Hot Trend/ 12th Fail: Meet real-life civil servant couple Manoj-Shraddha who've inspired Vikrant Massey's film

Vikrant Massey plays real-life character of IPS officer Manoj Kumar Sharma, in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's 12th Fail. Coming from Morena in the Chambal region once infamous for dacoits in Madhya Pradesh, Manoj Kumar Sharma was an IPS aspirant who had put up a brave fight while trying to chase his dreams.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's movie 12th Fail, starring Vikrant Massey, is based on the novel of the same name by Anurag Pathak. It narrates the real-life story of the lakhs of students who take the UPSC exam year after year. It also features how these people come in droves, possess very little and receive next to no encouragement as they pursue their difficult dreams.

From failing in Class XII to bagging the rank of 121 in the country's most sought-after examination -- the Civil Services Examination conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) -- to becoming an IPS officer in the Maharashtra cadre, Sharma's life is nothing short of an inspirational journey.

Manoj Sharma's journey to becoming an civil servant 

Sharma, now a CISF officer, did not have any problem till Class VIII, but in the 9th and 10th he struggled to clear the papers and managed them somehow, but in Class XII, he failed the Board exams. After clearing Class XII in the second attempt, he completed his higher studies, and cleared the UPSC exam in his fourth attempt.

Along the way, he worked as a tempo driver, slept with beggars on the road, worked in a library, and also as a dog walker to pay the coaching class fees and buy books to prepare for the UPSC exam.

Sharma also met the love of his life, Shraddha Joshi, during his days of struggle. In those tough times, she supported him a lot. They're married today and Shraddha is an IRS officer.

Manoj Sharma and Shraddha Joshi's love story

While doing UPSC coaching in New Delhi, Manoj Kumar Sharma fell in love with Shraddha Joshi, a resident of Uttarakhand. They met at a UPSC coaching center in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar. She was recommended to meet Manoj by a teacher at the coaching institute as she was interested in Hindi literature.

They met and in a short span of time, Manoj fell in love with Shraddha and even expressed his feelings to her. But she refused to accept his feelings and told him, “Are you mad?” However, after his proposal was turned down, he decided to stay firm about his feelings. To impress Shraddha, Manoj learnt how to make tea as she hailed from the mountains, and people who live in the mountains have a fondness for tea. Another thing that he did for her was take food to the coaching classes as she stayed far away from the institute.

Seeing his dedication to woo Shraddha Joshi, Manoj Kumar Sharma’s close friend Anurag Pathak, who also wrote the book 12th Fail, on which the film is based, warned him to focus on his studies instead of chasing a girl.

However, instead of being a distraction for him, Shraddha became a guiding force for Manoj and helped him ace his writing skills. She made notes for him and even got him empty registers to improve his writing. She was a strict taskmaster.

Manoj had failed in his 3 UPSC attempts, while Shraddha had passed the PCS exam and became Deputy Collector. Eventually, the couple managed to clear their UPSC exam and they married each other. They are parents to a son and a daughter.

(With IANS inputs)