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16 student suicides in Kota already in 2023. Same as all of 2022 apparently though half the year is left. I also studied in Kota (Bansal sir ki bohat pyaar waali badi badi gaali khaayi.) Had gone in Class 12 as I didn’t want to “waste” a year, and I indeed cleared JEE in my first attempt. Then I dropped out from IIT within the first semester and went to the US as I wanted to study economics. I got scholarships and I turned out OK. I was and am lucky in many ways, but hear me out. Point is not IIT-is-no-big-deal (it is, working hard for it is good if you have taken PCM) or yet another excuse for a social media humble brag post. Point is that I have lost a brother and I feel compelled to publicly say no amount of stress is worth it. If this helps even one kid, now that is worth it. Families are key in all this though at the end of the day even a 17 year old or 27 year old has enough agency that you can’t live in guilt forever. Theoretically. After all, if you are being coached away from home for competitive exams etc, you are almost certainly OK in percentile income and IQ terms even though it may not feel like that looking at much wealthier and smarter kids all around you. But you will be fine. The real battles lie ahead. Engineering or not. India or not. IIT, IIM, AIIMS etc or not. Life is a marathon not a sprint - a marathon where we all eventually realise we had to choose our racing tracks anyway - and by the Grace of the Gods most of us get a long enough runway. And if we do not, it doesn’t matter anyway. Yes, starting point is relevant. In India, the 90 or 95 percentile guy thinks he is middle class and the 99 percentile says he is upper middle class. But by definition the middle is 50 percentile. You can do the same spectrum gig on IQ, health, fairly functional family etc. 50 percentile or so may not be great (though it is something) in a still per capita poor country but remember the tide is rising faster here in India than anywhere else in the world. And it will continue to rise faster here than anywhere else significant in the world for a generation. If you do not give up, you will likely be more than fine. Yes, problems are real. Personal to pecuniary. But gratitude for what we already have goes a long way to fight depression. There was a lot of chatter recently about JEE as results came out. Again, that level of brilliance, diligence and focus is indeed worth encouraging. Competition is good; being sane and sensitive is also good. It can be balanced. Tell your sibling, cousin, friend, acquaintance, even a stranger who is willing to listen - he or she will be fine.