Disbelief was Roopa Mishra’s first reaction as news broke out that she had topped the 2003 Indian Administrative Services (IAS) examination. The 27-year-old management post-graduate from Utkal University is the first Oriya woman to make it to the top.‘‘I cried and then laughed. It was an emotion-packed reaction, to say the least,’’ Mishra said. She had expected to be in the list of successful candidates but to top it was a bolt from the blue. ‘‘I always assessed my performance after each of my papers and was confident of making it through the examination. But topping it was not what I had expected,’’ she said as cameras clicked away.Daughter of Danda Nirodh Mishra, an IAS officer, and Dr Usha Mishra, a professor of Physics, Roopa was a student of Commerce at BJB College after which she completed her MBA from Utkal University.When she started preparing for the Civil Services in 2002, though, she chose a fresh pair of subjects — public administration and psychology. ‘‘I wanted to draw a link to my professional life which is why I decided the two subjects, one dealing with administration and the other focussing on human behaviour,’’ she said.Mishra moved to Delhi with her husband, Anshuman Tripathy, now a Fellow with the IIM-C in 2002 for better coaching. She gave the exams at Ravenshaw College in Cuttack. ‘‘I had a strong belief that I would do well to appear the examination in my home state,’’ she said. ‘‘I believed that a civil servant is the biggest manager of all. That’s why,’’ said Mishra. Mishra has indicated her preference for the Orissa cadre so that she can work for the state. Poverty is a blot on Orissa but going by the socio-economic indicators, the state can surely surge ahead, she felt.For second spot holder, Ashima Garg it’s all in familyRAGHVENDRA RAO GURGAONTill Friday evening she was immersed in a pile of books, preparing for the Civil Services (Preliminary) exam to be held on May 16. If it was not for a phone-call that informed her of her success, Ashima Garg would not have abandoned her books.Garg, ranked second in the exam, did not want to take any chances. ‘‘Although I was reasonably confident and hopeful that I would clear the exam, I had never expected that I would secure the second rank,’’ she said at her residence in Sector 14 here today. After having cleared her Haryana Civil Services (Allied) examination this January, Ashima had joined the Haryana Excise and Taxation Department at Gurgaon as an Excise and Taxation Officer (Under Training).‘‘But becoming an IAS was a dream and it came true today,’’ said Ashima, a post-graduate in Economics from Delhi School of Economics. Ashima did not have to look anywhere else for inspiration. ‘‘My elder brother is an IAS officer from the 1997 batch and is currently posted as Deputy Commissioner in Una in Himachal Pradesh,’’ said Ashima. ‘‘My sister’s husband is also an IPS officer. Moreover, over the years I had made up my mind for this since I felt that this was the only job where one could actually work for the welfare of the people,’’ she added.Giving full credit to her family, Ashima said: ‘‘Getting such a good rank cannot be the result of hardwork alone. A lot of people, particularly my family, are behind this.’’ Ashima, who sought coaching only for the interview, said: ‘‘I used to put in around 6-7 hours a day for the prelims. For the Mains, I studied for 3-4 months and I think that it is sufficient.’’Ashima’s parents had no words to praise her daughter. ‘‘She had been working so hard for this that we knew she would get through,’’ said her father Dr R.R. Garg, who teaches Political Science at Aurobindo College.Kapurthala farmer’s son notches third rank in IASANJU AGNIHOTRI CHABA JALANDHARTwo friends — Arshdeep Singh from Kapurthala and Shoorveer Singh Dhillon from Jalandhar — have secured third and fourth rank in the UPSC 2003 exams. The two were also batchmates in Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, from where they did BE (Mechanical).Arshdeep, who quit his job with Quark and DCM Technologies, Gurgaon, in 2001, made it in 2002 but didn’t join the Delhi Police as ACP. Arshdeep said: ‘‘My grandfather, Teja Singh, and grandmother, Harjit Kaur, were the prime motivators.’’ Arshdeep’s father, a farmer, and his mother stay in Sallahpur Bet village. Arshdeep is second among four children. The eldest is a daughter, who is a dentist. The younger brother and sister are software engineers in Bangalore and UK respectively. Shoorveer’s father, Brig (retd) Gurdial Singh, said: ‘‘When he expressed his desire to leave the job and prepare for the IAS, I had no second thoughts. He proved me right.’’
