Conquering all odds

All the odds were against him - he is afflicted with polio, hails from a small village in Solapur district of Maharashtra, and his father had died when he was very young. But Ramesh Gorakh Gholap overcame all the adversities and has topped the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) Main exams 2011 and has also cleared the Union Public Service Commission examination.

Ramesh, who hails from Mahogaon village in Barshi taluka of Solapur district, topped the Maharashtra Public Service Commission examinations, scoring 1,244 marks out of 1,800.

For Ramesh the result was not unexpected. He was confident of topping the MPSC exams, Ramesh says. He had cleared UPSC examinations too with a 287th all India rank. However, his topping the MPSC examination holds only an academic interest since having cleared the Union civil services examination, he will be joining the Central services.

Following his father's death, Ramesh obtained a diploma in education (D.Ed) so as to find a job and sustain the family and support his mother who sold bangles. He found employment as a teacher in a municipal school where he served for six months before deciding to complete his graduation. It was while pursuing graduation from an Open University that he began preparing for the UPSC.

But Ramesh failed in his first attempt at the UPSC examinations. That did not deter him and he continued to prepare for the examination and he has now cleared both the UPSC and MPSC examinations. Ramesh likes to serve the community and says that he has always been active in his village and organized cultural festivals and worked for the development of the village through small initiatives.

Ramesh has a word of advice for students preparing for competitive examinations. It is not necessary to join expensive coaching classes, he says. If you have faith in your own competence and pursue self-study with dedication, no one can prevent the success that is due to you, he says.