Becoming A Civil Servant

"Perseverance is the key. For young Abhay Kumar, who worked his way from a rural background into the Indian Foreign Service, this was the magic mantra. Kumar’s simple handbook tells his story as it is. This is also a commentary on the tremendous change in India, its values and culture and how education and competition can make way for anybody to break out of the mould." -The Hindu



Foreword
This is a sincere, simple and readable account of Abhay K’s
journey from the banks of the river Paimar to the portals of the
Foreign Service Institute in New Delhi. This is a story many young
Indians could relate to, those with rural and educationally
disadvantaged backgrounds successfully transforming their personal
lives and prospects by availing of the opportunities that India’s
democratic system and its recent economic growth provide. In its
own way, the book is a positive commentary on the process of
change in Indian society, on the scope for self-advancement even
to the point of becoming a part of the country’s elite through
education and competition that now exists. The human content
of the narrative will also touch many chords in the readers. The
childhood memories of stories told by a grandmother, the venturing
out from the family nest in rural India to an urban environment
in search for better opportunities in life, and the presence of the
father on the emotional landscape of an Indian boy. This is not a
complicated book; it is an unpretentious and honest narrative of
someone who wants to tell his tale and connect it to a rising India.
— Kanwal Sibal
Foreign Secretary of India (2003-2004)

UPSC, IAS, IFS, IPS, Civil Services, PCS,
Indian Administrative Services, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service