For Ayush Kumar, the wish was always the same: to serve the nation. The path simply changed.
Ayush grew up in Delhi and studied at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar School of Specialised Excellence, a government school in Rohini. His father works as an electrician and remains the sole earning member of a family of five. At home, ambition was never measured by comfort. It was measured by how much each person was willing to work for a better future.
Even during school, Ayush stood out consistently. He cleared the second stage of the NTSE examination and earned a scholarship. He also became a FITJEE scholar and represented his school at the state level from Delhi in a mental math competition. These achievements reflected the qualities he still identifies in himself today: discipline, dedication, and an emotional side that he continues to understand and manage with maturity.
Ayush redirected his energy toward medicine and earned admission to AIIMS Rishikesh with a 99.94 percentile in NEET, securing an All India Rank under 458. It was an extraordinary result, but the struggle did not end with admission. Managing fees often meant borrowing money from relatives. Daily student expenses, books, mess charges, and academic needs continued to weigh heavily on the family.
Yet Ayush did not allow hardship to make him inward-looking.
To support himself, he began working part time mentoring NEET aspirants. But when he saw some students struggling to pay coaching fees, he chose to leave the job and start a Telegram channel where he could teach students free of cost. It was a quiet decision, but one that says much about the kind of doctor he hopes to become.
His inspiration comes from two people. One is his grandfather, the most educated person of his generation in the family, who completed an undergraduate degree and cleared Indian Railways examinations but could not join due to family responsibilities. The other is an elderly neighbour who guided Ayush and his elder brother with a belief that education alone can lift a family toward stability and dignity.
That message shaped the household. Today, his brother is pursuing MTech at IIT Roorkee, his sister is studying nursing in Delhi and Ayush is pursuing MBBS.
Ayush’s journey also includes failure faced honestly. In his first serious attempt to enter Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), he was waitlisted and missed admission. For three months, he wrestled with uncertainty. Should he let go of the dream or try once more? He chose one more attempt so that, in his own words, he would never regret not giving his hundred percent. In the next cycle, he cleared the exam and interview but was rejected on medical criteria. He then chose AIIMS Rishikesh over options in Delhi because the costs there would have been too difficult for his family to bear.
Since Class 8, Ayush has been fascinated by the human brain. He now hopes to specialise in neurosurgery, and eventually pursue postgraduate studies at Armed Forces Medical College. He also wants to improve his communication skills and personality development, knowing that knowledge alone does not make a good doctor.
The Shiksha Sankalp Society Lakshya Scholarship will ease the everyday burdens that often distract deserving students from their studies, from books and academic material to basic living expenses. More importantly, it gives Ayush the freedom to focus on becoming the doctor he has worked so hard to become.
Ayush Kumar’s journey has never been defined by setbacks, but by the way he has responded to them. The destination changed, but the purpose did not. Whether in uniform or in a white coat, his commitment remains the same: to serve with skill, dignity, and heart.
Electronics and Communication Engineering (ECE) at NIT Silchar, Assam
AI & Data Science at M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Karnataka
