Mysore
Support from family made me clear UPSC exam: Shrikanth H S
“If I had not got support from my family, I would not have excelled in the examinations. My family supported me all through and their encouragement was the key.” These were the words of Shrikanth H S who has brought laurels to the city by scoring the 56th rank (second in Karnataka) in the civil services examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission.
A resident of Ramakrishnanagar ‘I’ Block, Shrikanth is the son of Shantaraju M, who retired as the assistant director, agricultural department. His mother is Soubhagya and he has two elder sisters Shilpa H S and Shwetha H S.
Sharing his experiences with ‘City Today,’ Shrikanth fondly recalled his efforts and the unflinching support from his family.
“This is my third attempt and I had been to New Delhi and attended coaching classes. Last time, I missed it by a whisker and this time a bit of smart work proved beneficial. I was depressed when I
failed last time and my family encouraged me to take up the challenge once again,” he said.
“IAS is a long-drawn process and there is a huge uncertainty. My family stood behind me and offered financial and moral support without even uttering a word. Even when two attempts failed, they supported me,” he added.
Shrikanth completed his primary education at the Carmel Convent School in Nanjangud and got into the Ramakrishna Vidyashala in Mysuru for high school and PUC and went on to pursue his BE Mechanical at the National Institute of Engineering. Later, he did his M Tech from the University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering.
“Civil services was always my passion. Though I had cleared the State Bank of India competitive exams and had got offers from Wipro, I wanted to get into civil services to serve the society at large. No one in my family has ever cleared the UPSC examinations and I am happy that I was able to do it,” he said.
He recalled the firm academic foundation laid by Ramakrishna Vidyashala and the National Institute of Engineering. “Their contribution for me to develop interest in social service, administration is invaluable and I have fond memories of the productive time in my school and college,” he said.
IAS officer and former deputy commissioner of Mysuru P Manivannan is Shrikanth’s inspiration and role model.
