Personal History

The region I am from is called `Lalmai Pahar’, a remote hilly area in `Comilla’ District, in eastern border of Bangladesh. As a border area between India and Pakistan (present India-Bangladesh) this sphere was a critical field for communal riot in 1947; in the time of independence from British Kingdom, and also in 1971, for independence war between Pakistan and Bangladesh. But after that we have an excellent communal harmony. The locality is endued with attractive natural beauty of hillocks, Small River and profound cropland. Because of religious prejudices and agro based economic tradition the illiteracy rate in my community is very low. I was born in a village where almost seventy percent of the students drop out in primary school, of those that make it to high school, hardly any finish and my family is no exception of this trend. Almost all of my cousins left primary school to work in the fields. But I am lucky enough to continue because of my parents’ inspiration and my passion.

When I secured primary scholarship in 5th grade for outstanding results, for the first and last time from my local primary school, my father, a nationally awarded community leader, understood the importance of quality education for me for the betterment of family and the community. He decided to place me to the best secondary school in Comilla Town. I stood out in the top twenty out of around 70,000 students in both the secondary and higher secondary certificate examinations. My teachers encouraged me to compete for undergraduate admission in the University of Dhaka – often called the OXFORD of the East – a dream school for all students in Bangladesh. I feel no hesitation to say that I am the only student who was admitted in the University of Dhaka from my hilly community in the history and not even this, none from my village had ever come to Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, before for education purpose.

While studying at undergraduate level, as I had to undergo severe financial...