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A Tale of One Village, Three Officers, and How They Made a Young Boy’s IAS Dream Come True

The little-known Pimple Khalsa village in the Shirur taluka of Pune district in Maharashtra gave three civil service officers to the country within a span of five years.

The rapid digitalization of the country is proving to be a boon for the students of the remote regions who want to prepare for competitive examinations like UPSC CSE. The story of Pratik Dhumal, who did his primary education in Marathi medium from a village school and fulfilled his dream of entering civil services by clinching AIR 183 in CSE 2020, proves what a blessing the internet has become for the youth of small towns and villages. Pratik, however, was fortunate to have three civil service officers from his village as his guides, too.

CHASING HIS DREAM

After completing his primary education from his village school, Pratik Dhumal moved to big city Pune for his higher education. He did his B.Tech in Computer Science in this metro and joined the multinational IT company Oracle. While working there, he was a little restless, as a childhood dream kept disturbing him. The dream was to join civil services and “bring about a change in the system by striving to keep the social consciousness alive”.

LEAVING ORACLE JOB TO PREPARE FOR UPSC CSE

To pursue his dream, he finally decided to call it quits after serving a year in the company. In 2019, he resigned from his job and started his full-time preparation for civil services. He made the best use of the internet and social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, and other online news sources, which helped him gather the relevant information for his preparation. His habit of reading newspapers daily also helped him to keep abreast of the current affairs.

THE THREE MENTORS FROM HIS VILLAGE

Pratik also received guidance for his preparation from IPS officer Mr. Nachiket Shelke, IRS officer Mr. Shridhar Dhumal, and DCP Mr. Ramesh Dhumal. All three officers belong to the same village as him and are posted in Maharashtra. Mr. Shridhar Dhumal had scored AIR 358 in UPSC CSE 2014 and Mr. Nachiket Shelke AIR 167 in UPSC CSE 2018. The three officers, with their past experiences of clearing civil service examinations, mentored Pratik to successfully crack the 2020 CSE exam.

THE POWER OF NET AND PARENTS’ BLESSINGS

Besides the three mentors, his family’s support also helped him to strive hard for success. Both his parents are teachers by profession, so their guidance and encouragement kept him focused and motivated throughout his preparation. Internet also played a big role in his success. In interaction with media, Pratik said, “Internet has reached from the city to village, and as a result, rural-urban discrimination is declining. Internet made things easier for the preparation and helped in gathering important information.”

The young achiever also advised students who are preparing for competitive exams to master their graduation subjects first. “If, unfortunately, you don’t succeed in the exam, you’ve to be prepared for some other career option,” he explained.