There has been a flurry of wedding proposals since his selection for the IAS -- around 15 till late last week, "including one from a high court judge," says sister Mamta.

"All this will have to wait another 2-3 years, I am in no hurry," laughs Govind. He talks about relatives who have discovered the family after having spurned them in their hours of crisis.

"There is a kind of mental madness that has affected our society which values people with money and disregards those who are poor," says the future civil servant. "A person is known by his character, not by his economic status or social background. You can face your financial crises but it is the social failings that are our real problem."

After literally spending all his time studying for the entrance examination, Govind took the test in Hindi. Unlike many aspirants who take professional coaching for years, he enrolled in an IAS coaching class for three months.

Explaining the changing face of the Civil Services -- largely perceived as an English-dominated bureaucratic workforce -- he says between 10 to 15 per cent of the 474 successful candidates took the exam in Hindi.

Until about five years ago books for IAS aspirants were only available in English, then they started getting published in Hindi and other Indian languages.

"Before that the best books were in English, there were no good coaching institutes in Hindi either. That has changed now," says Santosh Kushwaha, a Provincial Civil Services officer from Uttar Pradesh whose advice Govind sought several times and who has come to congratulate him with a box of sweets.

Mamta, left, and Nirmala, right, his sisters in the small room their family shared for 35 years.

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