KOCHI : The adage “third time’s the charm” might be true for many. However, for Ernakulam native P K Siddarth Ramkumar, it was his fifth attempt that led to him finally achieve his dream of becoming eligible for IAS posting and that too in the Kerala cadre. Siddarth cracked the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, coming fourth nationally.
Siddarth’s tryst with UPSC began in 2019, when he was in his final-year of graduation. “I did not event clear the prelims,” says the architecture graduate. “It was a wake-up call. I got down to preparing properly,” he says. He went prepared the second time and became eligible for the Post and Telecom Accounts and Finance service. “However, I had my eyes set on IAS,” says Siddarth. He persevered. “My third attempt got me the IPS,” he adds. His fourth attempt too did not yield the desired result. “Finally, in my fifth attempt, I was able to realise my dream,” says Siddarth, who had taken up anthropology as his optional subject for the UPSC exam.
The district also saw another youngster clear the UPSC exam. Devikrishna P became the first lady cadet from the Department of Ship Technology in Cusat to crack the test. She had left a lucrative job with Larsen and Toubro (L&T) Pvt Ltd, which she bagged during campus recruitment, to pursue her IAS dream. The native of Tripunithura secured an all-India rank of 559 in her second attempt.
“The thought to become an IAS never occurred to me when I was in school. Later, I thought, ‘why not?’ The feeling grew stronger after I joined L&T. Though it was a tough decision, one that took a year and a half to arrive at, I quit the job and plunged head first into preparing for UPSC,” says Devikrishna, adding that her first attempt was miserable. “It was because I was jumping head-first into something unknown,” says Devikrishna, who is already planning to better her performance next year since she too harbours the dream of becoming an IAS officer.
“My present rank makes me eligible for IFS, IPS or revenue services,” she said.