Two women from state among UPSC toppers

PUNE: Two women from the state, including one from the city, are among the probable toppers in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam, the results of which were declared on Friday.
Pune’s Trupti Dhodmise, an assistant sales tax officer, stood 16th in the country. Pooja Mulay from Kolhapur stood 11th. Vaibhav Gondane, also from Pune, bagged the 25th spot.
Dhodmise (30) was confident that she would come up trumps in UPSC in the fourth attempt.When she found her name on the 16th place, her only regret was that she won’t be able to see her name on TV as she doesn’t own one. She feared a TV set in home would distract her from her UPSC preparation.
A product of Sadhana school and a graduate in production engineering from the College of Engineering, Pune, Dhodmise had cracked the Maharashtra Public Service Exam in 2014.
“I got married in 2012 and my first attempt at UPSC was in 2015. In 2015 and 2017, I failed to qualify in the prelims, while in 2016 I failed at the interview stage, and missed the rank list by 4 marks. I was completely disheartened and started doubting my ability. It was my husband’s support and encouragement that prompted me to attempt the UPSC exam so many times,” said Dhodmise.
Dhodmise’s parents are primary schoolteachers. “When I failed to succeed in my previous attempts, I was really scared. I was at an age when I wanted to start a family but had little time for preparation. Hence, I didn’t buy a TV nor did I use social media. Now, I feel a tiny bit of disappointment that I will not be able to see my name on TV,” said Dhodmise, who wants to become an IAS officer.
Vaibhav Gondane (22) passed out of CoEP’s IT engineering department last year. “I started preparing for UPSC in 2016 and made sure that I studied from limited resources. I paid attention to my answer writing skills and also attempted many test series,” said Gondane, an alumnus of Rosary School and Fergusson Junior College.
He wants to go for the Indian Foreign Service as he thinks that the country is confronted with global problems such as terrorism, climate change etc.
Mulay from Kolhapur also wants to go for the IFS since her father is a retired IFS officer. “I always dreamt of clearing the UPSC exam since I was inspired by my father,” says Mulay, who works with a Mumbai-based private company, but wants to join the services soon.
She completed her BCom from Lady Sriram College in New Delhi, and her masters in public administration from Columbia University, New York.