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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  From Bihar to Delhi, a step closer to a dream
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From Bihar to Delhi, a step closer to a dream

For 25-year-old Shamshad Alam, Delhi is a city where he has (almost) realized his dreams

Except his family, no one else in Alam’s village knows about the results or that sometime in the future, the boy who spent 16 years of his life in a madrasa could realize his dream of becoming the district magistrate. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/MintPremium
Except his family, no one else in Alam’s village knows about the results or that sometime in the future, the boy who spent 16 years of his life in a madrasa could realize his dream of becoming the district magistrate. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

New Delhi: Delhi means different things to different people. In the past, many have come to the city with dreams of ruling it. There are a few names that we still celebrate, others have been reduced to words buried somewhere in our textbooks. But be it the magnificent monuments standing around us or the city’s ruins, everything speaks about the ambitions that people had and the dreams they came with when they moved to this city.

People still come to Delhi with aspirations—maybe not as big as building an empire. For a migrant labourer, Delhi means better money; for a student, it means possibilities of a better education or job. For many others, it is a place where they come to reinvent themselves.

For 25-year-old Shamshad Alam, Delhi is a city where he has (almost) realized his dreams. In December, as part of Mint’s five-part series on aspirations of the young in India, we profiled Alam. At that time, he was a madrasa-educated Muslim man who had qualified the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) preliminary examination, like 15,007 other candidates in the country. Today, he is one of 2,797 students who have cleared the main exam—stage two of the civil services examinations conducted by UPSC annually.

For almost a decade now, only 3% of those who qualify the civil services final examinations are Muslims. Last year, 38 Muslims, including five women, qualified out of 1,236 successful candidates. In 2013, 1,122 candidates had qualified, of which 34, or 3.03%, were Muslims. In 2012, 31 Muslims (3.10%) made it to the final list out of total 998 successful candidates.

“Mainstreaming of Muslims can only happen through education. And more of us qualifying this exam will give us a certain position in the society, a certain acceptance... It is only through education that we can overcome this underlying feeling of alienation," says Alam.

He carefully constructs his sentences, waits to see if his words are making the desired impact. The traces of shyness in his voice that were evident in the last interaction are still there but he is much more confident now.

Alam has almost realized his dream—almost, because as he says, “It is an unpredictable exam. I have seen people’s dreams shatter because they are so sure they will get it after qualifying mains. I don’t want to get excited right now. It is too early for that," he says.

On 19 February, when the results of the main exams were released, Alam was in his hometown in north Bihar’s Bhualpur village. Except his family, no one else in Alam’s village knows about the results or that sometime in the future, the boy who spent 16 years of his life in a madrasa and learnt the English alphabet for the first time in 2008 could realize his dreams of becoming the district magistrate.

“Just after mains, the way people look at you changes so much. I was asked by so many to help them, guide them, tell them tricks. But as quickly as people put you on a pedestal when you qualify mains, if you don’t clear the interview, they will throw you down as quickly and brutally. There is so much social pressure around this exam," Alam says, requesting that he not be portrayed as a winner just yet.

Delhi is a melting point, that meeting place of people where one can hardly find a real Delhiite—most are just immigrants. Migrants from Alam’s Bihar have shot up from 14% in 2001 to nearly 31% in 2013, according to Delhi’s Human Development Report 2013. But does a place change the destiny of people? “When I was growing up in my village, I dreamt carefully, looking at my reality. Had I not moved out, I would have been a teacher in a school in my village, or in a madrasa, or would have been an imam in a mosque. All the friends I left behind are where they were when I left. Now there is a gap between me and them—in our lifestyles, the way we talk, the way we think," he says.

When Alam moved to Delhi, the only friend he had lived in South Delhi’s Zakir Nagar area. Alam didn’t have his address, just knew he lived in Zakir Nagar. Most of what Alam thought of Delhi was based on what Urdu poets wrote about the city, but all that was not enough for him to reach his destination. When he arrived at the New Delhi railway station, he had to wait for four-and-a-half hours since the friend’s phone was switched off. He didn’t dare to move. There is a huge difference between the image of the boy who waited at the railway station for hours, tightly holding his bag close to his body, and what he is now. But he says the real difference in him was not just his changed physical appearance.

“I became a different person. I started dreaming big. So many lakhs of people apply for this exam, and I am in the 2,797 selected candidates. This makes me feel that maybe my existence isn’t as inconsequential as I always thought it was," Alam says.

Last time, he qualified the prelims but couldn’t pass the main exam. The reason, according to Alam was his “poor writing". “The transition from Urdu to English might seem no big a deal for people in this city. But for a person who didn’t know English till 2008, it was difficult. I still think in Urdu, but I have to pen my thoughts down in English," he says.

At 2pm on a Friday, a voice greets its listeners on Radio Jamia 90.4 FM, a community radio by Jamia Millia Islamia University. The programme is Ghazlon Ki Mehfil. The voice has a nasal twang, and for those who have heard sermons blaring from mosques, it is unlikely that you will miss the familiarity. The Urdu is clean, the way of speaking is colloquial but the language is what Urdu lovers would call khaalis (pure). Alam speaks with confidence, assured that many are listening to his voice. “Five years ago, I didn’t ever think that I would reach where I am. I don’t know what will happen five years later. But the fact that people want to hear my story, listen to me on radio, is big enough for me," he says.

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Published: 06 Apr 2016, 01:29 AM IST
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