Roopa Mishra, the Indian Administrative Service examination topper for 2003, on Saturday said she strongly believed in leading by example.
"I aim to make a difference. It is not whether you are a man or a woman, but the kind of person you are what's
important," Mishra, 27, said.
"The kind of spirit I have in me, I would do in the same way whether I am a man or woman," she said replying to queries from reporters at her parents' Shahidnagar residence in Bhubaneswar.
Mishra attributed her success to her faith in God and handwork put in for around ten months. She credits her husband Anshuman Tripathy, parents, in-laws and teachers also for the same.
"My husband is my friend and he initiated me into this system of examination," she said. Tripathy is a fellow at the IIM, Calcutta.
On her success in the Union Public Service Commission-conducted examination, Mishra said many factors went into
making a person successful, but one mistake could make everything crash.
The topper said she had done very well in the exam, but didn't expect to top the list. "It came as a bonus."
The news of her topping the exam came from a career magazine's office. "I was thrilled, I wept," Mishra, the daughter of Danda Nirodh Mishra, an IAS officer, said.
Mishra studied science at the plus-two level and then switched to commerce, completing her post-graduation