crucial phase. 'It was in the past two years that I had to turn up the rigour and consistently keep at it,' he said.
For him, success was never about last-minute marathons. When asked what helped him stay on track, Mrinal had one simple answer: 'Consistency is the key. If one keeps preparing consistently, they can crack any examination.'