An elated Roopa Mishra at her father’s residence in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, May 7: As evening set on the modest two-storeyed house of bureaucrat D.N. Mishra in Sahidnagar, a young woman in a blue chiffon saree dazzled in the glory of her achievement. In her maiden attempt, Roopa Mishra, the 27-year-old daughter of the bureaucrat, has topped the 2003 civil service exam.

The news of Roopa topping the exam trickled in at 2.30 pm when officials of a Delhi-based magazine rang up to tell her that she has topped the list. The confirmation came from UPSC officials who called up to congratulate her. “I just could not believe the news. The feeling is yet to sink in,” said a modest Roopa, tired of putting up a wide grin for hours as flashbulbs popped and TV cameras whirred. Her parents and brother just could not stop smiling.

“I knew that Roopa had it in he to be the best. I had told her that she would turn out to be the best primary school teacher if she intended to be one,” said a beaming Usharani Mishra, a retired government official.

“It was a very systematic effort. If I had set a target for myself then I had to finish it no matter how many hours it took. It was not the number of hours that mattered. What mattered was how I utilised the hours,” said the 27-year-old woman, who became the first Oriya woman to top the IAS examination. In 1982, Prafulla Mishra was the last Oriya to top the examination.

Success did not come easily. The girl who has never set foot outside Orissa, boarded a train with her books to Delhi where she took a house on rent in August 2002. It was relentless but smart slogging after that.

“It’s not enough to study hard. Intelligent hard work is the mantra,” said Mishra, who stayed in Delhi for 10 months. She wrote the exam with Psychology and Public Administration as her optional papers.

Roopa, with the support of her husband Anshuman Tripathy, now pursuing his fellowship at IIM-Calcutta, and her in-laws, readied herself for the toughest examination of her life.

“I wanted to show everyone that I had the potential to be the best,” said Roopa, who has a bright academic career and an equally vast repertoire of extra-curricular activities, including anchoring for a local TV channel, Odissi dance, debating and teaching at a school.

Having studied Science in her Plus-Two days at Ravenshaw College, she opted for Commerce during her graduation and passed her B.Com from BJB College with distinction. Later, she did her MBA from Utkal University and worked as an academic consultant with the Directorate of Distance and Corresponding Education of Utkal University. However, she gave up the job to prepare for the civil service exam.

Roopa said she was in a trance as the panel of interviewers grilled her mercilessly with the questions ranging from disinvestment to Jammu and Kashmir. “But they were smiling throughout. And that gave me the courage,” she said, with a smile.

“I always wanted to be successful in my own place.” Roopa said. Having topped the list, she now wants to get down to business.

“I have not chosen a specific field as the first postings are general. I will make the same kind of effort that I made for the exam. That is my style of operation,” she said, beaming with confidence.