Kerala man surprises parents with UPSC rank

Kochi: When the results of the prestigious civil services exam 2023 were out on Tuesday, it came as a surprise to a family here. It was not just because their son secured fourth rank in the examination, they didn’t have a remote idea that he had appeared for the test and interview.

Ramkumar, a retired school principal hailing from this port city, and his family came to know about the proud achievement of their son Siddharth through the television news.

Siddharth Ramkumar is the all-India fourth rankholder and state topper in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2023.

He is currently undergoing IPS training in Hyderabad after securing 121 rank in the civil services exam last year, the family said.

“It is really a pleasant surprise. It gives us more happiness as we had no idea that he had appeared for the exams or cleared them. So this surprise increases our happiness,” Siddharth’s father told the media.

Siddharth’s mother, a homemaker, and his brother Adarsh, a practicing lawyer in the High Court, also didn’t hide their surprise over the result.

“We absolutely had no knowledge about this…Because he didn’t tell us that he was trying to improve the rank parallelly with his IPS training in Hyderabad,” Adarsh said.

The mother said Siddharth was an all-rounder during his studies and always wanted to get into IAS.

An extrovert and sports buff, Siddharth was the captain of the cricket team during school days, she added.

“We have to wait till 7.30 pm to pass our congratulations to him…He won’t attend calls during the day hours as he is busy with the training,” she said.

When asked whether Siddharth would choose the IAS or stick to the present IPS, the family said he would surely select IAS.

A number of candidates from Kerala found their place in the rank list of the civil services examination when the results were out.

A total of 1,016 candidates (664 men and 352 women) have qualified the examination and have been recommended by the Union Public Service Commission for appointment to various services, the Commission announced today.