(Success Story) Muhammad Ali Shihab: cracked IAS Exam living
in orphanage
For
Mohammed Ali Shihab, who has emerged successful in the Civil Services
Examination this year and was placed 226th in the rank-list, going to a reputed
campus still remains an unfulfilled experience. The 31-year-old from a remote
village in Kerala's Malappuram district, who grew up in an orphanage, has a
story of grit and perseverance to tell.
Born to penury in the village of Edavannappara near Kondotty,
Shihab spent his childhood helping his father, Ali, to sell betel leaves and
bamboo baskets. Primary schooling was almost an optional affair as he used to
carry his chronically asthmatic father between their tiny home and ramshackle
shop. He was sent to Mukkam Muslim Orphanage in Kozhikode district the next day
after his father died in 1991, as his family had no wherewithal to support his
education. He was even made to fail in Class V in order to get admission to the
orphanage.
Becoming a teacher in an orphanage primary school was his dream. His parents
were illiterate and poor but they had high ambitions about their three daughters
and two sons.
Shihab's elder brother Abdul Gafoor is an Ayurveda doctor. And all his
sisters have had teacher training.
Discipline
During his orphanage days, Shihab was inspired by some of his teachers who
cared for him. The discipline maintained by the orphanage authorities had its
influence in his life. It taught him what systematic life is.
He passed SSLC with good marks, and joined a pre-degree
course at Mohammed Abdurahman Memorial Orphanage College, Manassery. He stopped
pre-degree (equivalent of higher secondary) half-way and joined a
teacher-training course. The orphanage authorities readmitted him for pre-degree
course in the second year, and he did well in the last batch of the course. “I
was lucky to be part of the last pre-degree batch in the State,” he chuckled.
Despite the limited facilities and lack of privacy, he studied hard. He
maintained a unique time-table for studies. He used to sleep soon after taking
dinner from the orphanage mess around 8 p.m. and wake up around midnight for
studies.
“I used to read in scant light under the cover of bedsheet and pillows in
order not to disturb my friends sleeping in the neighbouring beds of the
dormitory. In fact, I was violating the orphanage rules,” he said.
After pre-degree, Shihab shifted to Bafakhi Orphanage at
Valavannur and joined its school as a primary teacher. There the quizzer in
Shihab began to flower, and he started preparing for competitive examinations.
He had little money to buy books but he read and assimilated whatever books that
came his way.
One by one, he started writing PSC exams. He passed all the
21 PSC tests he took. In the meantime, he tried his hand at many jobs. He worked
as an unskilled labourer for different organisations, pump operator for Kerala
Water Authority, helper in a hotel, clerk in a panchayat office, and assistant
in a government school. He cracked the exams for the selection of forester,
railway ticket collector, jail warden, and peons and clerks. He got B.A. degree
in history by writing the exams privately.
