“My story is the story of every young man who dreams big since childhood, but due to circumstance, has to move away from his goal. Don’t give up on chasing your dreams, no matter what the situation may be. Find a way to achieve what you desire, that’s what I believe in.” These golden words belong to the one who did not give up on his dreams even when life threw millions of reasons to do so.
With his passion, vitality and strong will, Mr Rahul Tripathi achieved something that only few people imagine of. For someone who worked as a fourth grade peon once, Mr Tripathi, while simultaneously handling the responsibilities of two families, he achieved his goals and the life that he dreamt of.
Even though life tried to break him every moment, Mr. Tripathi had made up his mind to never give up. And finally when, the results of UPPCS-2020 were declared in April 2021, Mr. Tripathi became the talk of the town by receiving AIR-43 and getting selected for the post of CDPO.
EARLY EDUCATION
Hailing from Ambedkarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Tripathi wasn’t really a meritorious student in his younger days, but with time he gradually got better. He completed his 10thfrom Shishu Mandir and Vidya Mandir of Ambedkarnagar. He secured the second position in his district with 78% marks in his intermediate.
In an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Tripathi stated, “After my early education, I dreamt of becoming an engineer. I also took coaching in Kanpur to get into IIT. A private college was available in UPTU, but due to poor financial condition of my family, I could not take admission there. Then suddenly one day, my life took a terrible turn when my father died in the year 2004. Since then, my world changed.” Mr. Tripathi was only 14 years old at that time.
SERVICE
The financial condition of hisfamily worsened with the sudden death of his father. As soon as he turned 18, he was appointed as a peon in the district sessions court under the deceased dependent quota. Even though his qualifications were apt for a third class job, he got appointed in a fourth class service.
Says Mr. Tripathi, “I put my heart in whatever work I was appointed. In our society, the job of a class IV employee is not viewed with much respect, but while working there, I met with the challenges of a class IV employee. A few days later, I put a review application in the court itself to apply for my appointment on the basis of my merit. My application got rejected twice but I did not give up. The judges interviewed me for the third time and finally, after almost two years, I got appointed as a third class employee in November 2009.”
NEW DREAMS
Alongwith this, he applied for graduation in a college known to his maternal uncle and completed his studies in 2008. After graduation, he also acquired his degree of law. Meanwhile, he got married and soon became the father of two children. Everything seemed to fall in place, but now his heart started desiring for more.
While working in the court, Mr. Tripathi closely observed the plight of the poor people. He realized that he needs to do something for them as well as for himself. He started cherishing the dream of getting into civil services and began preparing for it.
ANOTHER SHOCK
Buthis destiny was such that as soon as he felt that everything was fine, life dragged him on the ground again. This new ordeal of his life shook him from within.
After six years of graduation, some technical mistakes at the time of his first year of graduation, rendered that year invalid, thereby declaring his entire degree a piece of useless paper. Even the college manager raised his hand and announced that he couldn’t do anything in the matter.
In an instant, his hard work of six years turned into ashes. Mr. Tripathi exclaimed, “It was a very strange period for me when worries and disappointments had resided in my mind. It seemed almost impossible and extremely difficult to get them out of my mind.”
CIVIL SERVICE PREPARATION
He made his first attempt to get into IAS in 2015 but failed. After receiving the shocking news of an invalid degree, there seemed no point in giving the UPSC examination again, but on the questions raised on his educational qualifications troubled him no end. He decided to start afresh,with the support of his family.
He said, “I reconciled my shattered dreams in the year 2016 and applied for graduation once again. This time, I had decided that in any case I will dedicate myself to civil service which is why I quit my job in 2017, as it was hard to prepare for the exam while being in the service. Further, I joined Azim Prem Ji’s NGO and went to Rajasthan for preparation. Meanwhile, I took loans to get my sisters married and sold our ancestral land of the village when he pressure of debt increased.”
MOMENT OF VICTORY
Finally, Mr Tripathi experienced the moment that he had been waiting for all this while. He was appointed as the Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) after clearing UPPSC-2020 and acquiring Rank 43rd in April 2021 with History as his optional subject.
