Tea stall owner’s son carves path to IAS

Jagatsinghpur (Orissa) - Babaji Sahu, a tea seller in this coastal district, always had high hopes for his son. But even he is amazed at his son’s achievement.

Sahu’s younger son Manoj has just made it to the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Sahu, 62, a resident of Singhapur village in the district, has been selling tea and snacks from a small thatched room for more than three decades and looks after his wife, two sons and a daughter with his meagre earnings.

He had wanted Manoj to become a schoolteacher. But Manoj had other plans.

The intelligent and hard-working man managed to overcome all hurdles and this year got the 34th rank in the Civil Services Exam conducted by the Union Public service Commission and was selected to the coveted IAS.

‘Though I sell tea, I always tried to encourage my son in his studies,’ Sahu told IANS.

‘I had wanted him to be a teacher in the village school but I am happy that he has achieved more than that,’ said the proud father.

Manoj, who had his initial education in the village school, brought joy to his family and the village residents after he was selected for an undergraduate course in the Orissa University of Agriculture in the state capital, Bhubaneswar, on a government scholarship after Class 10.

From there he went on to complete his M.Sc in agriculture from Junagadh University in Gujarat. After completing his post-graduation, he moved to New Delhi in search of a job and eventually appeared in the Civil Services exam last year.

‘My hard labour has borne fruit. I am happy that I cleared the exam without attending coaching classes,’ Manoj told IANS.

‘It is great news for us,’ Pitambar Sahani, a Singhapur resident, said. ‘We have seen the boy assisting his father in selling tea and snacks when he was in school.’

Judhistar Das, who taught Manoj in the village high school, said: ‘He was brilliant when he was in school. We had visualised that he would do well one day but never thought he would manage to get a job like this.’

The village residents took out a procession last Sunday to celebrate Manoj’s success. He was feted at a gathering where the village elders and his former teachers garlanded and blessed him.

Tears of joy rolled down the cheeks of Manoj’s parents when the villagers garlanded them for their son’s achievement.

Addressing the gathering, Manoj said poverty could not be a hurdle in the face of determination and hard work and should not deter anyone from pursuing their dream.

Courtesy: IndiaeNews.com