Hailing from a poor family in Tamil Nadu, this man put everything on the line to turn his dreams into reality. Despite failing in the first six attempts, his assiduous efforts and self-belief helped him finally strike upon gold. He worked as a waiter in Chennai to support himself through all the hardships that life threw at him, only to emerge victorious! Here's how he made it possible: Born to a poor father, the eldest of 4 siblings, K. Jayaganesh had only one aim growing up, he wanted to rid his family of financial woes. His father worked as a supervisor in a leather factory and got a meagre sum of Rs 4,500 as salary. Being a bright student, scoring 91% in Class 12, he enrolled himself at Thanthai Periyar Government Engineering College to study Mechanical Engineering. As a backup option he had written an examination to be an officer with the Intelligence Bureau. Which meant that he had two options: join IB or get his nose to the grind and prepare for the IAS for the 7th time. But fate had something good in store for him! Amidst fear, uncertainty and confusion, he passed his preliminary exam and went on to clear the mains too. He aced the interview and bagged the 156th rank in his 7th attempt!

He came to know that he could usher-in a change, if he became a "collector". So he decided to quit his job and become an IAS officer.

But the road ahead was treacherous and things looked a little shaky for someone who had no one to guide him.

He couldn't clear the preliminary exam in his first two attempts. He later switched his subject from Mechanical Engineering to Sociology, but to no avail, as his third effort resulted in another failure.