Jalna auto driver's son cracks exam in first try

PUNE: "Are you Sunni or Shia?" the interviewer asked Shaikh Ansar Ahmad (21) during the Union Public Service Commission exam. Ansar's reply brought an involuntary smile to the interviewer's face when he said, "I'm an Indian first and then a Muslim."
Ansar, who secured the all-India 361st rank in his very first crack at the exam, believes it was this question that decided his fate.Hailing from a poor family in Jalna, he had just one dream - to become an IAS officer.
"My father, who drives an autorickshaw, married thrice. I am his son from his second wife. I have seen poverty and domestic violence upfront at home. Both my older sisters were minors when married off. My younger brother is a school dropout," he says.
After his schooling, Ansar did his graduation from Fergusson College here. "Despite getting good marks, I chose the Arts stream as I wanted to prepare for the UPSC. I studied 10-12 hours daily for the past three years," he says.
Being a Muslim and that too a poor one in Marathwada is as marginalized as one can get, says Ansar. "I was discriminated in school and in the neighbourhood over my religion. When I came to Pune, I thought things would be different but I was wrong. I had to use my friend Shubham Wadkar's name for my rented accommodation and even to get food at a monthly mess," he says.
Ansar says he will first strive to remove Hindu-Muslim biases from people's minds, then work towards rural development, women empowerment and accountable governance.