Arbaz has been good in his studies right from childhood. He secured 95.64% and 85.85% in Stds X and XII, respectively. In JEE Advanced, he secured an all-India rank of 2262 in the second attempt.
They say "if you can dream it, then you can achieve it", and how true this has turned out to be for this 18-year-old! Arbaz Shaikh, the son of a bus conductor from a Khar slum, has got selected for Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay's (IIT-B's), Bachelor of Technology (Btech) course.
Arbaz stays with his parents and younger sister in a 10x12 sqft room. His father Rajvalli (43) has been working as a BEST bus conductor for five years. Initially, he was a daily-wager and used to get Rs170 a day; now, he gets Rs15,000 a month. "I was a technician before I joined the BEST Undertaking. I did not have a shop; I used to go door to door to repair televisions and other home appliances. Those were tough days — trying to earn a livelihood enough to feed the family and pay rent," he said.
Arbaz has been good in his studies right from childhood. He secured 95.64% and 85.85% in Stds X and XII, respectively. In JEE Advanced, he secured an all-India rank of 2262 in the second attempt.
The teenager, who used to escape to the college library to study in peace, said, "I stay in a slum area, where it's always noisy. Neither did I have a room to myself for studying. The library in the college or the one in my area were my refuge."
He added that he never took stress over studies and always managed to find the right balance — studying straight for three hours, then relaxing with some music and later doing some form of physical exercise to recharge.
This year was Arbaz's second attempt to get admission in IIT-B. "My rank was not good enough to get me admission last year. My father motivated me to try once more," he said.
When asked why he pushed his son to give it another go, Rajvalli said Arbaz had been taking scholarship exams and other tests apart from those conducted in school and college. "My son had got scholarship for Std XI and XII too without attending coaching classes. Because of that I was sure that he would get through in the second try," added Rajvalli.
Arbaz's father has big dreams and high hopes for his son. "I want my children to be well educated, so that they can provide a good education and a good life to their children.
"I want to inspire other people to think big and do something for the society and country, and not worry about lack of resources."
Arbaz is trying to get a scholarship for his IIT-B course too. At the moment, he has got assistance assurance from an NGO, the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP). The organisation has been collecting Zakat (charity in the month of Ramadan by Muslims) to provide assistance to Muslim students who have got selected for IIT-B and are unable to pay fees.
"We have assured Arbaz that we will help him till he receives his degree," said Aamir Idrisi, president of AMP.
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