He Delivered Milk When He Was 6. At 29 He's A Magistrate!

'Studying was never an important part of our life, surviving was.'

He grew up in abject poverty. There was not enough food at home when he was a small child. The house he stayed at with his mother, grandmother and little brother, leaked when it rained.

There was no father also to take care of him and his younger brother.

He started working at the age of 6, delivering milk and later on newspaper to the neighbouring households.

A boy who he failed in English, Maths and Science but managed to scrape through his 10th board exam passed the Kerala State Judicial Service Examination with a 2nd rank.

After a year-long training that starts in February at the Kerala Judicial Academy, he will be ready to be a magistrate.

That is the inspiring story of 29-year-old Yaseen Shan Muhammed from Palakkad in Kerala.

"I didn't find carrying so many bottles difficult as the only thought everybody at home had, was, we should have money to buy food," Yaseen tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com

A childhood devoid of good food and proper house

I was born when my mother was just 15, and I don't remember my father at all as he vanished from our lives when I was just 3. My father was never there in my childhood memories. I don't remember ever having seen him or ever calling him.

Our family consisted of my Umma, Ummoomma (grandmother) and a little brother.

One of the earliest memories of my childhood were days without proper food, without proper clothes and growing up in a dilapidated house that leaked when it rained.

We survived because my mother and grandmother worked in the field.

The situation at home was so bad that we used to go to a mosque in the weekends to collect the free 10 kg rice they gave to the poor.

Family buys a cow, and the 6 year old starts delivering milk.

It was when I was 6 that my mother bought a cow with the intention of having a steady income.

Umma and Ummoomma took care of the cow, while I delivered the milk to around 14-15 houses in the neighbourhood every morning and evening.

I used to wake up at 6 in the morning and carry the milk bottles in a bag. I had to walk around 2-3 kilometres to complete the delivery.

I didn't find carrying so many bottles difficult as the only thought everybody at home had, was, we should have money to buy food.

We used to get Rs 120 every month from each house which meant we had food at home for everyone. It didn't mean that we could afford meat or good food.

By 8:30, I was back home to get ready to go to school.

Delivering milk and reading newspapers

Something that excited me every day was getting to read the newspapers free. Most of the houses might not have taken the paper inside when I reached there to deliver milk. So, I took some time off at every house to read the paper.

My interest in general affairs of the world thus started.

Around this time, the government started giving 35 kg rice every month to poor families.

When the walls of our earlier house were collapsing, we got a temporary house from the government under the EMS Housing scheme.

When MNERGA came to the village, Umma started working under that scheme which meant assured job for 100 days in a year.

School life began with second-hand books and uniform.

In Kerala, whether you are rich or poor, all children go to school. We also went to school. There was no question of any child not going to school.

The problem was buying books and uniform. Books and uniform were free for all students today but when I studied, we had to buy both on our own.

But there were people who passed on to us used uniforms and books.

That was how my school days began.

Nobody told me I should study what was taught in school or do homework.

Studying was never an important part of our life, surviving was.

School days without any dream or ambition.

I was so bad in Maths that even today, I do not know how to multiply or divide on paper. But I can do everything in my mind.

That was what life taught me.

It was my job from the age of 6 to go and collect the monthly charge for milk delivery, and I did all the calculation in my mind.

Because I read the newspapers every day, I was aware of what was happening around me. So, I did quite well in Malayalam and Social Science, but I always failed in English, Hindi and Mathematics. Till the 10th standard, I continuously failed in those subjects.

The truth is, failing in those subjects were not a concern for me.

It never was a dream or ambition of mine to study well, get good marks and then get a good job.

Our life was such that it was not possible for us to have any dreams. We dealt each day as it came.

It is a usual question by teachers to students what they wanted to be in life. I answered whatever came to my mind at that moment.

I never took studies seriously and I had no plans about my future.

My life was such that I came back from school and start delivering milk.

That was our priority and not studying or doing homework.

After delivering milk, we went to the madrasa and by the time we came back, it would be dark.

The next morning started with delivering milk, and the routine continued.

By the time I was in the 9th standard, I started delivering newspapers also in addition to milk.

That meant, I had to get up by 4, 4.30 in the morning.

The area for newspaper distribution was wider at around 10 kms and I had to walk the entire route as I had no cycle.

Within a year, I bought a second-hand cycle so that the paper distribution could be faster. I remember vaguely that I paid Rs 500 for the cycle.

Managed to pass 10th standard

I scraped through all the subjects in the 10th standard state board exam except Malayalam for which I got A+. As we got 20 marks as internals, we needed just 10 or 12 marks or so to pass!

Because all the other students opted for science for the 11th standard, I also took science as my option though I was very poor in Science and Maths.

Another difficulty I had in the 11th and 12th was studying all the subjects in English. The result was that in the half yearly exam, I failed in all the subjects except Malayalam.

What I enjoyed more than studying the schoolbooks was going to the local vayanasala (reading room) and reading all the newspapers and books.

By the time I was in the 10th, I started doing more work to help at home. During school holidays, I did catering, I did construction work and I did painting of houses.

You also must understand that what I was doing was not abnormal. So many kids from underprivileged background do all these things to make some money.

While most kids in our neighbourhood continued to do such jobs later on in life also, I decided to study more.

