Bihar incense seller sold off home, judge daughter says time to get it back

Rupa, who secured 173rd rank in the exam, studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sadiq Nagar, New Delhi, before moving to Pune for her graduation in law.

Rupa Raj was 14 years old when her father, a resident of Bihar’s Motihari town who made his living by selling lottery tickets and incense sticks, had to sell his property and move to Delhi so his three daughters could pursue their higher education.

Rupa Raj’s father Baidyanath Prasad Shah was forced to sell his ancestral property in East Champaran district to fund his children’s higher education.

Rupa Raj, the youngest of the three, is now 24 and is on her way to become a civil judge. She successfully cracked the 29th Bihar Judicial Services Competitive Exam, conducted by the state’s Public Service Commission.

“I am very lucky to have such a supportive father who sold off his property for his daughters. I can never forget what he has done for us. It’s now our turn to do something for him,” said Rupa while talking to HT over phone from New Delhi.

Rupa, who secured 173rd rank in the exam, studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sadiq Nagar, New Delhi, before moving to Pune for her graduation in law.

Her father Baidyanath Prasad Shah, 52, used to earn a meagre ~15,000 a month through his ‘family business’. He was forced to sell his ancestral property in East Champaran district to fund his children’s higher education. Shah continued with his vocation of manufacturing and selling incense sticks in Delhi until 2014 — when his second daughter, Ruchi, became a doctor in China.

Helping hands have since dwindled for Shah.

His eldest daughter, Lakshmi, works at the Bihar Bhawan in New Delhi, and has also recently cracked the National Eligibility Test to become eligible for a job as a lecturer.

As a token of gratitude, the daughters now want to buy back the property their father was forced to sell.

If they don’t get the same property back, the daughters want to buy and collectively gift their father a small chunk of land in Motihari — the place where they originally belong.

Rupa is proud of her humble moorings. The grind she went through as a child has “helped me stay focused and disciplined”.