Dinesh Rajkumar's mother is a domestic help.

Dinesh Rajkumar, son of an auto driver from Enakur in Bhalki taluk, has earned the 31st rank in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate medical entrance examination.

Dinesh, a student of Sri Channabasaveshwar Gurukul in Karadyal in Bhalki, has had a winning streak since childhood. He scored 93 per cent in SSLC and got 94 per cent marks in PUC. He stood 500th in Karnataka in CET medical rankings. He has recently joined the first year MBBS course in Bangalore Medical College, said Basavaraj Molkeri, Gurukul principal.

His father doesn’t know about NEET

His father Rajkumar, who drives an auto in Bhalki and surrounding villages, does not know much about NEET. He thinks that if Dinesh chooses to pick a seat in the national quota, he will have to leave Karnataka. “My son is already in a medical college in Bengaluru. It will be difficult to send him elsewhere, especially in cities like Delhi or Mumbai. Those cities may be costlier than Bengaluru for him to live in,” he said. Dinesh’s mother is a housemaid. She is just happy that her son is studying to be a doctor. She wants him to come back and heal the sick in her village.

Dinesh, who came to see his teachers in the Karadyal Gurukul on Thursday, says he wants to continue studying and opt for research. Teachers and staff were present at the felicitation for him and his successful batchmates.