Taking a drop year after bachelors, if you were me, how would you utilise this year? I'm into AI/ML

I graduated recently, I was planning on going abroad for masters this fall but couldn't because of certain circumstances. I don't have a job, I've been trying, just recently, I cleared 3 rounds but got rejected in the final round :/

I'm privileged enough that I do not need to get a job immediately though, my family still wants me to go abroad for masters next fall but I'm shit scared about the possibility of ending up jobless + 50L in debt.

I was really upset about the gap year at first, but I guess I’ve realised that I’ll have to work in the corporate world eventually anyway and once I start, there’s probably no going back. So maybe it’s not such a bad thing to take a step back and breathe, especially if I have the privilege to do so.

I want to utilise this opportunity to the fullest. I'm interested in the AI/ML field (sometimes I feel morally conflicted but this is the only field I'm somewhat knowledgeable about). I've been participating in hackathons and kaggle competitions, I've got a few publications under my belt. Most of the jobs I'm applying for right now pay 20k-40k per month. I want to get good enough to be able to target jobs that pay around 10-12 lpa atleast.

I'm sure there's a loooooot more to do in this field to get "cracked" but I'm not sure what, I'd really appreciate some advice and guidance from people who are already working in the Industry.