Tumakuru girl beats all odds, makes it to civil services

The UPSC result this time has brought to the fore an incredible story of grit and determination, of Aruna M, a candidate from Tumakuru district who studied in a government school, lost her farmer father to loan burden, and worked her way to civil services while mentoring others.

Aruna stumbled four times at the interview stage but didn’t quit trying. In the latest attempt, suffering from Covid, she collapsed in the exam hall while writing the mains, but recovered later and wrote the exam. This time, Aruna made it to the final list with 308th rank.

She is the middle child among the five children of her parents - four girls and one boy. While the rest of the family stayed together in Thadakalur of Sira taluk, young Aruna stayed with her grandparents, who lived in a small hut at Mangalawada village of Pavagada taluk.”

“They didn’t have enough even for three decent meals a day. Aruna studied using kerosene lamps,” says her elder sister Manjula M, a software engineer in Bengaluru.

Poverty and lack of facilities could not hinder Aruna’s natural curiosity. “She would borrow newspapers from relatives or libraries, or even pick up the pieces of newspaper on the road and read it. She would also share interesting stories from what she read when she visited us,” adds Manjula.

Despite abject poverty, her father sent all the children to the courses they wished to go. He managed to admit Aruna to the Government Junior College in Pavagada.

In those days, even getting Rs 630 to pay the college fees was a struggle, says Aruna. Living with the relatives and later in a low-cost hostel, she managed to top her PU exams and secure an engineering seat.

Tragedy that changed life

Unable to cope with mounting debts and pressure by lenders, her father ended his life in 2009.

Aruna’s mother Vimalakshi took to agriculture in order to manage the home. “It was difficult, but life had to move on,” she says. Her father’s death made Aruna analyse the situations that led to it. She figured out that the gap between the government’s schemes and their reach in rural areas was a major issue. She decided to serve farmers and rural people, and felt civil services was the way to go.

Mentoring other aspirants

She started writing civil services examinations in 2014. While preparing for the exams, she worked as a part-time mentor in an IAS coaching academy in Bengaluru. She and two of her friends opened Aruna IAS Academy last April in Bengaluru where they are now coaching civil services aspirants, with special consideration for students from rural areas.

Says Sumanth S, a civil services aspirant from Wilson Garden who was one of the aspirants Aruna mentored: “She is an excellent mentor who helped me prepare for the prelims and motivated me. Her overall knowledge is excellent. When her results came, we all celebrated it more than her.”

“The government must help the interested poor rural youth to try for civil services, with free coaching and facilities,” she says.