Not so quite neat!

Anjaamai (Fearlessness, அஞ்சாமை, Tamil; 2024)
Direction: S P Subburaman

I thought having private tutoring was only confined to school children caught in the rat race of wanting to excel in public examinations. So I was taken aback when a colleague I was working with in 1988 in Malaysia told me he engaged a private tutor to coach him to pass his medical examinations as a medical student in India. No, not passing medical tests but to secure a pass in his exams as an undergraduate. Until then, my understanding of tuition was that it was for weaker students who could barely keep up with the rest of the class. To engage tutors for mature university students, the crème de la crème of the society who were supposed to be handpicked for the clamoured professional degrees, was laughable to me, then.

Since then, it seems much has changed. Medical studies in India have undergone much scrutiny as more politicians and politically connected businessmen consider building private medical colleges a lucrative business. As the quality of medical education and the selection of medical students varied based on arbitrary conditions and recommendations, there was a need to streamline entrance to medical schools. Uniform examinations were needed for this purpose.

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) is conducted by the Indian National Testing Agency for undergraduate admissions to MBBS, BDS and Ayurvedic Medicine.

In keeping with the Eastern fixation with the idea that a profession in the healing business is the panacea to all troubles in mortal life, the competition to enter the profession only snowballs over the years. After the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and Indian Institute of Technology Joint Entrance Examinations (IIT JEE), the NEET is considered the most challenging test to excel. There are plenty of sad tales of students, their families and the heart-wrenching sequelae after putting all their hopes sky high.

With so many vested interests in running medical schools, the decision to conduct a central examination to maintain medical is naturally met with resistance. This film highlights one of this system's shortcomings, especially to the little people who try to uplift themselves from poverty with their own bootstraps.

A farmer, Sarkar, and a part-time stage performer has everything going well for his little family. He sees academic brilliance in his son. He gives up his stage performance shows to be a good role model to his son. As the son performs better as he ages, he expresses his desire to be a doctor.

The competition gets stiff, with private medical colleges going all out to recruit Sarkar's son to their fold. The Union Government introduces NEET to complicate things. Sarkar has to fork out more money to coach his son to pass the newly introduced national exams. To add salt to his wound, the son has to sit for the exams in Jaipur, some 2000km away and a day and a half of train travel.

After much drama and near misses, Sarkar and his son reach Jaipur and the examination hall. The journey and all the excitement prove too much for Sarkar. He dies of a massive cardiac event. What ensued afterwards was the selling point of the movie. Sarkar's son, with the help of a sympathetic police inspector, sues the Indian Government for compensation. The difficulty the NEET gave with the tedious and unsanitary travelling conditions precipitated Sarkar's premature demise. The story ends with an open verdict but proves its social message that a haphazardly rushed decision leads to chaos and confusion. One must also realise the hidden message behind the scenes: the central government wants to micromanage state concerns.

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