48th BCS: Arnab told father after viva, ‘You don’t have to pull a rickshaw anymore’

One day, while playing cricket, I dislocated my left elbow. I needed to be taken to the health complex, but there was no one to take me. My father had gone to work on the Padma char.

No one could be found. In desperation, my mother picked me up and ran all the way to the hospital, carrying me in her arms.

The upazila headquarters was quite far from our home. My mother and I felt utterly helpless. At the hospital, after a long wait, my mother managed to get a physician who attended to me.

I was in Class V at the time. That day I felt determined that when I grew up, I would become a physician. I would try my best to serve the helpless.

The same year, I received another lesson in life. Before the Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE), one had to sit for model tests, held at different schools around the upazila rather than our own. Our test centre was Mirganj. All my friends bought new clothes for the occasion.

On the examination day, they were heading off to the test centre wearing their new outfits. I had none. I refused to go without new clothes.

I wept at home, declaring that I would not attend the exam. Eventually, my elder brother forcibly took me to the examination hall and seated me there. By then, 40 minutes had already passed.

In class, I was always the first boy, but in that examination, I ended up securing third place. I was deeply disheartened. Gradually, I began to understand that my family could not afford new clothes. My mother explained to me that if I wished to wear new clothes, I must study hard.

Our home is on the banks of the river Padma, at Alaipur in Bagha. Apart from the five-katha homestead, we had no other land. Since childhood, I saw my father, Suntu Islam, engaged in agriculture. At times he also worked as a van-puller in the locality.

My mother, Chinuwara Begum, is a housewife. Although both are illiterate, their only focus was to ensure we became educated and grew up as respectable human beings.

We are three brothers. My middle brother, Asadul Islam, discontinued his studies after Class V. My elder brother, Jinarul Islam, two years senior to me, was a good student.

When he was preparing for his SSC examination, I had just moved up to Class IX. At that time, I often felt very sleepy. He once told my mother, ‘Raton (my nickname) always sleeps, he will not be able to study science.’

My determination grew stronger. I began to study science day and night. From primary level up to Class VIII, I had never required private tuition.

However, in Class IX, I struggled to understand much of science and mathematics and without private tuition, my results would not have been good. As the first boy in class, I was favoured by my teachers. They began tutoring me free of charge. I passed SSC with GPA-5.

I enrolled at Rajshahi New Government Degree College for HSC and moved into Shamsuddin Hostel. To stay in the hostel, a deposit of Tk 20,000 was required upfront for two years.

In addition, Tk 70 per day had to be paid for meals. Meanwhile, my elder brother had completed HSC and was preparing for admission tests, which also required money.

Arranging this amount placed my family in extreme financial difficulty. In the hope of earning a little more, my father left our village and moved to Dhaka to work as a rickshaw-puller.

With great hardship, I managed to enrol in college. To save on hostel meal costs, I took up work serving meals daily and going to the market three days a week. Serving meals meant distributing curry bowls to 180 students one by one, keeping records in a ledger.

This task consumed considerable time. I sacrificed my study hours to do it. Going to the market also caused me to miss classes. However, my accommodation and food expenses were reduced by nearly half. Even so, due to lack of money, I often had to go without food.

After completing HSC, I had to vacate the hostel. My results were satisfactory, achieving GPA-5. My goal was to study medicine. Before the admission tests, everyone else was attending coaching classes.

To join, I needed to move into a mess. I paid Tk 2,500 in advance for a mess in the Shaheb Bazar area of Rajshahi. However, when I went to move in, I found the place had already been taken by another person.

My money was not returned either. I did not know what to do. Reluctantly, I returned home. Since my second year in college, I had been preparing for admission tests. I stayed at home and studied day and night. In 2019, I sat for the admission test and secured a place at Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, Bogura.

After enrolling, I began tutoring to earn money. In addition, I received a government scholarship and a Dutch-Bangla Bank scholarship, which greatly supported my studies.

Although my elder brother gained admission to the University of Chattogram, he did not enrol. The following year, he was admitted to Mymensingh Agricultural University. Considering our circumstances, my father continued to live in Dhaka.

The MBBS examination results were published on 9 July. Just nine days later, on 18 July, was the 48th BCS preliminary examination. This left me with only seven days to prepare. Many in my batch had already begun internships. I took leave to prepare for the BCS.

I successfully passed the preliminary and subsequently the written examination. The viva took place on 4 September. Three senior members were on the board. I felt I had managed to satisfy them. They even mentioned at the time that they would recommend me.

After the viva, I came downstairs, where my maternal uncle was waiting. Immediately, I called my mother at home to inform her that the examination had gone well. Then I called my father in Dhaka and said, “From today you no longer have to pull a rickshaw.”

On that very day, he was plying a rickshaw. Hearing my words, he packed his belongings and boarded a bus. My uncle and I already had return tickets and travelled back by train.

My father, however, arrived at our home in Baneshwar, Puthia, Rajshahi, ahead of us by bus. Returning home, I felt as though I had reached paradise.

The final results were published on 11 September. I was recommended for the position of assistant surgeon. In the meantime, I had also begun my internship. Once it is completed, I will be able to join government service.

As a doctor, my life’s purpose will be to serve humanity. I will stand beside those around me, and those I encounter in the future, in any matter concerning health.

I have personally experienced how painful helplessness can be. Therefore, I will always strive to assist others to the best of my ability.