To accomplish your dream, the most important things that you require are hard-work and a strong will power; rest everything just falls into place. No amount of adversity can bar you from reaching your destination if you have made up your mind to win it, come what may. IAS officer of 2006 batch, Mr. Govind Jaiswal is a living example of the statement.
Being a rickshaw puller’s son, Mr Jaiswal studied hard and went on to become an Indian Administrative Service Officer with an All India Rank of 48. Let us learn more about his journey into the Civil Service.
RICH DREAM IN A POOR HOME
Mr. Jaiswal was the youngest sibling in a family consisting of his parents and three sisters. He had completed his schooling from a government school in Usmanpura and did his graduation in Mathematics from the government degree college.
In an interview conducted right after he cleared the examination, Mr. Jaiswal narrated an incident from when he was 11 years old and had gone to play at a rich friend’s house, from where he was humiliated and thrown out because of his poor status. That incident greatly affected him and he made up his mind to get into the topmost job of the country and become an IAS officer one day, so he could prove that the worth of a person shouldn’t be judged by his financial status.
His father suffered from a hearing disability and a wounded leg, but he rode rickshaws so he could make ends meet for the family. Through his savings, he was able to marry off his three daughters but as the condition of his leg worsened, he couldn’t pull rickshaws any longer and the entire responsibility of the house fell on Mr. Jaiswal’s shoulders.
FROM VARANASI TO DELHI
Mr. Jaiswal received taunts from the society and was told that he too would have to pull a rickshaw. This exhausted him, but he got immense backing from his family who supported him to study hard and accomplish his dream of getting into Civil Services.
He started living in Varanasi to prepare for the exam but life there was miserable. There used to power cuts for 14 hours straight and the noise from the generators would regularly break his concentration.
“I used to shut all the windows and put cotton balls in my ears so as to reduce the noise of generators running all around in the locality,” says Mr. Jaiswal.
He decided of shifting to Delhi to prepare diligently for the examination, which seemed impossible in Varanasi. Due to financial crunch in the family, his father sold off the only piece of land he had for Rs. 4000 and sent Mr. Jaiswal to Delhi for his further preparations.
A STEP CLOSER TO HIS GOAL
Mr. Jaiswal’s dedication and sincerity towards his ambition were unwavering. He gave Maths tuitions and even skipped meals in Delhi to save money. He knew that he couldn’t let anybody down and had no choice but to succeed.
In his own words, “Anyone who can understand my hardships and circumstances will realize that I had no other option. Neither could I go for lower government jobs nor I could start a business as I had no money for it. I went for the option I was left with: worked hard on studies.”
He did not have the luxury of going for a second or third exam and knew that this was it. It was either ride or die.
VICTORY AT LAST
Tears of joy and happiness flowed out of Mr Jaiswal’s eyes when he looked at his result. In his first attempt itself, Mr. Jaiswal, who attended a government school and a modest college in Varanasi, secured 48th rank in the UPSC civil services exam in 2006. All this while he was at the young age of 22!
“For the first few minutes, I was shocked and shivering as my hands were not in my command when I tried to give this news to my father. He had sleepless nights for about 10 days before the result came out,” he stated.
The first thing that Mr. Jaiswal did when he received his first salary was to get proper treatment for his father’s wounded septic leg. His story shows that the civil services exam can be cracked by anyone with the will and determination to work hard.
“Don’t blame circumstances, if I can become IAS, anyone can try partaking in the civil services” he said in an interview.
Your background, father’s job, financial status, etc. does not matter. As far as the UPSC civil services are concerned, the only thing separating success and failure is your work. If you work and fight off distractions and temptations, you can crack the exams and change your life forever. Who knew it better than this 22-year old from Usmanpura.
