RAMNAD: Gopala Sundararaj of Mavila Thoppu village near Keelakarai, the second child of farmer Sunmugavel and homemaker Rajammal, has ranked fifth among the IAS toppers this year. His elder sister, Sundara Yogalakshmi, an MCA graduate, works for a private firm in Chennai. He was brought up by his uncle, Mariappan, headmaster of a middle school, along with his sister. After studying in the Agricultural College, Coimbatore, Sundararaj pursued a post graduate course at Delhi University and started preparing for the Indian Administrative Services examination while in Ramanathapuram.
Since as his father was not keeping well, Sundararaj failed to attend the main examination.
His uncle said that he had motivated Sundararaj to take up the IAS examinations after his father’s death and added that his nephew’s hard work and determination had finally fetched results.
Sundararaj has been serving as a scientist in Rajasthan for the past few months. His sister said that he is a calm and quiet person who likes to read books and newspapers. “Our father should have been alive to see Sundararaj’s achievement,” she said.
Sundararaj had once wanted to become a doctor and serve the poor. However, fate had a different path and in his third attempt at the national level IAS exam, he ranked fifth all over India.