The civil services examination is not something Kashmiri students generally opt for. “So I thought to make an attempt to conquer this field.”

Dr Shah Faesal

Faesal, however, did not expected to come on top though he hoped to be among the top 50. “There was nothing in my background that would make anybody think I can achieve this,” says Faesal. “But I did it and I feel thousands of other students here with similar difficult backgrounds can also achieve it.”

Faesal hopes that other students who fear to dream, will start thinking big.

Faesal says, “I feel I have broken the jinx that Kashmiri students cannot reach the top.”
“I am an orphan with a scarred childhood. There was a tragedy in my family, my father was killed. But nothing could break my determination to succeed.”

Born on May 17, 1983, Shah Faesal hails from Sogam-Lolab in Kupwara district. A doctor by profession, Faesal did his MBBS from the SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, topping the examination in 2008. His initial schooling was from a government higher secondary school Sogam and he was first student in Sogam who secured 85 percent in class 10th. After they shifted to Srinagar he got enrolled at Tyndale Biscoe School, where he passed class 12 with distinction.

Faesal appeared in the CET on the fourth day of his father’s death. “On the fourth day when my father was killed, it was my mother who motivated me to appear for CET,” remembers Faesal.

During MBBS, he developed an interest for civil services.

Last year Faesal topped MBBS exams conducted in March, he became a part of Right to Information (RTI) campaign in Kashmir where he learnt, “If you want to change the system, you must join civil services.” Faesal says it boosted his confidence and he appeared in coaching test for civil services conducted by University of Kashmir where he topped the list of successful aspirants.

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