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| Sethuraman, Periyavare Estate, Munnar |
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Nothing is too late to improve - so conveys the story of Sethuraman, who got selected in Civil Services after attempting the exam for the last 7 years. His achievement becomes all the more notable as he studied his primary classes in schools attached to the estates of Munnar that sort of competed against itself to produce 100% failure every year.
Son of estate worker Karuppayya of Periyavare Estate near Munnar and Subbammal, he secured a national rank of 322 in general category and rank number 23 in the Scheduled Caste category.
It was after joining the Sainik School at Amaravathi Nagar, Tamil Nadu in 6th standard that he could dream of the future. However, by the time he had passed 10th standard, his aim in life had changed from a military career to civil service.
Thus after 1 year of B.Sc Chemistry study at Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram, he dropped out to take up B.A and M.A in Economics from University College, Thiruvananthapuram. His turning point was joining M.Phil at Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, where he learned that smart work is more conducive to success than hard work.
A college champion in 800, 1500 and 5000m race, he perhaps possesses the perseverance of a long distance runner who isn’t deterred by temporary setbacks. That could explain why he decided 2 years ago that his handwriting needed drastic improvement. As he plunged into the technique advertised by the National Handwriting Academy, Hyderabad, he realized how illegible his handwriting had been and how it is never too late to improve anything.
Courtesy: George Varghese (text), Rijo Joseph (photo), Malayala Manorama, June 14, 2004
Contributed by: Administrator
