This UPSC rank holder shows us why you should never give up on your dreams

Hari Kallikat cleared UPSC's Prelims in his first attempt but failed to get through in his second attempt. He reached the final round in his third try and  became an IAS officer in his fourth attempt
An engineering graduate, Hari stood third in the state ranking in the UPSC's Civil Service Exam
An engineering graduate, Hari stood third in the state ranking in the UPSC's Civil Service Exam

If there is something we can all learn from 26-year-old Hari Kallikkat, it is that one should never give up, no matter how long it takes and no matter how hard it gets. Kallikat managed to get the 58th rank on his fourth attempt of the Civil Service exam, he had gotten as far as the final round last year but missed it by a small margin. This year, he not only managed to crack the exam but got high rank as well.

An ECE graduate from NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, Hari, who hails from Thrissur, first appeared for the exam four years ago soon right after his graduation. While preparing for the exam, he also taught at various IAS academies around the city. Kallikkat, who taught current affairs, says teaching helped him with his own preparation especially when it came to the preliminary and the main exam. 

"I graduated in 2014 and I turned down three job offers because I was keen on pursuing my dream of becoming an IAS officer. That same year, I wrote the exam and cleared the prelims but wasn't able to pass the main exam," says Kallikkat who scored a mere 58 for his English essay that year. 

Luck didn't favour him for the next two years as well, "In 2015, I didn't clear even the prelims but, the following year, I managed to go to the final round - the personality test, but missed out by just 19 marks," he adds. 

Funnily enough, Kallikkat wasn't even sure if he would clear the exam this year and was pleasantly surprised to find that not only had he passed but he had managed to secure the 58th rank. 

"It is a fantastic feeling. The number of people calling me and wishing me is overwhelming. They are all wishing me success. Above all, I feel lucky that I was able to obtain such a good rank," said a euphoric Hari.  

Kallikkat, who did exceptionally well in the Malayalam paper has always been an avid reader of Malayalam literature and attributes his success to his mentor for three years, Mini teacher "I kept my optional subject as Malayalam because of my love for the language and also the chances for scoring better was there. My mentor for three years, Mini teacher was a real motivator and a true inspiration, who helped me achieve my goal," he added. 

He has kept Indian Administrative Service (IAS) as his first preference and hopes to work in Kerala one day. On the question of what causes he would like to take up after becoming an administrative officer, he says, "Whatever the cause, I hope to do it to the best of my ability," he said with pride.

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