Unsung Heroes: From Class 12 fail to UPSC, Shantappa’s journey is no less than a movie

While Kurubara also failed in his 12th grade, he points out that his journey is dotted with more challenges. Kurubara who is currently serving as a police sub-inspector in DCP Command Centre is also a champion of social campaigns and initiatives, including building toilets, education for migrant labourers and mentoring civil service aspirants.

Kurubara was born to a farming family and his father passed away a year after his birth. He grew up in a socially and economically deprived background where education was not an ambitious aspect in his family. Nor was the family financially sound. He failed his Class 11 and passed in the supplementary examination. Meanwhile, he did not clear Class 12, took a year gap and repeated the next year, only to pass Class 12 with 39 per cent in 2009.

It was the one year gap that Kurubara believes changed his life drastically.

Kurubara told The Indian Express that education was not a prime goal in our family.

“We hail from an agricultural and labourers community and we see income only annually. Moreover, the education system back then in the rural side was not robust. After I failed to clear my class 12, I felt my life was wasted. The society thought I was unfit and people in the village cooked up stories about my personality which was hurtful,” he recounted, while adding that was the point when he realised the purpose of life. “The repeated failures made me realise that books are the key to success,” said Kurubara, who dedicated one full year to studies and managed to pass class 12 in 2009.

With a pass percentage of 39, he could only settle for a three-year degree course in common BSc from Veerashaiva College in Bellary.

While he was academically inclined, Kurubara was also socially active. Inspired by the works of former President A P J Abdul Kalam, seer Siddalinga Mahaswami, and former Karnataka chief minister D Devaraj Urs, Kurubara’s larger goal is to help the socially and economically disadvantaged and to deliver welfare activities till the ‘last person’.

His strong penchant for ‘social justice and equality’ prompted him to pursue UPSC in 2014. He gave his first shot for UPSC in 2014 but tasted the success only 10 years later, in 2024. He was selected for 2 IAS and 3 KAS interviews during the course. Meanwhile, he cleared the Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) examination in 2016 and began his police service as a PSI.

The journey to cracking UPSC was definitely dotted with challenges, including hurdles from his own police department.

During one such instance, when he requested for a non-executive job from a senior IPS officer in order to focus on his UPSC exam preparations, he was asked to ‘resign’.

In another instance when he sought a similar request, he was transferred to an executive role making it tougher to invest time for UPSC preparations. “Fifty per cent of the police department officials helped and motivated me in my journey of pursuing Civil Services. But there were instances where I was let down. I was asked to resign when I sought a non-executive job. That was very painful. I did not want to let go of the police service, because I was the only breadwinner for the family and I had to shoulder a lot of responsibilities. Moreover, I am a Kannada medium student and adapting to English was also very challenging, ” said Kurubara, who attended Civil Service exam coaching in Delhi.

Further, Kurubara was also instrumental in building a toilet near Goraguntepalya, on Tumkur Road. The initiative was an outcome of a personal experience, when his mother was finding it difficult to find a toilet during their journey to Bellary.

“After I realised that a lot of women around Goraguntepalya found it difficult to access a toilet, I started a social media campaign raising awareness against the same and demanded a portable toilet. However, I received no response from the civic body. Only after pursuing it consistently, I managed to catch the attention of BBMP who built a portable toilet at the Goraguntepalya junction,” said Kurubara who also educates migrant labourers and also mentors civil service aspirants. In fact, he also draws inspiration from K Annamalai, former IPS officer and current Tamil Nadu BJP state president who has mentored him during UPSC preparations.

“I believe that perseverance, hard work, conviction and a strong mind will take you closer to success. Anyone would give up UPSC after one or two failed attempts. But I believe with honest efforts and consistency, I mustered up confidence to take multiple shots to crack UPSC. My ultimate goal beyond achieving IPS or IAS is to bring in social justice and equality in the society. I am going for my ninth attempt to come back with a better ranking at UPSC,” said Kurubara.

Asked if he has any political ambitions, Kurubara said, “Only time will tell.”