I passed the 12th standard. Though I had failed all the Maths papers from the 11th onwards, in the 12th final, I got 33 marks, two more than what was needed to pass.

The situation at home was such that if I had failed in the 12th, I would have ended my studies there itself.

There was no one at home to guide you in your studies or to advise you. It was like, if I wanted to do something in life, I had to make that choice and decision.

Perhaps my destiny had certain plans for me.

Not just passing 12th, many other incidents in life also make me believe in destiny!

You can call me a self-made man in whose life destiny played a huge role.

Destiny plays a role...

I did not get admission for a degree course as my marks were very poor.

Some of my friends had joined the polytechnic saying possibilities to get a job are high. So, I also decided to do a diploma course in electronics.

Again, destiny played a role in the dramatic the way I got admission.

Polytechnic admissions were over, and classes had started 3 months earlier. But they had to fill 3-4 seats that became vacant after some students left to do something better.

I was told there was a chance interview at the Palakkad Polytechnic. Chance interview is, you go to the college with all your certificates and try your luck. I heard about the chance interview accidentally when I was in Palakkad. But I didn't have my certificates with me.

A couple of my friends went on their bike to my home which was 30 km away and brought my certificates. That was how I joined the college; as the last student!

After I passed out of the polytechnic in 2015, I got a job in a medical electronics company based in Gujarat.

Corporate life or the life of a social worker?

After working for a year with a reasonably good salary, I got fed up of the corporate set up.

From childhood, I was a kind of a social worker in my village. You can even call what I did, social activism.

That's why I found the corporate life very stifling and individualistic. I wanted to give back to society which the corporate life did not let you.

The question in front of me was, corporate life or a life as a social being?

Decided not to flow with the tide anymore

I quit my job, and joined a degree course in public administration in a government college in Attapadi.

I chose the course as I felt that was the direction I wanted to take in my life.

I was 21 and was more aware of the world, more aware of what I wanted to do in life. Till then, I was just flowing with the tide. I did what my friends did.

For the first time in my life, I didn't want to fail.

After I took such a decision, I did not fail in any subject. In fact, I did extremely well.

I knew I was losing a steady income when I quit my job but then it was a risk I wanted to take. To compensate for the financial loss, I started taking tuition classes after my college and also on weekends which gave me Rs 100 for an hour.

If I chose studies as my path, my brother stopped studying after the 12th, and went to Oman to work.

Studying Law, and also becoming a Zomato food delivery person

Before I finished my degree course itself, I had decided that my next target was to study Law.

If you were to ask me why I chose to study Law, I knew by becoming a lawyer, I could help people. Law was a good tool for my social activism. Society also recognises you and respects you if you are a lawyer. I also knew I could talk well.

I prepared for the entrance exam on my own, and cracked it in the first attempt itself with the 46th rank in the state.

I wanted to study in the Maharajas Government Law College in Ernakulam, and I got admission there itself.

There was another reason why I wanted to study in Ernakulam. It was a big city where I could do part-time jobs.

While studying as a Law student, I became a Zomato food delivery person after class. My work started by 6 in the evening and went on till midnight or even 1-2 am.

Next morning, I was in college to attend the classes, without fail.

My work, in no way affected my studies as I attended classes and listened to all the lectures.

By the time we were to write the exam, the pandemic came, and food delivery stopped completely. So also my income.

It was only because of my friends that I could tide over the difficult times. They gave me books to study, paid my fees and even bought me food.

Though we had to write all the papers of six semesters together because of the pandemic, I got the 8th rank in the state.

Writing the State Judicial Service Exam

When I passed out of Law college, my plan was to be a practising lawyer.

Writing the Kerala State Judicial Service Exam was not in my plans at all.

In January 2023, I joined a law firm in Pattmabi and enrolled as an advocate in March.

Then, a couple of my colleagues encouraged me to write the Judicial Exam. All of us joined a tutorial class to prepare for the exam.

I had no hope of cracking the exam as experience mattered a lot in the interviews unlike the Bar exam.

To my surprise, in my first attempt itself, I passed the prelims, main and also the interview and was ranked 58th. What affected my rank was my poor performance in English.

Unfortunately, there were only 56 seats to fill, and I did not get the appointment. It was a disappointing moment for me. So near, yet so far.

Whenever I was down, whenever I felt life is being hard on me, I remember the words of Bharatiyar.. Naan Veezhven Endru Ninaithayo? (Did you think I would fall?)

I wrote the Judicial exam again in 2024.

This time, I wanted to strengthen my weak point which was English. I started by reading the editorials in The Hindu.

I read lots and lots of case studies for my preparation.

Then, I got a chance to take classes for the judicial service aspirants which helped me analyse cases and express them fluently.

If there were 56 vacancies last time, there were only 7 vacancies this time. So, I had absolutely no hope of getting selected.

When the results came, I had scored the 2nd rank, and there was only one point difference between the 1st and the 2nd ranks.

Looking back, I never thought I would be in the place where I am now.

That's why I believe in destiny.

That's why I believe in what poet Changampuzha wrote: Jeevitham nalkan madikunnathokeyum, jeevichu jeevithathodu njan vaangidum (All that life hesitates to give me, I will earn by living)

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com