Her life bound to wheelchair, but not her dreams: Kerala woman fights odds to clear UPSC exam

Now, the 26-year-old has cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) civil service exam, with a rank of 913, completing a remarkable journey against heavy odds.

Sherin, a native of Kambalakkad village in Wayanad, accidentally fell from the terrace of her house in 2017 after she had completed her post-graduation in political science. She was about to chart a course for her childhood civil services dream, but the fall changed her life. She was completely bedridden for one-and-a-half years and later returned to life in a wheelchair.

“I had to accept myself and my life. I realised that the life in front of me is more important. While confined to the bed and later to the wheelchair, I had only a dream. I had no world outside. No friends or no social gatherings. Me and my mother only. I realised that I have only my willpower to support me,” recalled Sherin.

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Sherin’s father Usman, who died in 2015, had never attended school, while her mother Anima studied until Class 4. Sherin’s two elder sisters had to abandon studies at Class 10 due to financial constraints, but another elder sister Jalisha, who pursued studies, is now a research scholar in mathematics.

Sherin picked up the thread for her dream from the neighbourhood. “Our village had a person selected to the Indian Railway Management Service. I had seen how people watched him with awe. That has inspired me and kindled a dream for civil services during my school days,” she said.

She had her schooling in a local government school and later joined a college in Sulthan Bathery in Wayanad, where she completed post-graduation in political science.

The fall in 2017 made Sherin a person with quadriplegia. But friends and well-wishers stepped in with support. Resuming the academic life she had left behind after the tragedy, Sherin successfully wrote the UGC-NET exam and joined as a research scholar in international relations at the University of Calicut.

In 2020, Sherin joined Thiruvananthapuram-based Absolute IAS Academy, which author and motivational speaker Dr Jobin Kottaram set up. The academy had a special programme, ‘Butterfly’, for physically-challenged students aspiring for civil services.

Dr Jobin recalled, “I learned about Sherin and her plight through a local publication. She initially doubted whether she could attempt civil services in such a condition. She had quadriplegia and financial constraints. We offered her the programme free of cost. As it was pandemic, she attended the coaching classes online from Wayanad,” said Jobin.

Under the project, Absolute Academy enrolled 25 differently-enabled students to equip them for the civil services exam. Sherin was the 25th student but the first from the lot to clear the exam.

“I realised that she has a strong determination to win. A year after she joined the programme, we had made a faculty of the academy,” said Jobin.

Months ago, Sherin travelled to Thiruvananthapuram to attend a mock interview. That was her first such long journey after the accident. While going for the UPSC interview in Delhi, the other students of the Absolute Academy supported her in her travels and helped her move in a wheelchair.

Sherin said she had yet to decide whether to try again in the UPSC exam to improve her rank. “This was my second attempt. As I am included in the category of persons with benchmark disabilities (PwDB), I may get a better service,” she said.