I too had nurtured the dream of becoming an IAS officer since childhood. After completing M.Sc in Physics from the University College I wanted to try my luck in civil service but the responsibilities of family business fell on me, abruptly ending my dream.
Then I tried to live my dream through my sister's children. But despite my persuasion they seemed keen on medicine and MBA. Ultimately it was left to Haritha to achieve the goal.
Civil services had been her dream right from the early days. Whenever she asked me what career I wanted for her, my standard reply used to be - civil service. I used to tell her about the advantages of being an IAS officer.
She started off perfectly securing seventh rank in SSLC. Though she wanted to start preparing for civil service after plus two, Haritha took up electronics and communication at Government Engineering College, Barton Hill, to keep her job prospects intact.
During this period we shifted base from Neyyattinkara to Thiruvananthapuram to provide better facilities for children. After completing B Tech she declined HCL job offer during campus recruitment, to go for civil service.
Her selection of Malayalam and Economics as optional subjects was a calculated move. She was strong in Malayalam and she was at ease in Economics for her aptitude in mathematics and statistics. In Narayanan sir, a retired economic professor from University College, she got a tutor who was behind the success of many IAS aspirants.
Now it was time for Haritha to go for civil service exams. In 2009 she cleared preliminaries in the first attempt but fell short of 18 marks for the mains. She realized even minor mistakes could prove disastrous.
A year later, she secured 179th rank. Though she could have got into the Indian Police Service, Haritha preferred Indian Revenue Service. In 2011 she tried her luck again but this time she fell by 111 ranks and we felt she might call it quits.
But Haritha was not ready to give up; she took extraordinary leave and put everything behind the last chance in 2012. Interview board asked her four major problems that the country faced and she listed out corruption, hunger, women's security and unemployment among the educated. Everything went perfect for her.
Haritha got the big news about topping service while she was under training at the National Academy of Customs Excise and Narcotics (NACEN). It was a big moment for the family and for me personally it was realization of decades-old dream.
