Govind Jaiswal, who belongs to a lower middle-class family, has proved that nothing is impossible, if there’s a strong determination to achieve the goal.
In 2006, Govind has achieved 48th rank in an IAS exam and since then he never had to look back again in his life. He was very clear about his goals since childhood and was also confident of cracking the IAS exam in the first attempt itself.
Govind is a younger brother of three sisters and used to live in a small 12×8 ft rented room as his father being a rickshaw puller and mother being a housewife. He completed both his schooling and graduation from the government institutions.
Sad story behind Govind’s determination
As the popular quote says, “every successful man has many unsuccessful years behind”, in the same way, even Govind had to face several sad stories in his life, before he could make it to IAS. Govind was warned not to make friendship with the rich kids, when he was 11 years old. The insulted Govind then aimed at making it big in life and the thought of being an IAS excited him, feeling that it would bring back the lost respect.
Govind had to face a miserable life in Varanasi with 14 hour power cut. Adding to it, he used to shut all the windows and put cotton balls in his ears, so that he would not distract from the noise of generators around. But after his graduation, Govind came to a conclusion that it’s not possible for him to study for IAS exam in Varanasi.
So he then moved to Delhi, for which Govind’s father Narayan Jaiswal had to sell his only piece of land for Rs. 40,000. In return, to reduce the financial burden to his father, Govind used to take Maths tuition as a part time and used to spend around 18-20 hours a day with books. Sometimes, he even used to skip meals to save both time and money. Finally, he could clear the exam in the first attempt, and the good news was communicated to his father with the shivering hands.
Govind was highly inspired from Abdul Kalam, and also framed about him in his own words saying, “After Gandhiji, President Kalam has given us a dream and the power to dream. His dream is of a developed India, and he is a symbol of many common people’s dreams.”
Govind’s elder sister Nirmala said that it would have been extremely difficult for his father to afford the expenses, if at all Govind wouldn’t have cleared the exam in the first attempt. She said that they had no idea about what would have happened if Govind would have failed. She added that their father had sleepless nights for about ten days before the result came out.
This is a story of a rickshaw puller’s son who could achieve his big dream going against all the odds. It is not only an inspiration to IAS aspirants, but to everyone who is committed to a goal and is fighting tough to achieve it.