Around April-ish time frame - 2006 - IIT Kanpur put up a cycle rally till Moti Jheel, Kanpur (11.4 km from IIT K) against the reservations (anti-caste based reservations in 2006) and thousands of students were up for it. I and my friends too were a part of the crowd. And we dared to ride our cycles on the NH-91 highway to Moti jheel. We (people from IIT K, and other nearby colleges) were addressed by none other than -- Chandra Mohan Thakur (IIT K ME , Class of 2006, Y2125). The enthusiasm in his voice and the confidence to talk to thousands of people (needs guts! and you should be interesting while talking) was commendable! He has always been the people's man! A cheerful guy who loves talking and was always around people - either comparing, debating, or meetings ;)
So, our IIT Kanpur days (his and mine) went on in discussion about his future goals- he has always dreamt to be an IAS only to take care of his state - Bihar (now Bihar and Jharkhand), his country. There are very few people who join UPSC for doing something for the country (may be i m wrong in the statistics), and he was amongst the few. But, reasons dint permit him to thrive for his goal, instead he went on for a lavish job @ Hindustan Unilever Limited. Earned a lot of money, success and fame and one fine day realised- is this really me? Is this what I wanted to do in life? Was this the only success story I have to tell my kids about? It took him three years to get out of the job and to get back to his dream. And he made it.. made it so well.. that he achieved a great rank in his first (well, almost) attempt.
I remember I was just checking www.upsc.gov.in and there was this new link.. results..upsc..final..gosh..my heart beat stopped..dint move until I saw his FULL NAME and roll number in the list!!!!!! When he came to know the result, it obviously took time for him to absorb- cuz he was confused with his performance - happy because he made it..and little diasspointed as he could not get IAS. Nevertheless, the happiness his family (and I) is going through made him feel like a BIG MAN already! Cheers to your success.. you made your parents' dream come true.. I am sure everybody who knows you is proud of you on this success. Hope we are able to see the change you plan to bring.. not only for your state but also for the country!
