| 00:33
Priyanka’s Dream Boy
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.
0 comments: