4 Lives

Idols---the word itself instills inspiration. Almost everybody has idols…the supermen like Tendulakars,the Bachchans,the Kalams ,the Khans …..list goes ओं.Truly speaking, my life has never been completely influenced from anything…be it living or non living. But the short account of four lives I am going to present will tell you why I admire them.

They are not page 3 personalities or highly popular…they are one of us..they are achievers who have touched my life and if you look around you,you will definitely come across them in your life….they can be your own friends, relatives, parents or siblings…..

How many guys are there who can avoid brother’s
marriage for the sake of an exam?
How many of us can leave their newly wed wife for months in order to study?
How many of us can sustain the pressure of taking the same exam 8th time and that too when your family and well wishers have left all hopes and disparage you ?
And how many of you start your carreer with almost elementary knowledge of English and finally make it to leading MNC’s……the answer is not many

These four lives are no way related to each other…but they have a lot in common…they are neither geeks nor affluent by birth….all are descendents of the great Indian middle class but what differentiates them is 3D’s---dedication, determination and discipline. Here I am narrating the tale of four hardworking guys who performed miracles for themselves and their lives was changed forever……in the order of their age



Brij Anand

He is husband of my buaji(my father’s sister) and was a government clerk on adhoc at the time of marriage. An extremely hardworking person with determination to do something big…After marriage, he thought of giving up all his dreams and continue with family….but conscience won and he decided to give a shot at PCS( Provincial Civil Services). Newly wed couple had to part away for almost 6 months ……and believe me it was the toughest decision of their lives …And at that instant he knew,he will do it. The moment arrived ,lived by him and he conquered it…YES…he was now a Rank 2 officer …it was sheer perseverance and hard work that made him what he is today Sales Tax Commisioner…in retrospect, it was a long journey for a clerk on adhoc.


Dr. Hriday Narayan Singh

I call him the man with a will of steel…why?? He was brutally denied for an entry to the so called most famous coaching institute of Varanasi and he got one of the sternest remarks from any teacher to any student…..and the crime was, he attempted CBSE PMT for 8th time in a row…

“Tum jaante ho Hriday….iss poore coaching mein (of almost 5000 students and 10 teachers)mere baad sabse jyadaa umar tumharee hi hai” was the sarcastic comment by teacher...…

At an age of 27,With pressure from all side…..my man failed to succumb…..and He did it…..he cleared CBSE PMT and studied in one of the very good medical colleges in India. His long cherished dream of building a well facilitated clinic in his own village is now fulfilled……I salute your optimism…I salute your guts



Nikunj K. Srivastava

Probably out of the four lives, he is most famous…even in media too. He is my mama(mother’s brother) and the first IITian whom I knew. After leaving a well paying job in Indian Oil, when he decided to go for kill on IAS(Indian Administrative Services)exams,not many were happy…and situation became grim when he could not make it for two times in a row…third attempt had to be his last .He had to toil hard….. Every success demands sacrifice and for him, it was to avoid brother’s marriage by taking a house on rent, very close to his house so that he can study peacefully…not many could understand this unless the final results of IAS-1997 were announced….even in the wildest of his dreams, Bunty mama never thought of this….he was All India Rank 2 in mother of all exams!!!…and everyday a new reporter…interviews on local Doordrshan and lots of reports in newspapers converted him into a instantaneous celebrity….Risks taken and ability to give up the temptation have made him District Magistrate of several cities …..and a star performer of cadre -1997.


Sudhir Kumar

He is my batch mate and when I first saw his notebook, I was almost shocked.
”How come a guy doesn’t even know the meaning of word forest after passing 12th” .?
Sudhir knew this …he was terrible in English…..be it any form of it…all of us used to bully him….and suddenly he decided to go all out for it…after an year of awe-inspiring hard work, he almost knew every little word of dictionary…..even I felt jealous and proud at the same time of being a friend of such a gritty character. He overcame the hurdle of being from a remote village in Jharkand, studied in Hindi medium in a small college and finally made it to Flextronics software Systems. This terrific hard worker is now working for Motorola and still goes all out whenever needed.


After reading this, you can very well think of somebody who has inspired you. Somebody who is not a prominent figure but only his reference can infuse light inside you…. Think…an idol may be close to you