South Asian Foreign Relations
Diplomatic choice ; Deepti is the first woman from the State to join the IFS after a gap of 25 years in 2005
Diplomatic choice
Deepti is the first woman from the State to join the IFS after a gap of 25 years
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION Deepti with her grandfather G. Anjaneyulu
Think of the civil services and the dream of joining the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the top choice. That's because of the enormous clout the babus command. If you cannot make it to the IAS, there is always the other prestigious wing, the Indian Police Service (IPS) to fall back on.
Twenty-four-year Ganji Deepti, from the Hyderabad, has however chosen to skip both the options top and instead go for the Indian Foreign Services (IFS).
The family claims that this is the first time in the past 25 years that any woman from the State had opted for the IFS despite being selected for the IAS.
The fact that the IFS is not very popular with women is obvious from the fact there is hardly three to four percent women in the foreign services.
Living in Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, Deepti, secured 211th rank in the final interviews held in May this year and is anxiously awaiting her first posting.
Over 3.2 lakh candidates appeared for the preliminaries out of whom, 6,000 qualified for the mains. About 1,179 candidates were called for the interview and 422 were selected.
"I decided to pitch for the IFS as it gives me enough scope to project the huge cultural and social richness of the country to the outside world," says Deepti to justify her decision.
She feels that IFS officers on diplomatic assignments can play a pivotal role in improving India's image among the comity of the nations. "As an IFS officer I can always utilise the services of persons of Indian origin (PIOs) and NRIs to boost the country's image abroad," she says. "When you are in the foreign services there is ample scope to visit different countries, meet people of diverse cultures and race. Whereas, if you are in the IAS or IPS you may mostly be confined to one particular State."
Deepti's decision to join the IFS has been inspired mostly by her grandfather, G. Anjaneyulu, a former member of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission and retired professor of the Osmania Medical College; who has been her mentor all along.
Anjaneyulu was a constant source of inspiration for her to take up the All India services despite her initial inclination for a career in engineering. "Grandpa and me regularly discussed foreign affairs issues that The Hindu and Frontline carried exhaustively.
That was one reason for me to take up Foreign Service as a career," she recalled.
Bitter childhood
When Deepti was just eight years old, her mother died. It was Anjaneyulu who brought her up as the family took her legal custody from her father due to certain problems.
The IFS aspirant did her schooling from the Jawhar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Pedavegi, in West Godavari district and engineering from the Vasavi College of Engineering, Hyderabad.
She made her first attempt for the civil services in 2003 and attended the interview but could not get the rank.
Unruffled she made a renewed bid in 2004 to achieve her dream.
For Deepti, the former foreign secretary Chokkila Iyer and the present Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Nirupama Rao, are role models.
So it was a pleasant surprise, she says, when Iyer happened to be the chairperson of the UPSC interview board, which selected her for the services.
As for hobbies, Deepti says she likes to frequently listen to both classical and film songs.
R. BALAJI
Diplomatic choice ; Deepti is the first woman from the State to join the IFS after a gap of 25 years in 2005
Diplomatic choice
Deepti is the first woman from the State to join the IFS after a gap of 25 years
SOURCE OF INSPIRATION Deepti with her grandfather G. Anjaneyulu
Think of the civil services and the dream of joining the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the top choice. That's because of the enormous clout the babus command. If you cannot make it to the IAS, there is always the other prestigious wing, the Indian Police Service (IPS) to fall back on.
Twenty-four-year Ganji Deepti, from the Hyderabad, has however chosen to skip both the options top and instead go for the Indian Foreign Services (IFS).
The family claims that this is the first time in the past 25 years that any woman from the State had opted for the IFS despite being selected for the IAS.
The fact that the IFS is not very popular with women is obvious from the fact there is hardly three to four percent women in the foreign services.
Living in Sanjeev Reddy Nagar, Deepti, secured 211th rank in the final interviews held in May this year and is anxiously awaiting her first posting.
Over 3.2 lakh candidates appeared for the preliminaries out of whom, 6,000 qualified for the mains. About 1,179 candidates were called for the interview and 422 were selected.
"I decided to pitch for the IFS as it gives me enough scope to project the huge cultural and social richness of the country to the outside world," says Deepti to justify her decision.
She feels that IFS officers on diplomatic assignments can play a pivotal role in improving India's image among the comity of the nations. "As an IFS officer I can always utilise the services of persons of Indian origin (PIOs) and NRIs to boost the country's image abroad," she says. "When you are in the foreign services there is ample scope to visit different countries, meet people of diverse cultures and race. Whereas, if you are in the IAS or IPS you may mostly be confined to one particular State."
Deepti's decision to join the IFS has been inspired mostly by her grandfather, G. Anjaneyulu, a former member of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission and retired professor of the Osmania Medical College; who has been her mentor all along.
Anjaneyulu was a constant source of inspiration for her to take up the All India services despite her initial inclination for a career in engineering. "Grandpa and me regularly discussed foreign affairs issues that The Hindu and Frontline carried exhaustively.
That was one reason for me to take up Foreign Service as a career," she recalled.
Bitter childhood
When Deepti was just eight years old, her mother died. It was Anjaneyulu who brought her up as the family took her legal custody from her father due to certain problems.
The IFS aspirant did her schooling from the Jawhar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Pedavegi, in West Godavari district and engineering from the Vasavi College of Engineering, Hyderabad.
She made her first attempt for the civil services in 2003 and attended the interview but could not get the rank.
Unruffled she made a renewed bid in 2004 to achieve her dream.
For Deepti, the former foreign secretary Chokkila Iyer and the present Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Nirupama Rao, are role models.
So it was a pleasant surprise, she says, when Iyer happened to be the chairperson of the UPSC interview board, which selected her for the services.
As for hobbies, Deepti says she likes to frequently listen to both classical and film songs.
R. BALAJI