THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘’Relief!” cried Divya S Iyyer, the young lady from Palkulangara who clinched the 48th rank in Civil Services Examination 2013. The word summed up the elation of clearing an examination, which is arguably the toughest in the country.
While preparing for the exam, Divya had penned a book titled ‘Path Finder’. The book, published by DC Books last year, offers helpful advice to IAS aspirants. Who could have done this better than someone who has gone through the grind thrice. “It was not a grind. Each time it was a fresh challenge, with a new syllabus,” quipped Divya.
In her second attempt, she had got into Indian Revenue Service. Most would heave a sigh of relief, and stop at that. But she enrolled for civil services training at the base camp in Faridabad, took a year’s leave and returned to prepare for the exam a third time. Her eyes were set on the Indian Administrative Service.
Divya had gone back to the National Academy of Customs, Excise and Narcotics, after the examination was over. That was where she was on Thursday, when her faculty at the Kerala State Civil Service Academy here rang her up. They congratulated her happily. But according to Divya, “They expected me to top the exam. I don’t know how they feel.” Kerala State Higher Education Council Vice-Chairman T P Sreenivasan, who was one of the faculty to train Divya said, “We did expect her to fetch a higher rank. But you can’t tell how it goes in competitive examinations. A difference of two marks can make or break it. But 48 is very good.”
Divya had trained at the NSS Academy of Civil Services for her final attempt and at the Kerala State Civil Service Academy for the first two attempts.
Of her 12 batchmates at the NSS Academy, four had appeared for the interview and have cleared it too. At the Kerala State Civil Service Academy, 86 had appeared for the interview, of whom 45 have cleared all rounds.
While everyone around her was making plans to celebrate at an eating haunt in Delhi, it started raining. “Surprise showers in the summer,” beamed Divya. Nothing can stop the celebrations.
