Every year, thousands of young people pack their bags and head to Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar, chasing their dream to crack the toughest exam in the country: UPSC.For most, the picture involves expensive coaching institutes, shared PG rooms, and long days spent moving between classes and study halls. It’s already a hard road, even with a roof over your head and a fixed place to sleep.But somewhere in that same crowded neighborhood, some stories don’t fit the usual picture at all, stories where the struggle isn’t just academic but far more basic than that.This is one of those stories about Mohammad Minaz, who came to the capital to chase his dreams but leads a life of difficulty due to a lack of amenities, more than one could imagine.
Meet Mohammad Minaz: The UPSC aspirant who sleeps in a library, eats in a Gurudwara, and lacks shelter
Mohammad Minaz came to Delhi from Darbhanga, Bihar, about a year and a half ago to prepare for the UPSC civil services exam. Unlike most aspirants in Mukherjee Nagar, he doesn’t have a rented room.He revealed in an Interview with Lallantop that a 24-hour library, which charges him roughly 1,100 to 1,200 rupees a month, has his study space, his shelter, and effectively his home. At night, he sleeps in the library itself, resting with his feet propped up on a chair, and keeps his clothes and belongings locked away in a library locker.
He eats in a Gurudwara and bathes somewhere else
For basic needs like bathing and food, Minaz travels around 10 kilometers to Majnu Ka Tila, where he showers and eats langar at the local Gurudwara. According to Minaz, the Gurudwara serves meals twice a day, but he generally eats only once, at midday. He explained that making the trip twice a day would eat into both his time and his limited money, since a round trip costs him about 20 rupees. Between the library fee, food, and small daily costs, his total monthly expenses come to roughly 3,000 rupees.
Minaz works remotely to make his ends meet
To cover that modest amount, he works through a mobile app that pays him for helping people open bank accounts, earning around 300 to 400 rupees per account. From about ten such accounts a month, he makes close to 3,000 rupees.According to Minaz, a regular 8-to-10-hour job, plus daily commuting, would leave him with almost no time to study, so he has chosen to keep his income small and protect his study hours instead.
His family is also in a wretched situation
What makes his situation even harder is that his parents, both in their seventies, don’t know the reality of how he’s living. His father has diabetes, and the family is already under financial strain. When Minaz speaks to them on the phone, he simply tells them he is fine and that his studies are going well. He avoids mentioning the library, the single daily meal, or the long walk-run to Majnu Ka Tila, worried that the truth would only add to their stress.Minaz has four sisters, three of whom are married, while one is still studying, and the family carries some debt. He doesn’t see UPSC as merely a route to a stable government job. Having grown up watching people in his village struggle due to a lack of awareness about government schemes and their rightful benefits, he wants to become part of the administration precisely so he can help close that gap.