"We rise by lifting others"

Hi all!

I hope you all are doing well and good.

After garnering a lot of courage, I'm writing this blog. Please do give it a read.

So, I have seen scores of people who oppose reservation because they think it is unnecessary and it should not be given.

Here goes My story !’

I hail from Agra, Uttar Pradesh, born and brought up in an urban area unlike my dad who born and raised in Rural area. 

My father wasn’t able to complete his higher education because his father i.e. my grandfather didn’t believe in Education. And the reason behind it was that education at that time for a family like us was not a necessity but a luxury, they didn’t have enough money for their children’s education. But my father really wanted to study and gain knowledge.

So, we belong to Scheduled caste and in my village, mostly higher caste people were educated. My father was always intrigued and wanted to have conversation with them and sit with them so as to gain knowledge from those people. But the upper caste people would never sit with them in the same place or be the in equal footing, you have to sit on the ground and can’t do argument. Every scheduled caste family had to go through this discrimination and humiliation, and our family was no exception. As I told you, my grandfather didn’t have that much money to provide education to their children but my Dadi was highly supportive and had believed that education is the only thing that can bring significant change. She was not educated but still she wanted their children to be educated even when they were unable to make ends meet. She gave her life savings to my dad to pursue his education. But still my dad needed more money for school fees so he used to ride rickshaw so he can pay his fees. Somehow my dad completed his high school and needed a job to support his family, he got a job in Bank….a very small job of just arranging files and all.

My dad decided that whatever he has faced in his life, he would never let his children face the same.

My father’s earning is not that good but he always kept my mom to his side and didn’t let her stay in village. He continued his job and started a small business side by side so as to provide the bare minimum to his family.

To be honest My siblings and I never faced discrimination because my father provided us a good lifestyle. He taught us to held our head high because whatever he has today is nothing but his sheer hard work and  struggles.

My dad is an undergraduate, barely able to complete his 12^th and my mom is an illiterate. But as a child I never realised it that my mom isn’t educated because she had always been the first person to help me with my homework I used to get from school. My Teacher would make a few dots of ABCD and my mom would make me write ABCD on those dots by holding my hand. Now when I come to think of it, it seems like she was trying to learn and fulfil her desires to study, which never touched a form of reality, through me. In my whole family, I’m the only one who is studying in such a huge college. I vividly remember the day of my admission, when my dad who came with me for the admission was awestruck by looking at the college and the other affluent parents and their big cars. He seated in that seminar hall, filled with so much of proud that he couldn’t contain his happiness and tear rolled down his cheek.

The reason why I’m telling this story is……..

I got rank around 8k in CLAT and got admission in RMLNLU because of reservation. Had there been no reservation for student like me who comes from a backward caste, I would have never got an admission in NLU and my father would have never experienced that proud feeling. Okay my schooling is not that good and my relatives more than 95% belongs to Gaon rest of them 5% not give attention to their children education and environment. Whatever career I and my siblings pursue just by their own  choice, My family has gone 3 generation ahead because of my dad.

First time I encountered discrimination due to my category was in 2018, in Delhi, where I went to prepare for CLAT Examination. One student asked me about my caste and when I told him about my caste, he very casually said, “tumhe toh padhne ki jaroorat hi nhi hai, bina padhe hi college mil jayega” and laughed it off. He didn’t realize how hurtful and disparaging his remark was.

 I wanna ask this question to people who say such kind of things.

• How many of your relatives are uneducated?
• Is your mom uneducated??
• What’s your father’s qualification?
• Did your father face any hardships while pursuing his education?
• What was your dada ji’s job?
• Have you ever seen any competitive exam’s cut off list ……and noticed that first 100 plus students are from general category, it can’t be just a coincidence.

                                        

 

• Ever tried to contemplate and find the reasoning behind it?

If not then Just search about them, read about their background, their social positions, their struggles and everything you can before criticizing and passing any judgments. I am saying this firmly because today, all the high position holders are people who belong to general category and It’s my personal experience, I am not just talking in the air. I visited to almost every doctor in Agra and they were all of general category.  

The answer to the need for reservation lies in the comparison.

 

Thankyou!