Meet lawyer, daughter of a farmer who cracked UPSC exam without coaching to become IAS, married to an IFS, her AIR was…

Rags to riches stories are most inspiring as they showcase the power of hard work and determination. One such motivational story is of IAS Tapasya Parihar who secured All India Rank (AIR) 23 in UPSC exams.

Belonging to a humble background, Tapasya's father, Vishwas Parihar, was a farmer, and her uncle, Vinayak Parihar, was a social worker. Her grandmother, Devkunwar Parihar, who had served as the president of Narsinghpur District Panchayat, also supported her to follow her UPSC dream.

Tapasya finished her 12th from Kendriya Vidyalaya and studied law at The Indian Law Society’s Law College in Pune. After her graduation, she shifted to Delhi to embark on her UPSC journey. 

She then decided to prepare for the UPSC exam and joined coaching, but couldn't qualify even prelims in her first attempt.

But with unwavering determination, she persisted and cracked the exam in 2017 with AIR 23 in the second attempt without coaching.

Notably, IAS Parihar is married to IFS officer Garvit Gangwar who was initially posted in Tamil Nadu cadre. But after marriage, he got transferred to Madhya Pradesh cadre to be with his wife, who is posted in the same cadre.