Aparajita cracks Civil Services Exam on first attempt

GANGTOK: 25-year-old Aparajita Rai, daughter of late Gyanendra Rai and Roma Rai, has done the State proud by cracking the Civil Services Exam, a rare feat for aspirants from Sikkim; after all, less than a handful have cleared this exam from Sikkim thus far.
The CSE is among the toughest exams to clear in the country. In 2010, around 5 lakh students appeared for the preliminary exam out of whom 12,000 made it to the ‘mains’. Of these, only 2,500 made it to the third stage of interviews and finally, only 920 were selected. Aparajita is among this cream.
The grand-daughter of late RD Rai and Jagamaya Rai of Zoom in West Sikkim, she did her nursery to UKG from the Holy Cross Montessori School, and studied from class-I to III at St Thomas School. She went on to complete her ISC from Tashi Namgyal Academy as a topper, where she was awarded the Founders Medal for best all rounder student in 2004. She was the state topper in the ISC board exams 2004 with 95% aggregate marks [best of 3]. She belonged to the commerce stream
She graduated in law in 2009. BA LLB (Hons) from the WB National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata with gold medals in Jurisprudence and Public International Law. She appeared for CSE in 2010 where she secured the 768 rank out of 920 in her first attempt itself.
“I would like to thank Mr. Pawan Rai, District Youth Vice-Convenor [South], my uncle, for motivating and supporting me throughout the difficult stages when I was pursuing my studies,” Aparajita shared.
Aparajita is not just about studies though. She loves to play the guitar and has won many intra and inter university competitions in art and western music. She continues to make Sikkim proud. Kudos to her.

[ANAND OBEROI]