Civils toppers for women empowerment

Ira Singhal (AIR:01) and Krishna Teja (AIR:66) have been successful Civil Services examination candidates from diverse backgrounds, but have common goals: women empowerment, progress of the country and helping the needy.

“In nature there is no blemish but the mind, None can be called deformed but the unkind”

Ira Singhal

A differently-abled lady, a role model for youth and a fantastic personality in particular, Ira Singhal stood at the top by securing All India first rank in the prestigious civil services examination, 2014 by overcoming all her odds. I have seen and interacted with many of the civils toppers for the last one decade, but my meeting with Ira is the most memorable one.

As we were entering her hostel, we were actually a few steps behind her, at that instance she found the doors of the lift were closing then she swiftly entered into the lift and obstructed the doors of the lift with her right leg asking us to get in. She is so simple and humble and the phrase “down to earth” rightly describes her.

Success in every walk of life brings us joy and happiness. But this ranker was not just successful in civil services, or not just successful in inspiring others, she is a woman of eternal bliss, absolute patience, brave and humane. For this erudite topping civil services is no achievement, she says “my real success lies in bringing a change, a change in the State of Indian women in particular our perception towards differently-abled women”.

In further conversation she says “I am patient and I can even wait for a life time to see a change” Low spirited souls get disheartened on encountering tough times, but she takes them as challenges. She says “I have never embarked into negative thoughts, in fact gloomy thoughts are fatalistic, and they only barricade our progress. “ One’s potentials should not be gauged in superior position but the yardstick must be challenges “says this sanguine personality.

The doubt of ‘why’ in mind is intriguing. Immediately after learning that she worked for a MNC ensconced in a well paid project, with my uncontrollable eagerness I asked “Why did you leave such a high profile placement?.” Her reply was “If I continue in that job, it only makes me another opulent among many others. But I owe this nation, which braced me in my odd times.

My brilliance and hard work should be of some use to ameliorate the deprived and disabled.” Her reply nearly electrified me. “Task assigned to me is deemed to be done”, says Ira. She does not hesitate to go any extent to accomplish the job designated to her.I would like to narrate a real incident in her life, where she was kept on a duty to supervise a class of 500 students. One of her classmates had been repeatedly thwarting her attempts to hush the students.

Annoyed Ira made the student sit in the centre of girls’ batch, where he never babbled. This demonstrates her conviction and commitment. She is steadfast in her tasks and convictions. “I am what I am, what I am today is not what I acquired overnight, but what build within me throughout my life” says devoted Ira.

She is determined to serve and she will not succumb to external pressures nor would she be carried away by the pleasures of her position. She says she is ready to quit her job to uphold her personality and integrity. This is because neither the charm of a collector nor the privileges of an IAS had attracted her in to this but the true spirit of service had pushed her in to this.

One could not measure her humbleness. I was bewildered to notice that she got down of the dining table to shake hands with some unknown persons when they came wishing her on her success. Such a courteous manner is rarely visible in high profile achievers. She says “Essentially all are good. It is our attitude towards others decides theirs towards us”.

She is tolerant and her endurance is boundless. Last few minutes in her company made me draw such conclusion. It was 11:30pm by the time we completed our dinner and we started taking some snaps with her. Though she was sleepless for the last five to six days, was inconvenient with the arrow of flashes in the dark night, she stood smilingly.

Later we started moving to our car, where we encountered a group of her admirers asking for a group photo with her. Strikingly she stood with them letting one more flash hit her tired eyes. When asked how she could take such a strain, she simply said” I am incapable of being arrogant”

Regarding Civil Services Examination according to the ‘icon’, one should start with basic NCERT books and only then they should move to standard text books. When asked about, how she was able to score 950 marks, in ‘mains’ she says. “I wrote almost all answers in pin point manner without any irrelevant stuff and that has fetched me more marks.” Her first preference of cadre is AGMUT cadre.

Ira is a unique person. Her thoughts, ideas and words really do inspire people. She has met around 50,000 students with in the last two weeks of time. She says that “Disabled do not require sympathy. As a matter of fact they should not seek sympathy; they themselves should believe and feel that they are equal along with all others in the society.

Krishna Teja

Humble, honest, handsome, hardworking and an enviable personality VR Krishna Teja Mylavarapu who by achieving All India 66th rank in Civil Services Examination-2014 wanted to dedicate his success for the cause of the nation. Ira Singhal and Krishna Teja Mylavarapu hail from two different backgrounds, but with the same vision. For both of them the goal is women empowerment, progress of the country and helping the needy.

From a very good family background and support system Krishna Teja drew his inspiration from his grandfather, who spent his life in social service. Born in an affluent business family, leaving behind many lucrative career options, he chose to serve the nation and his fellow citizens.

From his childhood, he was fascinated to be first in the class and in fact he excelled throughout his academics. In spite of his three continuous failures, he relentlessly struggled to achieve his goal learning from his failures. A man of perfection, punctuality and commitment. He meticulously scheduled his day, carried on his preparation while teaching his co-aspirants.

For Teja success in the exam does not come in platter, it demanded lot of sacrifice, hard work and persistence. For him preparation is a way of life and not about writing an exam. According to this achiever education is panacea for all the social evils.He considers civils as a pathway to bring about social empowerment, education and justice.

The preparation for this exam needs lot of patience. One cannot master all the subjects overnight. It is not just remembering the facts but also analyzing and interlinking the facts. In the words of Teja “One should have a holistic approach towards the exam and should pose the questions why, what and how for all the topics.”

By:Balalatha Mallavarapu

(The author is a previous civils ranker in 2004. She can be contacted at [email protected])