The Waiter who will be an IAS Officer

Inspired by the spider, the Scottish king Robert the Bruce told his men, 'If you don't succeed the first time, try, try and try again'

K Jayaganesh's story is similar. He failed the civil service examination six times but never lost heart. The seventh time - his last chance - he passed with a rank of 156 and has been selected for the Indian Administrative Service.
Jayaganesh's story is inspiring not because he did not lose heart but also because he comes from a very poor background in a village in Tamil Nadu, and though he studied to be an engineer, he worked at odd jobs, even as a waiter for a short while, to realize his dream of becoming an IAS officer.

How Anshuman of Bankura got into MIT. Read on for Jayaganesh's inspiring achievement, in his own words:

Childhood in a remote village

I was born and brought up in a small village called Vinavamangalam in Vellore district. My father Krishnan, who had studied up to the tenth standard, worked as a supervisor in a leather factory. My mother was a housewife. I am the eldest in the family and have two sisters and a brother. I studied up to the 8th standard in the village school and completed my schooling in a nearby town.

I was quite good at studies and always stood first. Coming from a poor family, I had only one ambition in life -- to get a job as fast as I could and help my father in running the family. My father got Rs 4,500 as salary and he had to take care of the education of four children and run the family, which you know is very difficult.

So, after my 10th standard, I joined a polytechnic college because I was told I would get a job the moment I passed out from there. When I passed out with 91 per cent, there was a chance for me to get entry to a government engineering college on merit. So I decided to join the Thanthai Periyar Government Engineering College to study mechanical engineering. My father supported my desire to study further.

Even while doing engineering, my ambition was still to get a job. If you look at my background, you will understand why I didn't have any big ambitions. Most of my friends in the village had studied only up to the 10th standard, and many did not even complete school. They worked as auto drivers or coolies or masons. I was the only one among my friends who went to college.

I understood the importance of education because of my parents. My father was the only one in his family to have completed school, so he knew the value of education. My parents saw to it that we children studied well.

In search of a job

Four days after I completed my engineering in 2000, I went to Bangalore in search of a job and I one without much difficulty. My salary was Rs 2,500 at a company that reconditioned tools.

It was in Bangalore that I started thinking about my village and my friends. I wondered sadly why none of them studied and worked in good companies. Because they had no education, they always remained poor. There was not enough money to buy even proper food. There was no opportunity there; the only place they could work was the tannery in the nearby town. If they didn't get work at the tannery, they worked as auto drivers or coolies. In short, there was no one in my village to guide the young generation.

I thought would I be able to help my villagers in any way?

Getting interested in the civil service examination

Till then, I had not even heard of something called the civil services examination. It was only after I went to Bangalore and saw the world that I was exposed to many things. I came to know that a collector in a small place could do a lot. At that moment, I decided that I wanted to be an IAS officer.

I resigned and went home to prepare for the examination. I never thought resigning was risky because I had the confidence and knew I would do well.

My father also supported me wholeheartedly. He had just got a bonus of Rs 6,500 and he gave me that money to buy study material. I sat in my village and studied from the notes I received by post from Chennai.

Failed attempts

In my first two attempts, I could not even clear the preliminary examination. I had no idea how to prepare for the exam, what subjects to opt for and how to study. There was nobody to guide me.

I had taken mechanical engineering as my main subject. That's when I met Uma Surya in Vellore. He was also preparing for the examination. He told me that if I took sociology as an option, it would be easy.

Even with sociology as the main subject, I failed in the third attempt. But I was not disappointed. I knew why I was failing. I didn't have proper guidance. I started reading newspapers only after I started preparing for the examination! So you can imagine from what kind of background I came from.

To Chennai for coaching

When I came to know about the government coaching centre in Chennai, I wrote the entrance examination and was selected. We were given accommodation and training.
Because I got tips from those who passed out, I passed the preliminary in my fourth attempt. We were given free accommodation and food only till we wrote the main examination. After that, we had to move out. I didn't want to go back to the village but staying in Chennai also was expensive.

I tried to get a job as an engineer but my efforts turned futile. I then decided to look for a part time job so that I would have time to study.

Working as a waiter in Chennai

I got a job as a billing clerk for computer billing in the canteen at Sathyam Cinemas. I also worked as the server during the interval. It never bothered me that I, a mechanical engineer, preparing for the civil services, had to work as a server. I had only one aim -- to stay on in Chennai to pass the examination.

Attending the interview in Delhi

After I got the job at the Sathyam Cinemas, I was called for the interview. As counselling was my hobby, a lot of questions were asked about counselling. I was not very fluent in English but I managed to convey whatever I wanted to. Perhaps I did not articulate well. I failed in the interview.

