PATNA: Appalling poverty had shaken Sazid Mehboob, 19, to the core when he was in class X, but that only steeled his resolve to do something to improve his family's condition. Two years of hard work has now landed him in IIT-Punjab, without any private coaching!
"Unlike the family of a government peon or sweeper which gets a meagre but regular income, my family's financial condition was completely unstable," says Sazid, a boy from West Champaran.
Many a time, Sazid would arrange saris on the cycle of his father, Md Idrish Ali, for him to hawk at Valmikinagar in West Champaran district. "But, sometimes my father would return home without any income even after daylong efforts. I would shake when I used to see my father's dejected face," Sazid told TOI.
"I would always think of me and my siblings' future. I do not know how my father managed to feed 10 members with an average daily earning of Rs 150," Sazid, who has four sisters and three brothers, said. He resolved to do something different to make his family come out from financial insecurity.
"I came to Patna in July 2009 to prepare for IIT. I knocked the doors of many IIT-JEE coaching centres, but they demanded Rs 40,000-50,000 as fee for two-year preparations," Sazid recalls. Obviously, such an amount was beyond his means
"Finally, I decided to work on my own. I discussed the syllabus with other college students and started preparations," Sazid, who made it to IIT (AIR 2112 OBC) in his first attempt itself, said.
Asked did he feel no dread about cracking the country's toughest examination without any guidance, Sazid said: "I would work harder whenever I would feel any dread. My study hours went up to 17 to 18 hours a day as the IIT-JEE test drew nearer."
Meanwhile, Sazid's mother, Shahina Khatoon, worried over poor financial condition of the family, had taken up the job of 'anganwadi sevika' to support her family.
Sazid's classes at IIT-Punjab would begin from August 1. "I have selected mechanical engineering as machines have always fascinated me. I will study as hard as possible as I do not want to leave any stone unturned in getting good ranks and thus good placement," he said.
Sazid, staying in a dingy rented room at Mahavir Colony, Kankarbagh, said he never faced any fascination for enjoying life with friends even as he was living alone in Patna. "I always think after five years, I would enjoy and chill out. The fear of poverty would stop me from going awry," he said.
Ultimately, Sazid wants to be an IAS officer. "After doing IIM you may earn more, but after doing IAS you can serve the people more," he said.
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