Prafulla Joshi 1 Aniket pressed his forehead against the bus window as the vehicle rumbled into Kota, Rajasthan, the fabled city of toppers and broken dreams. The streets seemed to throb with urgency—rows of coaching institutes with massive billboards promising “AIR 1 in IIT-JEE,” hostels stacked like pigeonholes with nervous teenagers peering out, chai stalls overflowing with students drowning themselves in caffeine and formulas. To any outsider, Kota looked like a factory assembly line where only marks mattered, and Aniket, fresh from his small hometown, felt like the newest product placed on the conveyor belt. His parents had waved him…