Ashti (Beed District) , MAHARASHTRA:
Uzma Shaikh’s decision to join the police force was inspired by a senior Police Inspector who visited her college as a guest when she was preparing for the 12th board exam.
Ashti (Beed):
Azm mohkam ho to hoti hai balaayen paspa, Kitne toofan palat deta hai sahil tanha. This Urdu couplet which loosely translates as ‘If the determination is strong then the evil calls are pushed back, How many storms does the shore turn away alone’ best describes the journey of Uzma Shaikh who will soon don the hat of a Police Sub-Inspector in Maharashtra.
Uzma Shaikh was 3 months old when her father passed away. Acute poverty forced her mother to leave her in-laws home in Ashti – a city in Beed district of Maharashtra, and shift to her parent’s home.
Uzma’s maternal grandfather was not too well off to take care of his widowed daughter. A small bhangar shop was the only source of income of her Nana – maternal grandfather. Then he also had two other daughters to feed and look after.
Realizing the hardship of her father, Uzma’s mother started working first as a help and later as a cook for a school to prepare Mid-Day Meal for students.
“Despite facing hardship economically, my grandfather will never agree for his daughters to work anywhere. My mother however continued to work albeit without the knowledge of my grandfather”, Uzma recalled.
A few months later, Uzma’s mother got a temporary job at the Forest Department on someone’s recommendation to plant soil in a nursery. Uzma’s grandfather expressed displeasure but was helpless by the situation.
Unfortunately, Uzma’s Nana and Nani too passed away after a few months.
“Now, besides raising me, my mother had the responsibility of other members of the family”, Uzma recalled adding, “Ammi started working even harder.”
Uzma was lucky that she continued with her studies except for two years when she was forced to drop out because of the financial burden. Nonetheless, Uzma passed the Class 10 SSC exams from Zila Parishad Kanya Parshala Marathi Medium School in Ashti and 12th board from B.D. Humbarde Mahavidyalaya, Ashti.
In two years when Uzma dropped out, she learned Mehndi art and went one marriage to another to apply Mehndi on brides and newly-wed, and also to women and girls during festival season.
“This helped me raise some money and start my education afresh”, she recalled.
Uzma’s Journey to becoming Police Sub-Inspector
Uzma’s decision to join the police force was inspired by a senior Police Inspector who visited her college as a guest when she was preparing for the 12th board exam.
“I was immensely impressed by the greatness and dignity of the police uniform. An aspiration arose in me, I asked, how to become a Police Sub Inspector. He explained the details”, Uzma recalled.
After 12th, Uzma took admission in the same college to pursue the BCA (Bachelor in Computer Application) degree course. It was during her second year in the degree course that Uzma started seriously thinking to fulfil her dream of becoming a police officer. One of her college lecturers guided her further. Uzma needed to crack the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) exam to become an officer which required an extensive training.
For Uzma, the time then came for the toughest – to take permission from her mother.
“I shared with my mother my desire to become a Police Inspector and asked her permission to go to Pune”, Uzma said.
She was reluctant for the obvious reason.
“From where the additional expenses would be managed?” she asked.
Uzma was able to convince her mother somehow. Other family members from Uzma’s parental as well as maternal sides, too were taken on board. They promised moral and financial supports.
In Pune, Uzma searched for the cheapest available hostel and mess. It was 2019 and Covid 19 Pandemic had just started to spread. Unfortunately, Uzma became the early victim of the Pandemic and she was forced to leave Pune and return to her home in Ashti.
Not to let Covid-19 spoil her ambitions to crack the MPSC exams, Uzma enrolled herself in a local library and continued with her studies. But, in an unfortunate turn of event, someone complaint to the Librarian about her Covid infection who cancelled her registration.
“The only option now I had was to study at my home half of which was destroyed by the PWD as part of its road widening project”, she said.
“A small corner of my home was now the area of my all academic activities. The money I raised by applying Mehndi during marriage and festival season was used to buy books and study materials”, she recalled.
Her hard work paid and she cleared the MPSC Prelims in her first attempt. She returned to Pune in 2020 when the Covid-19 Pandemic subsided to prepare for Mains.
“The MPSC Main was deferred because of the Pandemic. The delay provided me additional time to prepare for the coveted exams, and Alhamdulillah, like the Prelim exams, I cleared the MPSC Mains in my first attempt”, she recalled.
Police job requires Physical Test. Uzma cleared it too with an impressive 90 per cent score.
So far so good, Uzma however had a nervous breakdown in the Interview phase of the exam. When the final result was announced, Uzma did not find her name in the Merit List.
“Due to nervous breakdown, I couldn’t do well in the interview and got out of the final cut-off list though by only one mark”, she said.
Uzma still had a chance as her name was on the 3rd position in the waiting list. Uzma was in low income category and an EWS Certificate could have definitely come to her rescue. But, due to lack of the necessary documents she could not get one.
Against this backdrop, Uzma pinned her hope on someone to opt out and allow her to move from the waiting list to the main list. At the same time, Uzma decided to re-appear for the MPSC exams.
Then there was a miracle. Uzma’s earlier waiting list was confirmed and she finally made her way to the final selection list.
“After 11 months of the training period, I am set to become a Police Sub-Inspector”, a beaming Uzma said.
Her dream of becoming a Police Officer coming true, Uzma has a message for other girls.
“If an orphan poor child of a remote place can do it, why not you? You have everything. I would especially like to tell girls to be attracted towards government jobs where there are countless opportunities waiting for them”, she said.
[A version of this article is published by Roznama Inquilab, Mumbai on April 10, 2024. The writer Akhlaque Shaik is Career Counsellor and Columnist at daily Inquilab.]
source: http://www.ummid.com / Ummid.com / Home> Life & Style / by Akhlaque Shaikh / April 11th, 2024