Meet daughter of electrician, aspired to be writer, later cracked UPSC to become IPS, in third attempt she achieved...

Gee Gee AS, a Chennai-based UPSC aspirant born to an electrician, aspired to become a writer until her college professor inspired her to take the civil services examination. She was the first one in her family to explore the territory, as her mother is a homemaker and her brother is a social worker. After completing her schooling from Jaigpal Garodia Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Kolathur, she joined Stella Maris College, Chennai. She did a B.Com and graduated in 2021. In her first attempt only, she managed to crack the UPSC exam with an All India Rank of 107, emerging as the Tamil Nadu State topper. She was allocated to the Indian Police Service in 2022. However, later, she sat again for the exam; finally, in her third attempt, she achieved what she had dreamt of.

Gee Gee’s journey

During her college days, Gee was introduced to the civil service examination. Besides her professor’s encouragement, she was also inspired to do civil service after seeing the work done by the Chennai Corporation, especially the beautification drive implemented by former Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi. “During the tenure of Gagandeep Singh Bedi, sir, the focus was on cleanliness and beautification. Focus on cleanliness is very important for this generation. This inspired me. We can emulate the model all over India,” she said in an interview with a media person. She made up her mind to appear for the UPSC exam. She enrolled on a foundation course at Aram. She also took help from a private coaching centre and materials to prepare for the prelims, mains and interviews. 

Why did Gee Gee appear for the civil services exam again?

After being allocated to IPS, Gee Gee made a second attempt to improve her AIR; however, she failed. Fortunately, in her third attempt, she cleared UPSC CSE 2024 with an impressive AIR of 25, securing a spot among the UPSC toppers across India.  She opted for Tamil literature as her optional paper. The UPSC topper is set to join the Indian Foreign Service as she has an interest in international relations. She aspires to become a diplomat and serve Indian immigrants.