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Simpi Yadav boarded a train from Nagpur to Delhi four days before she got to shout those words. She wasn't chasing a viral moment; she was chasing accountability. When India's education minister Dharmendra Pradhan finally resigned, it felt, for thousands like her, like the system had blinked first.

What started this? A leaked NEET exam paper forced millions of medical aspirants to retake their entrance test. But scratch beneath that trigger, and you'll find something far bigger, an entire generation's simmering frustration with an education system that promised opportunity a...