From IIT Delhi to UPSC Rank 45: Village cloth seller's son shoots for the stars without any coaching

Anil Basak is the son of a village garment seller and was the second to pass Class 10 from his family. He went on to study at IIT Delhi and now has cracked UPSC with Rank 45 -- that too, without any coaching classes.

"Tough times do not last, but tough people do" -- taking the title of this Robert Schuller book as his success mantra, 26-year-old Anil Basak secured the 45th rank in the UPSC exams 2021.

The resident of Kishanganj, Bihar, is the son of Binod Basak, a village cloth seller. His father sold clothes from village to village for his livelihood. And Anil wanted to make sure his father never had to struggle like that again.