Introduction
Asha Kandara was a mother of two when her husband left her after five years of marriage in 2002. She decided to raise her child on her own despite several difficulties. She started living with her father, who was retired from the Food Corporation of India as an accountant. From Childhood, her father had heavily emphasized education, and she decided to continue it. It was not an easy task, but with several difficulties, she completed her education from the school level to graduation in 2016.
Change
Asha has suffered taunts from society and people for a long time and has faced caste and gender discrimination in various areas of her life. After she graduated, she started preparing for Rajasthan Administrative Service. She chose administrative service because whenever she expressed her dreams about a better life, they were mocked by other people who reminded her that she was not a collector or officer to have such big dreams. So, with hopes and dreams of changing her life, she dreamed of becoming a collector.
She also hesitantly gave the Municipal Corporation exam and received a job as a street sweeper staff. Asha has said she always respected all kinds of work and accepted the job. When she said she was preparing for an administrative job, people would taunt her if anybody in her family had previously done that. She would be asked to stop dreaming and focus on her work as a sweeper. But Asha never gave up and claimed her inspiration is her father, who values education above everything and believes education opens up various doors.
Asha says that she chose administrative service because she wanted to help people like her who were less privileged than others. She said she dreamed of bringing justice to society and everyone who was a victim. So she gave her state administrative exam and continued working for two years as a sweeper as a source of income.
Success
In October 2018, she passed the first stage pre the exam of Rajasthan Administrative Service and started preparing for the second and tougher exam – Mains. Asha says that her joy saw no limits when she passed the pre-exam, started preparing day and night for the main exams, and gave her exams in 2019. After giving her exam, she was 100% sure she would clear it. However, the results were delayed for some time due to the pandemic, and it was finally announced that Asha had cleared the exam and would become a civil servant.
The entire nation was inspired by the story of a single mother of two at 40 clearing the civil servant exams. Even the city’s mayors congratulated her for clearing the exam. They even asked if she wanted to hear about the corporation she used to work in previously. The same people who used to mock her before were now appreciating her. Asha said that those taunts only inspired her to work harder for her dream and gave credit to her father for providing support and inspiration. She has inspired women in distress nationwide, stating that anybody could if she could do it. She asks women not to lose hope no matter what the circumstances are, even if their husbands leave them, even if society discriminates against them. Not to lose hope and work on themselves and their dreams and that all is possible with hard work, patience, and dedication.
But Asha has not only been successful in exams but as a good mother too. Her son is a graduate, and her daughter has cleared IIT JEE. She says she wants her children to follow their dreams but become good people first.