The signboard said “Dr Shubham Khairnar.” It hung outside a consultancy office on the mezzanine floor of a commercial complex in central Nashik, in the middle of one of the city’s busiest coaching corridors. Every day, an estimated 2,500 students pass through that area, carrying textbooks, attending classes, preparing for NEET, dreaming of becoming doctors. Khairnar had once tried to enter that world himself. In 2021, he enrolled for a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery at Shri Satya Sai University in Sehore, near Bhopal . According to vice-chancellor Mukesh Tiwari, he showed up for admission and never came back. Not for classes. Not for exams. He returned to Nashik instead, put up a signboard with “Dr” in front of his name, and started SR Education Consultancy, offering guidance to students seeking admission to MBBS, BDS, BHMS and other medical courses. Students came to him.…