GRANNY'S GIRL
Puja Rani(28), an alumnus of DAV Public School and BIT-Mesra, made Hazaribagh proud by cracking UPSC exam with a 732nd rank. But, ask her why she aspired to join the UPSC, Puja, one of four sisters, points to her octogenarian grandmother Sumitra Devi.
"My grandmother didn't go to school. But, she ensured her son and daughter got equal opportunities to study. That's why my dad Shiwashish Ram became a conservator of forests and my paternal aunt Urmila Devi a school principal. My grandmother encouraged us sisters too. My sister Ragini Priya is a doctor, Vandana is an IITian preparing for UPSC and Kanchan a creative designer with a leading shoe company in Delhi," said the proud granddaughter. Her mother Manisha Devi chipped in: "In this house a daughter is no less than a son."
COOKERY BREAKS
Her Ranchi-based parents Mohanji and Madhuri Dubey call her "very bright". Her younger brothers Anubhav and Ankit call her their "role model". But, Megha Bhardwaj (29), who scored 32nd all-India rank in UPSC civil services exam 2015, is unfazed. Megha, who had cracked UPSC in 2014 as well, with a 546 rank, reappeared in 2015 as she wanted a better rank. She also got through Indian Forest Service and is pursuing training at Dehradun since December 2015.
Talking from Dehradun over phone, Megha, who took Hindi as her optional paper for UPSC 2015, said she took a three-month tuition from a Delhi-based institute. "I studied eight hours a day. Whenever I felt like taking a break, I helped mom in the kitchen or did some gardening," laughed the zoology gold medallist from St Xavier's College.
Megha apart, Ranchi has some others in the top 100 - Kumar Ashirwad (35th), Isha Priya (75th) and Sumant Sahay (89th).
MARATHONS AFTER WORK
A Bokaro Steel Limited (BSL) engineer who worked for eight hours a day and then clocked another 10 hours to study for UPSC exams. Meet Dipak Murmu (31) from Jamshedpur who put in 18 man hours everyday. Son of a Tata Steel employee in Jamshedpur, Dipak, a KMPM Inter College and IIT-Kharagpur alumnus, took Santhali literature as his optional. Why? "I love this language since childhood," said the IITian. Dipak got the 1,031st rank and his fellow colleague G.L. Narsimhan (27), a Hyderabad boy who also studied after work, the 350th rank. That's not bad, considering both worked at the plant throughout. But Dipak will try again. So will Narsimhan. "Watch out for better ranks," both said.
