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Rosie Kimnihoi Hukip, Thangmenlin Hukip and Kishan Kangapam share a dream: to attend Delhi University. However, for three 18-year-olds from Manipur, where life these days often hangs with address, surname, and dialect, that dream is now full of nightmares.
With the results of the Common Undergraduate Admission Test (CUET) announced last week, DU invited students to upload their CUET score and choose their college and course preferences. The process ends on June 24, after which the first merit list is expected to be published on August 1. For Rosy, Thangmenlin, and Qishan, the wait now begins.
like Clashes broke out In Manipur on 3 May between the Kukis and the Meiteis, Rosie, her parents, and her younger brother left their home in Imphal, where she had grown up and where her father worked as a civil servant, and fled to the Kangpokpi hill district.
“I left with nothing but the clothes I was wearing. I had no books with me and had barely prepared for my CUET exam. The army escorted us to a refugee camp in Kangbokpe,” says Rosie.
They later learned that their ancestral home in Kangbokbe Village had burned down. “We were devastated. There were so many people in the camp crying. Everyone was so unhappy. We got food, but it was always so little that it didn’t fill our stomachs,” says Rosie, who stayed in the camp for three days, before the family moved to a relative’s house in the area.
Rosy CUET exam center was in Imphal, but since there was no way she could go to the valley, she chose to change the center to Nagaland.
“One day before the screening, we rented a car and went to Nagaland,” she says.
As a humanities student, Rosie pins her hopes on getting into Delhi University, she knows there can be drawbacks – it’s mandatory for CUET enrolled students to choose three subjects besides English, but Rosie ends up choosing only two: sociology and political science.
Her older brother Albert, 21, who helped her fill out the form, lives in Delhi. Since the violence began, my family has been homeless. I am here in Delhi, unable to meet them, and feel helpless about it. So I thought I would at least help my sister with the admission process. When I applied to DU, we had the cutoff system, so the CUET format was confusing to me. I didn’t realize I had to choose three majors other than language. “I just hope the university gives it a chance,” says Albert, who graduated in political science from DU’s Deshpandu College last month.
“I wanted to study at Miranda House and have been dreaming of going to Delhi University for some time. If that doesn’t work out, my only hope is to apply to St. Stephen’s College through the Christian class,” says Rosie, adding that she wants to be a “flight hostess and travel the world.”
She is now preparing for her interview tour at St Stephen’s. “I feel safe right now because I’m surrounded by people from my community. I try my best to focus on my preparations, but all the news I hear is very scary,” she says.
Away from his home and parents in Manipur’s Chandel district, Thangmenlin, who has been living in rented accommodation in Delhi, says he had hoped to study sociology at the capital’s Hindu College, but is now worried because he believes his CUET score is not up to par.
“I filled out my DU college preference list yesterday but I’m not sure if I’ll get in. I was under a lot of mental stress when I sat for the exams,” says Thangminlen, the eldest of two siblings. His father is a farmer in the village and his mother is a housewife.
Two years ago, Thangmenlin and his brother moved to Imphal to complete grades 11 and 12. The boys lived in a rented apartment in the Hatta Gulabati district.
“On the evening of May 3, I was at a clinic in our district in Imphal when I saw a video of a Mitte mob attacking members of my community. I ran back to my room and decided to flee. The next morning, we left with nothing but our testimonies,” Thangmenlin says.
For five days, the family stayed at the 1st Manipur Rifles camp, before he and his brother traveled to Delhi on May 8 with the help of his cousin, who lives in the capital. “My parents assured me they would be safe – they live in one of the most remote villages in Manipur,” he says.
Thangminlein, who studied science with math and biology in class 12, appeared in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, English, and General Test on his CUET test.
“The center of my CUET exam was in Imphal, but I changed it to Delhi. When I sat to take the exam, I felt like I had forgotten everything I had studied. Now I’m not sure I’ll get into Hindu College,” Thangmenlin says.
It scored 94.04 percent in English, 83 percent in Biology, 11.13 in Chemistry, 25.29 in Mathematics and 91.88 in the General Test.
When DU opened the second phase of its admissions process on July 17, Thangminlein chose BA Honors in Sociology as its course of choice and Hindu College and Sri Venkateswara College as first and second, respectively.
“I always wanted to go to Delhi University. I am very keen to learn Hindi. I hope to become an IAS officer one day,” he says.
With poor internet connectivity and sad news everywhere, showing up for the CUET exam was a struggle, says Kishan Kangapam, a humanities student at Imphal.
The younger of two siblings, his mother is a state school teacher; His father passed away a decade ago.
“First our CUET exams were postponed. When they were finally held, I had trouble downloading the admission card. Every time I went out to go to my exam centre, I had to show my admission card to the police and authorities. Also, even when I had to fill in DU form or make changes, I had to go to a nearby college and pay around 100 rupees for two hours of internet usage,” he says.
Kishan appeared in Political Science, History, Sociology and English in the CUET exam and hopes to study Political Science at DU’s Hindu College.
Kishan scored an overall score of 537 in his CUET exam and is currently awaiting DU merit list. He also applied to the Jamia Millia Islamia University.
“My first preference has always been DU. I think I will learn a lot from moving to Delhi. My mother is the only earning member of the family. It will be a relief for all of us if she gets into Delhi.
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