Chennai: While her father spent years stitching clothes at a small tailoring shop in Perambur, V Dharshini, a GCC school student was quietly building a pathway for a bigger dream of cracking the UPSC and becoming an IAS officer. Her hours of hard work helped her score 586 of 600 in the Class 12 board exams. Dharshini, who scored two centums, emerged second among Greater Chennai Corporation schools.She wishes to pursue a BA in defence and strategic studies, driven by her interest in military affairs, geopolitics, national security, intelligence and conflict resolution. “The course will help me prepare for UPSC exams,” she told TOI. But since her family cannot afford expensive coaching centres, she plans to rely on free UPSC coaching classes offered at the chief minister’s co-working space in Periyar Nagar. “The school supported me throughout, especially when I was unwell during exams. Teachers helped me attend online classes and kept guiding me,” she said.Her father, S Venkadesan, said he is not financially sound enough to send Dharshini for private UPSC coaching. He said the teachers at Dharshini’s GCC school provided constant guidance to her before and during the exams. “Dharshini wants to become an IAS officer and we are proud of her,” Venkadesan added.
