UPSC exam: City girl shines at No. 2

CHANDIGARH: Hitting the bull���s eye in country���s most prestigious examination, city���s Sharandeep Kaur Brar has not just cleared the civil services��� (mains), 2008, but is enviously placed second in all-India ranking. Close behind is Varinder Kumar Sharma with his overall fourth and first rank among men candidates.
Chandigarh���s success story in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) this year doesn���t end here.
There are 22 others who���ve cleared the test, five of whom, including Ruby Jaspreet at 35th rank, are among the first 100. This year���s result is also a marked improvement on last year���s figure of 17 successful candidates, among whom city���s topper was placed at all-India number 10, followed by the other Chandigarhian at 53!
Brar, 26, confident but claims to have amazed herself. ���I am very excited and surprised! I expected a good rank but not the second even in my dreams. It���ll remain the most cherished moment of my life,��� said the topper whose subjects in the mains were psychology and sociology.
Her second attempt at UPSC, Brar had been placed at 443 last year and that success took her to Indian Audit and Account Services for which she was currently undergoing training in Shimla.
The only candidate among the top 25 to have taken the exam in Punjabi, Sharma, who did his schooling from Patiala and electrical engineering from Punjab Engineering College, said, ���Language should never be a barrier. Many deserving candidate do not succeed because of their poor English.��� From a small village in Punjab, he always wanted to do something for the uplift of society and he seems to have already set out on that path.
Jaspreet, 25, of Sector 31 can hardly conceal her excitement. ���I am very excited as this was not expected. I am on top of the world,��� declares this young lady whose mains were in sociology and geography.
���Consistency and perseverance are the tools to success,��� added Jaspreet who managed to sail across in her third attempt.