We Slept on the Streets of Delhi for Weeks After the NEET Scam. Today, We Proved Student Power Is Real.

I haven’t had a full night’s sleep in three weeks. My lungs still burn from the tear gas police sprayed on us at Jantar Mantar on Monday, and my knees are bruised from sitting on scorching concrete. Like millions of Gen Z kids in India, I spent two years trapped in a tiny room studying 14 hours a day for NEET, giving up my health, my friends, and my sanity—only to watch our futures get sold off by exam mafias while the system told us to "just try again next year". We were treated like disposable statistics, but when thousands of us marched into central Delhi, refusing to back down even when they shut down 18 metro stations to silence us, something shifted. For generations, our parents and society taught us to swallow injustice, stay quiet, keep our heads down, and just hustle harder. But watching the Union Education Minister finally forced to resign after our relentless protests proved that we are not just a silent, powerless generation. We sat in solidarity through hunger strikes, rain, and police batons because we were fighting for the kids who took their own lives out of sheer hopelessness after the paper leaks. This wasn't about politics or political parties—it was about reclaiming our basic right to a fair future. When the news broke at Jantar Mantar today and everyone around me burst into tears and embraced each other, I realized that our collective grief and anger actually changed history. The system wants young people to feel isolated, anxious, and helpless so we don't fight back. But standing shoulder-to-shoulder with thousands of exhausted students in Delhi taught me that when Gen Z refuses to take the blame for a broken system, no authority is untouchable. To every student sitting in a dark room right now feeling burnt out, overwhelmed by family expectations, or scared that your hard work won't matter: you are not alone, and your voice matters. How are you processing everything that happened in Delhi today?