When he got the news he had cracked UPSC, he was grazing goats

Birdev Done’s family belongs to the Dhangar community that has traditionally been shepherds. They own an acre of land but earn their livelihood from rearing sheep and goats that they graze over wide swathes of territory spanning two states – Maharashtra and Karnataka.His childhood was spent living a nomadic life and he would attend school wherever the family travelled to graze cattle. In class 8, a teacher at Birdev's school noticed how bright he was and suggested to the boy’s father that the family should consider settling down so that the boy could focus on his studies. It wasn't easy for the family to change their nomadic way of life. This was the only life they had known and they were already struggling to make ends meet. But they did it for Birdev and settled down in the Yamage village in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district. “The teacher said that Birdev was bright and sincere. He would top his class all the time and was exceptionally good at math. We didn't understand ranks and marks at that time, but still decided to give his destiny a chance,” said Siddappa Done, his father. Birdev went on to top his school, got into a top engineering college in Pune and then decided to write the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam. He failed twice. On April 25, Birdev - who is now 27 - was with a flock of sheep and goats in the Nanavadi village in Belgaum in north Karnataka – around 113 km from Kolhapur – when a friend called. Birdev had passed the highly competitive UPSC exam. His All India Rank of 551 was likely to get him into the Indian Police Service.What followed was a heartfelt celebration rooted in his Dhangar customs. A yellow pheta (turban) was tied around his head and his forehead was smeared with bhandara (holy turmeric powder). That photo went viral.The image defied every stereotype of a ‘viral photo’ associated with such successes. In the background is a makeshift tent. All the relatives in the photo - barring a smiling Birdev - are frowning as the sun blazes down on them. In some of the other photos clicked on the day, Birdev is carrying a kid or has a goat next to him.The student who stood outBirdev has two elder siblings: a sister and a brother. But his father recalls the early signs of the youngest child standing out. “Birdev has always been very bright,” recalled Sidappa. “He was always sincere, finished his homework on time, and never gave his teachers reason to complain. He was able to do anything once he put his mind to it.” Those days, Sidappa said, they would move from village to village to graze their livestock and the three children would attend the school in whichever village they were living. The three children and their mother would usually spend an academic year at one location even as Sidappa and other relatives would travel in search of grazing land.The Dhangar community migrates over 400 km at times to ensure food for their herds. This migration often affects the community’s access to education and healthcare. The state administration visits Dhangar settlements to ensure members of the community have access to schooling and anganwadi services.“When he was in Class 8, his teacher advised us to settle down so that he could concentrate on his studies. We took that step for him and made Yamage our permanent home,” Sidappa said. Birdev’s teachers would make him appear for competitive exams so that he could get scholarships to continue his studies. He was also good at sports like athletics and canoeing. The prize money that came from winning competitions also funded his studies.In the class 10 board exams, Birdev scored an impressive 96%, the highest score ever recorded in his Marathi-medium Zilla Parishad school. Then, in class 12, he scored 89% in the science stream. Birdev got admission in the College of Engineering, Pune (CoEP) to study civil engineering. He admits the transition to engineering college was more difficult for him than it was for many others. “I had studied in Marathi all through and suddenly all the lectures were in English. I was also overwhelmed by a big city like Pune,” he said.To cope, he began learning English. Birdev said he would initially translate his lessons from English to Marathi to understand concepts. Later, he purchased a dictionary to understand the language and began to cope better. The challenge of chasing the UPSC dreamIt was in the third year of engineering that Birdev learnt of the UPSC exam after 15 of his seniors cleared the mains. “I saw that their CGPA (cumulative grade point average) was lower than mine and they were not from very different family backgrounds. So, I decided to give it a try too,” he said.But it wasn’t that simple a choice given his family’s struggles to make ends meet. Siddappa said if they collectively earned Rs 10,000 in a month, it was considered a good month. But such months were few in a year. The one-acre plot they owned just supported part of the family’s food