UPSC exam is considered the toughest competitive exam in the country and to clear it, one requires patience and a lot of hard work. The exam requires focus, dedication, and a zeal to clear it. Hariram Shankar, a native of Thrissur, Kerala, was among the million aspirants who attempted the UPSC exam chasing a dream, but could not hold onto it until he realised his actual purpose in life.
Today, Indian Masterminds, presents his success story and his journey from Kerala into the IPS. He cleared the CSE in his fifth attempt, but all throughout the long journey, he kept his patience and chose to appear again for the exam even after clearing the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS) in the fourth attempt.
BACKGROUND
Hariram Shankar is a native of Thrissur, Kerala. His father Venkitachalam V H served as a Section Officer at IMG Kochi and his mother is an Ayurveda Doctor at Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College, Thrissur. He has a younger brother who studied at IIT Bombay.
Shankar did his primary schooling at St. Paul’s School in Thrissur and secondary school from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Vidya Mandir in Poochatty. After schooling, he joined NIT Calicut for his graduation in mechanical engineering.
CLEARING UPSC
Mr. Shankar’s first inclination towards UPSC was when he saw his senior in college, Gokul G.R. bagging the IAS in his maiden attempt with an All India Rank of 19. It was then that Shankar thought of the civil services dream as achievable with enough hard work.
After making one half-hearted attempt at CSE, Shankar joined SBI as a Probationary Officer. Realising his dreams lay elsewhere, he quit that job and pursued the civil services exam. In his fourth attempt, he got selected for the Indian Audit and Accounts Service (IAAS). He underwent training at the National Academy of Audit and Accounts at Shimla for a year and 6 months in Kolkata.
In 2016, in his fifth attempt, he secured an AIR 145 to get into the Indian Police Service (IPS). Mr. Shankar says that he practiced plenty of mock tests for both IAS prelims and mains exams and made notes to study. He further suggests that aspirants should stay disconnected from social media and take good care of their health and routine to do well in the exam.
