A dream is not the one that you see in sleep but the one that doesn’t let you sleep and for Amrutesh Aurangabadkar, cracking the IAS exam was the top-most priority. He worked hard day and night and eventually, all his efforts reaped him rewards when he became one of the youngest to crack IAS at the age of 21, as per The Hindu.
Yes, you read it right! Pune’s Amrutesh Aurangabadkar cracked the civil services exam in 2011 at a young age with a superb all-India rank of 10 and topped his state, Maharashtra. Amrutesh, now 25, is serving as the Regional Commissioner of Municipalities, Vadodara.
He said, “He himself couldn’t believe as it was unexpected as he never aimed at topping the examination as he always wanted to crack the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) examination, but never even thought he would top in the state.”
He had high standards for himself to achieve something in life. His ideal preparations began with the third year of graduation.
In his childhood itself, he realized the importance of Civil Services as his father, Kalidas worked as a government officer (deputy director at Ground Water Survey and Development Agency).
So, he had the opportunity to meet IAS officers which inspired him to choose Civil Services as his career. His future goal was to execute government schemes effectively so that they reach the maximum number of people.
His mother named Raksha is a gold medalist in BA (Economics) and his sister- Chinmaya is an IRS (Indian Revenue Service) officer.
Talking about his educational background, Amrutesh Aurangabadkar studied at Dr Kalmadi Shamarao High School, Ganeshnagar, Pune. He completed his Bachelor in Arts (BA) course from Fergusson College, majoring in Economics. He then did a diploma in National Security and International Relations.
Apart from Amrutesh Aurangabadkar, there are other young brains who became IAS officers at such a young age. Ankur Garg, Swati Malik, Ansar Ahmad Shaikh and Roman Saini.
Ankur Garg successfully topped the civil services exam in 002 at a young age of 22 and thereby becoming the youngest candidate to clinch the feat. He had graduated from Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, is now pursuing a two-year Master’s programme at the iconic Harvard University.
Hailing from Rajasthan’s Sikar, Swati Meena Naik was 22 years old when she became an IAS officer in 2007. She secured an all-India rank of 260. She is now serving in the Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Marketing Federation.
Ansar Ahmad Shaikh, who is the son of a rickshaw driver from the drought-hit Shelgaon village in Maharashtra’s Jalna district, cracked the civil services exam in the year 2016 with an all-India rank of 361.
During the time of clearing the test, Shaikh was just 21 years old and thereby he became the youngest ever IAS officer till date. He is now plying his trade as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the Department of MSME and Textiles, Government of West Bengal.
Roman Saini had cracked the civil services exam in 2013 at 22 with a superb all-India rank of 18. He was the youngest IAS officer before Shaikh and was appointed a Collector in Madhya Pradesh. However, he resigned from his services in 2015 and co-founded Unacademy, an educational technology company.
Transition in every individual’s life is obvious if s/he gives everything to fulfil the goal. Ask a successful person about how they did it and they would simply say there are no shortcuts to real success.
One must realise that only hard work, great diligence as well as commitment is required to touch the pinnacle of success. Above all, believing in oneself is also one of the biggest strengths to overcome challenges and it is also important to dream big in life.