MAHARASHTRA: Bharat Andhale isn’t a celebrity. He is an Indian Revenue Services officer with a difference: he is a veritable YouTube sensation for those who would like to clear various competitive exams.
Viewed by over 20 million people, he tells the aspirants how to take a ‘Garud Zep (eagle’s leap).’ Like he did in 2009 when he cracked the UPSC exams in his seventh and last attempt to become an IRS officer.
Andhale’s book ‘Garud Zep’ motivates rural students to do something in their life. “I have delivered more than 1,000 lectures on how to get success in competitive examinations. The only aim of the low-priced book is to reach out to as many students as possible,” says Andhale.
He boasts of a personal achievement: he belongs to the Vanjari community, where dowry is rampant.
When he cleared the UPSC in 2009, his poor parents thought they’d get good dowry on his marriage. “I refused to take even a paisa. I wanted a life partner, not the money,” says a proud Andhale. Andhale belongs to Sinnar taluka in the Nasik district of Maharashtra.
“I was born into a poor family burdened with a huge debt. My parents were illiterate. I hardly saw my father; he was always busy with his gambling habit. I borrowed textbooks and other school stuff,” says Andhale, posted as Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in Mumbai.
As a child, he had to do all sorts of small jobs to get a good two-square meal. “Education was not my priority; my parents told me to take up any work as early as possible. After 10th, I did the ITI and started working with a private firm in Nasik. I did my graduation while working,” he says. His academic record was very poor—the average percentage from 10th to graduation was hardly 52%. “As a village boy, I wanted to be a police sub-inspector who wields enormous power and influence at the taluka level.
When I came for further studies in Pune, I realised that I could do better than the sub-inspector because one of my roommates cleared the UPSC,” says the officer. “In Pune, my day usually started at 6 am and ended past midnight. My only motivation was to study and study more. I had no support, moral or financial, from my family. To meet daily expenses, I worked under the ‘earn and learn’ scheme of the Pune University,” says Andhale.