Kumaon Commissioner Mr Deepak Rawat is a local boy – born and brought up in Barlowganj, Mussoorie. Like every other child, Mr. Rawat dreamt of many things. Someday he wanted to be a doctor and another day an astronaut. There also was a phase when he fancied becoming a scrap dealer.
In a free-wheeling conversation with Indian Masterminds, he said, “I must be four years old as I was not going to school. I was exposed to very few jobs in the surroundings. I was fascinated with the old & unused things. So, whenever anybody asked me about my future, I would tell them that I will become a scrap dealer.”
He completed his schooling at St George’s College and graduated from Hansraj College, Delhi University (DU). He did post-graduation in Political Science and MPhil from Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU).
COULDN’T STUDY 18 HOURS A DAY
Although he was raised in Mussoorie, only a stone’s throw distance from Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), where all civil servants are trained, he didn’t have any idea about UPSC CSE till his 12th grade. It was when he enrolled in Delhi University and he found most students preparing for UPSC that he got vaguely started to know what the elite services.
He also used to look up to his neighbour Mr. Anil Raturi, who later rose to become the DGP of Uttarakhand. He was inspired by Mr Raturi’s work. That is when he decided to try for UPSC.
He, however, didn’t prepare seriously for the exams till he went to JNU for his Masters. “I never had an appetite for studying for 18 hours,” he says adding during graduation his total energy went in doing his classes and giving exams.
It was in the JNU that he saw everyone preparing for the UPSC. He also wanted to do that but the problem was that he can’t study for too long. “So, I waited till my second year of PG and then started preparing. However, even for preparation I only studied for 4-5 hours a day”, said Mr Rawat.
He failed in the first two attempts and in the third one he got IRS (Customs and Excise). Like everybody, he too wanted to get into the IAS or IPS, but to utilize his time meaningfully, he joined the foundation course and went to Faridabad for the services training.
ONLY THREE DAYS TO PREPARE
As part of the training, he had to go to Bangalore in 2006. While he was staying at the guest house there, a popular actor of Karnataka Dr. Rajkumar died and everything was shut down for three days. There was nothing to do and prelims were almost on the head.
Mr. Rawat used those three days to prepare for the exam and luckily cracked it. “Again for the Mains, I got only 60 days to study. So, I studied 20 days each for my optionals which were Philosophy and Political Science. Another 20 days was for General Science”, said Mr. Rawat. He cracked the exam and joined IAS in 2007.
Sharing an interesting story about his optional, he said, “I used to consider myself brilliant (laughs). So, I had chosen History as an optional for Prelims and Philosophy & political science for Mains.”
LOVE TO EXPLORE UNKNOWN PLACES
Mr. Rawat also had a backup plan if he wasn’t successful in UPSC CSE. He wanted to become a journalist. Now, he is satisfied with his job and loves to explore hidden places in the country. The officer who also enjoys singing old & folk songs in his free time likes to know about unknown places of great cultural, religious & historical importance. He also enjoys visiting jungles and roaming around the mountains and calls it peace therapy for him.
