Pabulal's father Mota Ram says he has spent his life's savings to fulfil the boy's dreams.
Barmer to Jodhpur is not a great distance, but for Pabulal Jangid it was an entire journey, filled with ups and downs.
The son of an agricultural labourer, 18-year-old Pabulal has made it to Jodhpur's All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, considered one of the finest medical colleges in the country.
His village, Chokhla, is 30 km away from the Barmer town, the headquarters of the desert district. The mud hut, where the family of six lives, can only be reached by a trek through the sand dunes.
This is where he studied till Class 10 -- using a lantern to study at nights, since the village has no electricity.
After finishing school, Pabulal persuaded his father to fund his studies in a coaching institute in Kota.
It was a tough call for Mota Ram, who initially collected Rs 2.5 lakh and sent him to Kota, but Pabulal did not get a good rank in his first attempt at the entrance test.
"I worked really hard but I did not get a good rank. I persuaded my father to fund me for another year," said Pabulal.
It skewed the odds for Mota Ram, who owns a few bighas of agricultural land. "I work as a labourer and supplemented my income doing some carpentry, so I did not have much money to fund my son," he said.
In his second attempt, Pabulal scored 116 in the OBC category.
But Mota Ram had to spend Rs 5 lakh -- his entire savings.
"People say those who come from Hindi-medium background don't make it to institutes like AIIMS, but that's a perception I want to change," Pabulal said with a shy smile.