requirements.Birdev's elder brother took up several temporary jobs, including working as a waiter in a restaurant and as a store assistant. Birdev received some scholarships while in junior college and the money was used to pay his course fee. “At CoEP, I had also signed up for part-time work in college which paid me Rs 60 per hour. I would do a few hours of work everyday to earn money for food,” said Birdev.A mock interview that Birdev participated in: https://hr.ikan3.com/3sw663_1rkmuflfzqrun/5prkysza?1eqt=5goj9LmVOs_QbiFawt he began preparing for the civil service examination, Birdev -- like many other UPSC aspirants -- began writing other government exams for practice. One of them was for the job of a postman with India Post. “It was the final year (of engineering) and college was shut due to Covid. I was back home and that's when the results of the Indian Post exam that I had given were declared. I had cleared the exam and I took up the job as the financial situation of the family was precarious due to a ban on grazing,” said Birdev.Birdev said he never considered a job linked to engineering since he was determined to clear the civil services entrance examination. The engineering degree was his backup in case that dream didn’t materialise. Birdev worked a year as a postman. When his elder brother secured a job as a soldier in the Indian Army, Birdev quit his job to continue the pursuit of his UPSC dream. With his brother’s steady income, the family was no longer in a dire state. Birdev, however, acknowledged this came at the cost of his elder brother’s aspirations. “My brother wanted to become a police sub-inspector, but he sacrificed his dreams to fulfil my father’s wish,” he said.Mission UPSCAs he prepared for the civil service exam, Birdev got another leg up from a retired teacher from his school. The teacher knew of a scholarship awarded to students from economically backward families and he pushed Birdev’s case. “On the basis of my teacher's reference, I was given a scholarship of Rs 2.35 lakh to go to Delhi and prepare. That was the day when I knew I had to make something of myself,” he said.Birdev first wrote the UPSC exam in 2022, but missed the mains stage by 30 marks. Then, he came even more heartbreakingly close in the second attempt in 2023.“During the second attempt I missed clearing the exams by just three marks. A few days after the results I started questioning everything,” he said. Birdev said his time in CoEP gave him friends he trusted. Birdev asked a few of them whether he was doing the right thing by spending years writing competitive exams instead of taking up a job and supporting his family. “My friends convinced me to give one more try,” he said. In many interviews Birdev credited his friends for his success. In a speech to students in his village, he told them to pick friends carefully. “When I was preparing for my interview in January this year, I was staying with some friends in Delhi. It was very cold. So, they would not let me even wash my plate to ensure that I didn’t catch a cold,” he said. Mission accomplishedWhen he took the exam again in 2024, Birdev focussed on self-study, correcting previous mistakes and taking multiple practice exams. This time, he cleared the preliminary level, then the mains and made it to the final interview stage. On YouTube, there are hundreds of fictional, and non-fictional, videos that aim to show the rigours of the interview stage.In his form, Birdev said he had listed rearing goats and sheep among his hobbies. It might be the reason he was asked about the sudden spike in demand for sheep's milk. In his answer, Birdev spoke about its medicinal properties.He was also asked if violent action was the way out to resolve the India-Pakistan border dispute. “I think my answers to these questions were received well by the interview panel, which helped me score well in the personality test,” Birdev said.After the results were announced, the celebrations began. The Done family was taken in an open jeep around the village as flowers were showered on them by villagers. The day after the results were announced, he had about 2000 missed calls on his phone and media outlets across the country wrote of his success.A video report on the celebrations in the village mediumhttps://hr.ikan3.com/3sw663_1rkmuflfzqrun/5prkysza?1eqt=M6WpMlpnx3s%E2%80%9CI have been flooded with invites from several organisations who want to felicitate me. I am also planning on attending events where UPSC aspirants can ask me questions about how I prepared. I want to help as many students as I can,” said Birdev. As per last year’s cutoffs, Birdev could make it to the Indian Police Service, but he’s considering appearing for this year’s UPSC mains in May to improve his rank and improve his choices. The potential civil servant said he had one message for other students who may be chasing a dream like him. “Nurture a deep inner drive to become something meaningful in life, and the universe will find ways to turn your dream into reality,” he said.