Meet IAS officer Surabhi Gautam, who couldn't speak English, quit Ratan Tata's company to crack UPSC, got AIR...

IAS Success Story UPSC Topper Surabhi Gautam: It will not be wrong if IAS officer Surabhi Gautam is called a trickster. Belonging to Amdara village in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, Surabhi Gautam completed her schooling at the village school. Due to her excellent performance in the 10th and 12th class examinations, she appeared on the merit list of her state. In fact, she has cleared all the competitive exams she appeared for.

From fighting an inferiority complex for being from a Hindi medium background to cracking one of the toughest exams in the country - UPSC - and securing AIR 50, Surabhi Gautam's story is nothing short of an inspiration.

IAS officer Surabhi Gautam hails from Amdara village in the Satna district of Madhya Pradesh. Her father is a lawyer in the Maihar court of MP, while her mother Dr Sushila Gautam works as a teacher in high school. Surabhi Gautam completed her education at a government school in her village, where basic amenities were also barely available. It was a Hindi medium school.

However, that did not deter IAS Officer Surabhi Gautam from her role and dreams. A diligent girl, Surabhi Gautam secured 93.4% marks in her class 10 board exams. She had scored a perfect 100 in Maths and Science. Surabhi Gautam found a spot on the state merit list in classes 10th and 12th because of her good marks. 

Things were not always easy for Surabhi Gautam as she also battled Rheumatic Fever in class 12, which made her travel to Jabalpur every 15 days with her parents to see a doctor 150 kilometers away from the village. Despite all this, Surabhi Gautam never gave up.

After completing her class 12, Surabhi Gautam also passed the State Engineering Entrance Examination with good marks. She enrolled in Electronics and Communication Engineering from an engineering college in Bhopal. However, she suffered from an inferiority complex because of poor English speaking skills but she didn't let that come in her way.

Surabhi Gautam started talking to herself in English to improve her command of the language and learned the meanings of at least 10 words every day. She listened to the phrases and words she heard from anywhere and learned them and worked to improve her English. 

The result was that Surabhi Gautam topped the first semester of her graduation and was also awarded the College Chancellor's Award. She was always focused and worked hard to achieve her dreams.

Surabhi Gautam got a job in TCS through college placement as soon as she completed engineering but quit midway because of the desire for civil services. She then appeared for several competitive exams. During this period, she was selected for competitive examinations like ISRO, BARC, GTE, MPPSC, SAIL, FCI, SSC, and Delhi Police. 

She was also selected for IES Services in 2013 and was ranked first at the All India level in this examination. In 2016, she cracked the IAS exam with AIR 50 and became an IAS officer. 

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