From tea seller to Assistant Professor: The incredible journey of Rafiq Ibrahim

Rafiq Ibrahim
Rafiq Ibrahim

Wayanad: He was born in a poor family in Wayanad. After passing the Class 10 examination in 2001, he sold tea at the Nilambur bus stand in Malappuram district to support his family. When the shop was closed, he earned money by cleaning vehicles. A few years later, he returned to Wayanad to work as a salesperson in a footwear shop.

Notwithstanding the long working hours, he devoured books and magazines whenever he got time. His quest for knowledge guided him to scale academic heights, securing bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and eventually a PhD.

On November 6, he added another feather to his illustrious cap when he joined as an assistant professor in Malayalam at the Kannur University.

On that day, 35-year-old Rafiq Ibrahim wrote an emotional post on Facebook, recounting his tea selling days: “I could see me wandering the streets filled with sandalwood agarbatti factories and lathe machines, screaming aloud ‘Tea Bekka’ (do you want tea) and pleading with customers to pay money.”

Rafiq is guided by his quest for knowledge and an unsatiated appetite for books. Support from friends too played a crucial role in his achievement. For, he joined the undergraduate course in Economics at the insistence of his friends. According to him, he read maximum books from the district library in Kalpetta during that period.

But what turned his life was a piece on ‘politics of identity and class’ written by academic and orator Sunil P Ilayidom, who taught Malayalam at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady, in a leading Malayalam magazine, which he happened to read during a bus journey. It influenced him so much that he decided to pursue higher education in Malayalam and Ilayidom became his idol.

He eventually secured admission at the Malayalam department, where Ilayidom taught, for post graduation. It gave him a fresh perspective to his academic pursuit. He completed MPhil before earning a doctorate in ‘literary forms and cultural history’ under Ilayidom.

Now Rafiq says he owes this achievement to friends and many good people. “I couldn’t have achieved this without their support,” he says.

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