New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- From grandson of a Chambal 'baaghi' to cracking the IIT entrance, leaving a job in the Netherlands and eventually securing All India Rank 629 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination, Dev Prabhakar Singh Tomar's journey has taken him through vastly different worlds.

Growing up in a village in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district, Tomar studied in a Madhya Pradesh Board school before moving to a CBSE school in Class 6. He later secured admission to IIT Ropar, worked as a scientist with Philips in the Netherlands and eventually returned to India to pursue his civil services dream.

His path to the UPSC was far from straightforward. Tomar failed to clear the examination five times, despite reaching the interview stage twice. ...