Today, Indian Masterminds presents the astounding story of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma, who struggled his way into the Civil Services, even driving a tempo, sleeping with beggars in temples, walking dogs for a living, on his way up!

FAILED IN 12^TH BOARD

Born in Morena, Madhya Pradesh, IPS officer Sharma comes from a very humble background. His family was somehow able to make their ends meet. In school, he dreamt of becoming an officer one day, but his results in school did not seem to support this dream. He got third division in his 9^th and 10^th standard examinations but the worse was still to happen. He failed in all subjects, except Hindi, in his 12^th boards examination.

Failing to clear this all-important board exam, called the gateway to bright careers, he started driving a tempo to support himself and his family for a while.

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Once, his tempo got confiscated by the police. He went to the SDM office, and when his turn came, he just asked the officer one thing, “How to become a SDM like you?” The surprised SDM asked him to prepare himself well for MPPSC and secure a good rank to become an officer.

From then onwards, Mr. Sharma started giving competitive exams a serious thought. He then came to Gwalior and enrolled himself for a graduation course. His financial condition was so bad that, at one point of time, he did not have a place to live in and had to sleep with beggars in temples.

Things improved a little when he found work as a peon in a library. He took advantage of it to read up books on eminent personalities whenever he could. He read about Maxim Gorky and Abraham Lincoln which gave him deeper insights into many aspects of life, and he started viewing it with a newfound wisdom. He now started harbouring thoughts about UPSC exam, which gradually became a fixation.

Meanwhile, he completed his graduation from Maharani LaxmiBai Government College of Excellence in Gwalior.

SHIFTED TO DELHI FOR UPSC

The nagging thought of UPSC kept on disturbing him and Mr. Sharma then shifted to Delhi for preparing seriously for CSE exam, which he had set as a goal. Here, he started walking dogs for people to earn some extra. He used to get Rs. 400 for this job.

SUPPORT FROM GIRLFRIEND 

Another major aspect of his life that needs to be brought up here is his love life, because it helped shape his Civil Service career. During this time, he secretly fell in love with a girl, but could not express it for a long time, out of fear that his ‘12^th fail’ background might come in the way.

Finally, he mustered enough courage to confess his love to her, also assuring to her at the same time, that that if she said ‘yes’ to him, not just UPSC, he would turn the whole world around! And, she said yes!

He still failed thrice in the CSE exam. And during this time, it was his girlfriend who saw him through. She continuously motivated and supported him during this struggling period, and finally, in 2005, he cleared CSE in his fourth attempt and became an IPS officer.

The girlfriend, too, cracked CSE and became an Indian Revenue Service officer.  Her name is Ms. Shraddha Joshi, and, today, she is Mr. Majoj Kumar Sarma’s wife.

Mr. Sharma had been allotted Maharashtra cadre, and ever since, he has held several important posts in the state and had also gone on central deputation to CISF. He has also come out with a book on his inspiring life journey, titled, 12^th Fail, where he narrates in detail his hard struggle to reach where he is today.