Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Chasing an IAS Dream

On the first day of engineering some lecturer came inside and asked all of us what you want to do . I remember only two answers . One was mine and other was his . He said he wanted to clear civil services exam.


When so many guys wasted their time in engineering college listening to boring lectures and eyeing fairer sex , he devoted some of his time to read public administration and general studies after doing what others did.

He was one of those good guys who wanted to Change India. Finally after debating on so many things both of us wrote "Keen and Avid Watcher of Global and Indian Scenario" in our resumes for the placements.As Global and gyanny as it can get.He suggested me to do so .Both of us cleared the interview for the first big software company that came to our college and ended up in mundane jobs that didnt require any brains


When so many guys decided to work for those big software firms after engineering he decided to quit after eight months and go for Civil Services.

When I met him in Delhi after two years he had gone thin but his motivation to clear civil services had not reduced by an iota and in fact I felt it had increased by tantamount.

I could understand how difficult it was to clear civil services when I saw those long queues for registration of coaching classes in front of popular coaching centres in Delhi.


I could understand how difficult it was to clear civil services only when I met some of teh most brilliant people in Delhi University who had wasted their youth and their prime age chasing an IAS dream finally becoming researchers or politicians.

I felt very bad for him when he told me about all problems in his personal life and how somebody who was considered too close to him left him when he didnt qualify for civil services the second time . I was reminded of Estella in the Great Expectation of Charles Dickens who loved people only based on their position and money and who believed only in breaking hearts.

I hoped against hope that he will qualify for the interview because last time he had missed it by 10 marks .This year he was among those 1000+ who qualified for interview.

Final results and selection list came out yesterday and his phone was switched off . I was dispapointed . Not Again . I knew that this time it was a trial by fire for him this time.

There was a call today morning and I had been waiting for this call for the last four years from him . He is among those nine Keralites in Top 100 this year in Civil Services.

Finally your hardwork and dedication has paid off dude . Way to GO!

Congrats :).

12 comments:

Ajith Prasad Balakrishnan said...

Nice to hear that :)..Hope more dedicated souls like him bring some good change to our beloved nation :)

Attribution said...

:D
Thats the spirit!

Jo said...

Congrats to your friend. Sounds like it is a well deserved achievement. More power to those who dream and work towards their dream!

Neihal said...

That sounds like many of my cousins, but not all ended this way, i know someone, who is depressed till date and is wasting his life, he was a lively, intelligent guy with so much on his mind all the time. I used to like him, now I dont know what to feel.

Coming from a family, where civil service is almost like a family profession, I know how difficult it is, and what it means . My heartiest congratulation to your friend. :D

I just hope that he not be disappointed soon. It happens. :(

Seema said...

Waw that's what they call a die-hard spirit…just meant to succeed !! That success was truly deserved for all the hard work and perseverance…Congratulations to him and all the very best in life !

On the hindsight…sometimes these temporary failures gets one to value success and achievements and is often a sieve just for to us collect the real gems of life ie. true friends n close ones, who stand by, come what may ! May be that temporary failure was a smaller disaster than having that someone close who was only interested in his success…is my take !

Just re-affirms something like this - In the fight between the Wave & Rock on the Seashore…the Wave always Wins…Not through strength, but through persistence.

The Lonely Backpacker said...

i just hope that i can write the same post next year when my friend clears it (cleared prelims twice but not the mains :( )
heart warming post :D

Flyaway Mind said...

your friend dared to dream differently from most engineers out there..even i felt very happy when i watched the news & saw all those mallus who made it to top ranks..afterall, ias is india's toughest exam to clear..

silverine said...

It is heartening to see that the Civil Services is still coveted by the youth. Congrats to your friend and the three Loyolites who were in the Top 10 ( see Jiby's post).

N A R I YA L C H U T N E Y said...

@ ajith : Even I hope so :)

@ attribution : Yes , Die Hard Spirit :)

@Jo:Most power to those who achieve their dreams :)

@neihal: Hmm, I see . Hope fully my friend wont see this :P and may be you should say this to my dad who believe that Civil service is the best career that anyone in India can vouch for :).

@seema: You bet .As you write "A genuine heart n a simple gentle soul..." is the easy to find when there are temporary failures :).Hmm , Wave is as perisitant as some anonymous bloggers is it :).

@karuppinazhaku : What a beautiful anme for a blog , but why it is limted only for invited readers . Can you pleas give me an invite ? :) and I think you are one of those bloggers who is not blogging much these days :).

@flywaymind: Out there nahin . Out here and very much here . It is not the toughest but it is one of teh toughest :).BTW when I reserached the results I found out that one of my B school Classmates and another of my friends also cleared IAS this year :)

@silverine: Ya , It will be coveted because of the power attached .

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

Wow... congratulations to him!

Bullshee said...

Congratulations to your friend!!!
The way you describe it, it seems its been a long and ardous journey for him....

The sweet is sweet if you've had a lot of bitter before it, i guess...

Anywayz kudos again to your new IAS friend!! :D

Pureintellect IAS said...

happy to hear this good news...i am also like that. i am a computer engineer and want to go for civil services .

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