Poverty, Bone Disorder And Unsupportive Parents, Nothing Stopped Ummul Kher From Clearing UPSC

It is a well-known fact that cracking UPSC exams is no cake walk, and 28-year-old Ummul Kher had a mountain of obstacles on her way. Yet she managed to clear it one shot.?

facebook/Ummul Kher

After being born with a fragile bone disorder, Kher was disowned by parents who did not believe in educating girls beyond Class VIII.?

Ummul Kher who is now a ?PhD scholar in Jawaharlal Nehru University, hails from Marwar, Rajasthan and she moved to Delhi with her family when she was five. According to Indian Express, her family lived in a slum near Nizamuddin, where her father sold clothes as a street vendor.

She admits that the "misogynistic opinions prevalent in our society were also present in her family’s outlook." She tried to reason with her parents about pursuing education, but all they had in mind was "woh bigad jayengi" she told the daily.?

Facebook/Ummul Kher

When she failed to reason with her family, Ummul took the bold decision to move out of house. She rented a jhuggi and started giving tuition classes for eight hours a day to slum kids in order to make ends meet.

With the help of a trust that funded her education, she completed her Class XII with 91 per cent ?got admission in Gargi College, Delhi. For her Masters in Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) she also cracked the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) under which she started getting ?25,000 per month.?

Facebook/ Ummul Kher

Despite suffering from 16 fractures, eight surgeries, and being confined to a wheel chair for a period, Kher cleared the UPSC in one shot and is now determined to become an IAS officer.?

Her story is an inspiration for all of us! More power to you, Ummul! ?