Preliminary again, the 5th time

Once again, I started from the beginning. Surprisingly, I failed in the preliminary itself. On analysis, I felt I did not concentrate on studies as I was working at Sathyam Cinemas.

I quit the job and joined a private firm to teach sociology to those preparing for the UPSC examinations. While I learnt the other subjects there, I taught sociology. Many friends of mine in Chennai helped me both financially and otherwise while I prepared for the examination.

Sixth attempt

I passed both the preliminary and the main in the sixth attempt but failed at the interview stage.

While preparing for the interview, I had written an examination to be an officer with the Intelligence Bureau and I was selected. I was in a dilemma whether to accept the job. I felt if I joined the IB, once again, my preparation to be an IAS officer would get affected. So, I decided not to join and started preparing for one last time.

Last attempt

I had to give the last preliminary just a few days after the previous interview. I was confused and scared. Finally, I decided to take the last chance and write the examination. Like I had hoped, I passed both the preliminary and the main.

The interview was in April, 2008 at Delhi. I was asked about Tamil Nadu, Kamaraj, Periyar, Tamil as a classical language, the link between politics and Tamil cinema etc. I was upset since I did not wish the interviewers at the start and they did not respond when I said thanks at the end. Both the incidents went on playing in my mind. I just prayed to God and walked back.

The day the results were out

I was extremely tense that day. I would know whether my dreams would be realised or not. I used to tell God, please let me pass if you feel I am worthy of it.

I went to a playground and sat there meditating for a while. Then, I started thinking what I should do if I passed and what I should do if I didn't.

I had only one dream for the last seven years and that was to be an IAS officer.

156th rank

Finally when the results came, I couldn't believe myself. I had secured the 156th rank out of more than 700 selected candidates. It's a top rank and I am sure to get into the IAS.

I felt like I had won a war that had been going on for many years. I felt free and relieved.

The first thing I did was call my friends in Chennai and then my parents to convey the good news.

Warm welcome in the village

The reception I got in my village was unbelievable. All my friends, and the entire village, were waiting for me when I alighted from the bus. They garlanded me, burst crackers, played music and took me around the village on their shoulders. The entire village came to my house to wish me. That was when I saw unity among my villagers. It was a defining moment for me.

What I want to do

I worked really hard without losing faith in myself to realise my dream. My real work starts now. I want to try hard to eradicate poverty and spread the message of education to all people. Education is the best tool to eradicate poverty. I want Tamil Nadu also to be a literate state like Kerala.

Just take my example. I could come out of a poor background to this level only because of education. I didn't get any guidance when I was young. So I want to give proper guidance to the youth in the villages. They have the ability to go up but there is nobody to guide them. I want to be a guiding force to such youngsters. As I come from that background, I understand them best.

Reservations

I strongly feel that reservations are needed to uplift the section of society that is at the bottom. Unless you lift them up, they can't come up. As they had been at the bottom for thousands of years, they are not equipped to compete with the higher sections of society.

Now that I am going to be an IAS officer, I will move to the creamy layer in reservations. My children would be from a background that is totally different from what mine was. If I continue taking the benefits of reservation, I would be doing injustice to society. So, I will not take the benefits again.

Courtsey : rediff NEWS

Online Survey

Today, while glancing through Caerberu's Blog, I saw a link which is offering money for doing their surveys. I could earn $20 within half an hour for doing surveys. Here's the link for a free sign up.

I now look forward for more such surveys!

I like playing with Children

Dear Children,

I like being with children and talking to them and, even more, playing with them. For the moment I forget that I am pretty old and it is very long ago since I was a child.

But when I sit down to write, I cannot forget my age and the distance that separates you from me. Old people have a habit of delivering sermons and good advice to the young.

I remember that I disliked this very much long ago when I was a boy. So I suppose you do not like it very much either. Grown-ups also have a habit of appearing to be very wise, even though very few of them possess much wisdom. I have not yet quite made up my mind whether I am wise or not.

What then shall I write about? If you were with me, I would love to talk to you about this beautiful world of ours, about flowers, trees, birds, animals, stars, mountains, glaciers and all the other beautiful things that surround us in the world. We have all this beauty all around us and yet we, who are grown-ups, often forget about it and lose ourselves in our arguments or in our quarrels. We sit in our offices and imagine that we are doing very important work.

Grown-ups have a strange way of putting themselves in compartments and groups. They build barriers... of religion, caste, colour, party, nation, province, language, customs and of rich and poor. Thus they live in prisons of their own making. Fortunately, children do not know much about these barriers, which separate. They play and work with each other and it is only when they grow up that they begin to learn about these barriers from their elders. I hope you will take a long time in growing up.............

