Parvathy Gopakumar lost her right hand in a road accident at the age of 12. But that did not shatter Parvathy’s aspirations. Ranked 282 in the UPSC civil service exam 2023, Parvathy's journey is an inspiration for many. Injured in a road accident in 2010, Parvathy’s right hand was amputated below the arm. "It changed my life, but I remained strong and soon learned to write with my left hand. I continued my education as any other student and the physical disability never came as a hurdle to achieve my dream,’’ said Parvathy, who had attended civil service coaching at Fortunes IAS Academy in Thiruvananthapuram. Parvathy, 26, is a native of Ambalapuzha in Kerala’s Alappuzha district. A law graduate from the National Law School in Bangalore, she enrolled as a lawyer in 2021. However, she did not practice as a lawyer and focussed on civil service exam coaching. "This was my second attempt in the civil service. In 2022, I attempted but did not clear the preliminary exam. I expected that I would figure in the rank list. If IAS is not allotted, I would try again,’’ said Parvathy. Her father Gopakumar works as a tehsildar with the state revenue department, while her mother Sreekala Nair is a school teacher. Her younger sister Revathi is a plus-two student. Gopakumar said his daughter’s rank is one of the highest ranks for a candidate in the category of the physically handicapped in the civil service exam in recent years. "We never felt her as a person without right hand. The accident happened on December 24, 2010 when she was a student of class 7. Three months later in March of that academic year, Parvathy wrote the annual exam with her left hand. That shows her fighting spirit in life. She always has a grit that everything is possible with hard work and motivation. When she did not clear civil service in the first attempt, she was not dejected but gained more confidence to attend the exam last time,’’ said Gopakumar.
