Ummul Kher : The Woman who Broke Stereotypes to Crack the UPSC Examination

Post UPSC Examination results, the whole nation came to know of Ummul Kher, a woman who achieved her dreams through sheer hard work in spite of having disowned by her own family. In an exclusive interview with Feministaa, we got to know more about the woman, her health and the road she took to achieve the success she enjoys today. Her super positive attitude towards life and above all her tremendous energy to uplift the disabled women of the country will unintentionally urge you to do the same for these women.

Ummul has been conferred National Women Excellence Award 2013 by the National Commission for Women, Government of India. She was the youngest to receive the award that year.

It All Began With Subhash Chandra Bose

Ummul Kher was in standard two when she read about Subhash Chandra Bose. She was immediately struck by his story and how he left his job of a civil servant to join India’s freedom movement. Since then she had nurtured the dream of becoming a civil servant. At that time, she had neither any idea about the exam nor the difficulty to crack it. All that little Ummul had, was passion in her heart, which never made her give up on her dreams.

Physically Disabled with 16 Fractures

Suffering from Osteogenesis, a rare bone disorder that occurs in only 1 out 0f 15 thousand people made Ummul go through 16 fractures and 8 surgeries in her 28 years of lifetime. She had her last fracture in 2012. As per Ummul, the disease affects more women than men, because biologically, women have a lower bone density than men. The typical mindset of the Indian society prefers to give wholesome nutrition to the male child than the female child. One cannot deny that this is also one of the reasons why women at large are more fragile than men from a young age.

It’s Important for Women to Take Care of their Body

Ummul knows too well the condition of her bone and that’s why she ensures to maintain a lifestyle that refrains her from too much walking, in short too much of physical activity. With women with physical disabilities, it becomes all the more necessary to take care of their bodies.

Best Mantra to Achieve Great Success

Ummul says cracking civil services exam or any such crucial and competitive exam needs dedication and hard work. No matter what one’s dreams are, if they put their everything into it, then there is no stopping them. Ummul chose sedentary reading, spending 15 hours every day studying, most of the time in the library.

Women Dream No Matter What 

“Have dreams and if they are genuine and has a substance in them, then it doesn’t matter whether anyone supports them or not”

As per Ummul, if one is made to follow her dreams alone without any support, then the decision to fight the odds needs to be respected.

Future Endeavour

Ummul Kher has already been part of many debates on women disability at various international conferences and events. She wishes to continue this work to empower women and would also like to work for the different disability movement while bringing the element of feminism to it.

“I want to be fully responsible to my parents”

The woman who has been disowned by her own family in the past wants to take care of her parents now.

We hope that Ummul fulfils all her dreams and do extraordinary work in her respective field so no more disabled women are left neglected in the society.