She did not allow herself any other option. “If I do a job, it has to be as a civil servant. Nothing less than an IAS officer, I told herself when I was still in school,” recalls Muskan Jindal, a small-town girl from Himachal Pradesh who achieved the 87th rank in the UPSC exam. “I was sure I will crack UPSC. That it’s going to happen as early as at the age of 22 and in my first attempt—this only god knew. I just followed my childhood dream.”
Born in a modest business family at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh’s industrial belt, Muskan proudly declares that behind her success are “two gentlemen—my 72-year-old grandfather Sadhu Ram Jindal and my father Pawan Jindal”. “If someone asks me to name my role model, there is no third name,” she adds. Having lived in a joint family, she says: “Anyone can come and take a lesson on how happily the children—total nine in our family—live their dreams. The joint family system taught me values, which are going to guide me in discharging my duties impartially as a civil servant.”
What adds to her credit, Muskan says, is that she achieved the feat simply through self-study with a focussed approach and a resolve as strong as climbing the Mount Everest in the first go. “I didn’t agree with my peers about the benefits of long hours of studies. It’s all about quality time. Seven to eight hours and repeated revisions are enough,” she says. “And, yes, one needs to be positive throughout the preparations. Eating a balanced diet and daily exercise or meditation can be a bonus. Coaching can help just 15 to 20 per cent; the rest depends on self-study.”
A second girl child in the family among four siblings, Muskan did her early schooling at V.R. Senior Secondary School, Baddi. She scored 10 cumulative grade points in Class 10 and 96 per cent marks in the Class 12 exams. Then she did BCom (Hons) from S.D. College, Chandigarh (Panjab University) and attained fifth rank. “As I still had a year to become eligible for the UPSC exam, I used the time to begin my preparations,” she recalls.
Feeling happy at his daughter’s success, Pawan Jindal says: “Ours is a business family, but I was the one who put this novel idea of becoming an IAS officer in her mind right during her school days. She was prompt to grab it. Her ranking in academics and focus on studies gave a clear sense that it was going to happen one day.”
So how does she see herself as an IAS officer? “There are certain key areas where I want to create my own mark. These include eradicating child labour, which I see as a big menace in 21th-century India. I have seen it while living in the industrial belt. Its root cause is poverty. Women empowerment is only a subject of TV debates and seminars, and a lot needs to be done. Girls are still vulnerable to sexual crimes, harassment and victimisation. Even the most educated girl can’t walk alone freely. This needs a change of mindset in society first. Attaining self-esteem for myself as an IAS officer and nation-building will be my goals,” Muskan winds up with an optimistic note as her mother Jyoti Jindal, a homemaker, embraces her at this solemn resolve to work for the poor.
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