After securing all-India third rank in Civil Services Exam–2016, Ronanki Gopalakrishna now plans to write five books to help Telugu aspirants of Civil Services.
Speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by Uttarandhra Cultural Vikasa Vedika here on Saturday, 30-year-old Gopalakrishna said, “The first three books will be on general studies paper and the fourth one will be on Telugu literature as the optional subject. One of the books will be about my journey and how I overcame the problems. I want to help the Civil Services aspirants in whichever way I can.”
Mr. Gopalakrishna, who hails from Srikakulam district, said that a help desk is being planned by the Joint Collector in Srikakulam for rural students aspiring for Civil Services. “I will be offering my help to students through the help desk till August,” he said.
Son of an agricultural labourer, Mr. Gopalakrishna set his sight on the Civil Services in 2006 after getting a teaching job in a village primary school that brought in some financial security for the family. “Getting a job was very important for me as I had to earn my own livelihood,” he said. He completed his B.Sc privately from Andhra University, but his dream, however, was to crack the Civil Services. “I could achieve my goal in my fourth attempt,” he said.
Speaking about difficulties he faced in finding good study material of general studies in Telugu, he said, “I used to read English newspapers, particularly The Hindu, and translate it in Telugu in a fat notebook which I divided into different sections,” he said. “Civil Services exam is like a game of snakes and ladders. If you falter in one step, you are back to square one. There should be unwavering focus. From the age of 18, I was never distracted from my goal,” he added.
MP K. Haribabu, MLC PVN Madhav, CMD of Vijay Nirman Company S. Vijay Kumar and others were present at the felicitation function.