Assam youth beats poverty to crack civil services exam

MORIGAON - Young Narayan Konwar from Assam who cracked the civil services examination this time had failed once in his Class 12 board exams and secured a second division in Class 10.

“Failure is the pillar of success,” Konwar told IANS outside his mud-and-thatch hut in village Shyamkota in Morigaon district, about 80 km from Assam’s main city Guwahati.

The road leading to the village is potholed. There is no electricity still in the entire Shyamkota area.

“We use to study with lanterns as there is no power supply, even now there is no electricity in my village,” Narayan said, as he surrounded by a stream of visitors who came to congratulate him.

His success story is remarkable - he gave up studies for at least six months while he was in Class 9 due to financial constraints.

“My father, a primary school teacher, passed away while I was in Class 5. It was really tough for my mother to raise me, my two younger brothers, and my younger sister,” said Narayan, who ranked 119th in the merit list of the All India Civil Services Exams.

Financial hardship came in the way of studies. He got a second class in Class 10 and failed once in the school-leaving Class 12 exam.

“But I was determined to do something in life. That helped me,” he said.

Eventually, he completed his post-graduation in political science from Gauhati University with a first class.

“My priority was then to financially support my family. So I did a part time job in a college,” he said.

But with dreams in his heart to do something, he went to New Delhi for coaching to crack the civil services exams.

“It was biting cold in Delhi, and I just had a thin blanket to protect me. I could not stay in Delhi for long due to financial reasons,” Narayan said.

Having studied all along in the vernacular medium, Narayan said language cannot be a barrier for success.

“Poverty, language, or even coming from a remote area, cannot be a hindrance to success if one is determined,” Narayan said. “I would like to really do something in life and for the society at large.”