A Bus Ride, An Insult, And Then… How Shalini Became India’s Pride As An IPS

New Delhi: For Shalini Agnihotri, the adventure to transform an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer used to be now not best about ambition. It used to be deeply private as smartly. Born and raised in Una, a quiet district nestled within the hills of Himachal Pradesh, Shalini’s trail to India’s elite civil services and products used to be pushed now not via privilege or training, however via function and perseverance.

She remembers a second that modified her lifestyles endlessly. An incident years in the past whilst she used to be travelling along with her mom left her shaken. Someone misbehaved along with her mom. That unmarried second of helplessness stayed along with her. “That day, I felt powerless. I decided I had to become someone who could bring change,” she mentioned in an interview.

That unravel sooner or later formed her into the decided lady she is these days.

Her instructional basis used to be sturdy early on. Shalini did her education in Dharamshala and persistently carried out smartly at school. She scored 92% in Grade 10 and 77% in Grade 12 assessments. She pursued bachelors in agriculture from Himachal Pradesh University, adopted via a postgraduate level. But even then, she all the time knew that her center used to be set on becoming a member of the civil services and products.

What makes her adventure stand out is that Shalini cleared the extremely aggressive UPSC Civil Services Exam with out attending any training categories. No large town crash lessons. She trusted self-study and on-line assets – one thing numerous aspirants these days can relate to. In 2011, her willpower paid off when she secured an All India Rank of 285 and used to be decided on for the IPS. She went directly to crack UPSC once more in 2012.

Today, Shalini is not only a logo of arduous paintings however of quiet power of the way one second of ache can ignite a lifelong fireplace to serve and give protection to. Her tale is a reminder that whilst training institutes might lend a hand, it’s readability of function and the braveness to dream large that really form a civil servant.