Jawaharlal Nehru December 3, 1949

In Strict Confidence, Please! Do not tell Anybody….

"Don't tell to anybody else. I am telling you in strict confidence." someone close to you confides in you. You then confide to someone else close to you. The chain is complete when the same statement is repeated at each link till it reaches the originator back. Great going!!

No need to feel guilty to be a party to the proliferation of the rumours! They are the symptoms of the group or the family or the organization of which you are a part being unstable and in a state of flux characterized by some sudden changes. Such rumours are not bad as the symptoms put you on alert for remedial action in time. Use them as tools in your hands to correct the distortions that had set in – whatever the Institution!

Just keep in mind that the gossip is directly proportional to the product of importance and ambiguity of the topic and inversely proportional to the critical sense of the Recipient.

Did you say, “you feel sick today”

Did you say, "you feel sick today"!

Do you know Why?

You get a cut and all sorts of bacteria and viruses enter your body through the break in the skin. Often the skin heals itself and seals the puncture. Each day you inhale thousands of germs (bacteria and viruses) that are floating in the air. And you do not keep falling sick every day. Why?

Coz, your immune system responds and eliminates the invaders.

But in rare cases, the immune system misses something. So you will get inflammation and pus as side-effects as the cut gets infected. The mosquito bite will get you a red, itchy bump. Occasionally a germ gets past the immune system and you catch a cold, get the flu or still worse.

Deficiency of vitamin or mineral – like lack of Vitamin D and you have rickety bones: Lack of Vitamin C and you have swollen and bleeding gums? Iron deficiency and you are declared anemic? So you know to what extent the vitamins and minerals strengthen your immune system! Or weaken it!

What is this marvel Inside your body that gives you amazing protection mechanism? This phenomenon - called the immune system. It is designed to defend you against millions of bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites that would love to invade your body.

Get knowledgeable about your body's immune system. It is complex, intricate and interesting. Your immune system works round the clock in thousands of different ways, but it does its work largely unnoticed. One thing that causes us to really notice our immune system is when it fails for some reason. We also notice it when it does something that has a side effect we can see or feel.

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Does Humour enhance your Immune System?

The funny thing about humor is that it does a lot more than make people laugh.

Humour and Laughter strengthen immune system.

In Patch Adam's words, "Choose humour in the public place, with a smile on the face, or a twinkle in the eyes, and a willingness to greet each person!"

In the process, you would have strengthened the immune system – not only yours but also the other person's.

The Baker and the Farmer

A baker in a little country town bought the butter from a nearby farmer. One day he suspected something wrong with its correct weight.

He weighed it and found out that he was right. It was short weight, and he had the farmer arrested.

At the trial, the judge said to the farmer, "I presume you have scales?"

"No, your honor."

"Then how do you manage to weigh the butter you sell?" inquired the judge.

The farmer replied, "That's easily explained, your honor. I have balances and for a weight I use a one-pound loaf I buy from the baker."

The baker was arrested.

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Don't complain about the grime on your neighbor's roof when your own doorstep is unclean.

Instant Mix of Lateral Thinking

This is how this simple village beauty in her twenties got her aged father out of the debts to the Village Headman by her instant recipe of lateral thinking and wit.

The father was neck deep in debts to the Village headman who proposed for his daughter for marriage and in reward waive off all debts. The father was furious as also his folks.

The shrewd moneylender told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty bag. The girl would then have to pick one pebble from the bag. If she picked the black pebble, she would become the moneylender's wife and her father's debt would be forgiven. If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven. And that she cannot refuse to pick a pebble or else ????

They assembled on a pebble strewn path in the merchant's garden. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick her pebble from the bag.

The girl chose not to show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the moneylender as a cheat.

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dare not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

By an instant mix of lateral thinking and wit. The traditional logical thinking could not have found a logical answer .

Most complex problems do have a solution, sometimes we have to think about them in a different way.

Raindrops - All about my Dreams

Welcome to my new blog - Raindrops. Each and every person has Dreams. One of the reason to start this blog is to achieve my Dreams!

I had started my malayalam blog on Monday the July 17, 2006 and later on I have designed a new blog with the help of my friend Sumesh Chandran on Friday the March 9, 2007. Since then I continuously write blogs on different topics such as poems, stories, social issues, travelogues, comedy etc.

Recently I saw an attractive blog site through google search engine named Caerberu's Blog. It really attracted me and I decided to make an English blog. I immediately put a chat dialogue in the Shout Mix Chat box and I immediately got a reply from him explaining about various advantages of an English Blog. So, today I started my blog and my first post is now ready to publish!

Thanks a lot my Friend Caerberu from Philippines!