For Rohini Gurjar, clearing the Rajasthan Administrative Service examination was not just an academic achievement but the result of years of struggle, grief and determination. The Ajmer resident secured the second rank in the MBC widow category in the Rajasthan Public Service Commission's RAS 2024 examination and has been allotted the Rajasthan Accounts Service.
Rohini completed her BA in 2006 and became the first girl from her village, Ghughra, to graduate. Her father was in the Army, which allowed her to study in different places while growing up. After graduation, she left academics and began working as a teacher at a private school.
She married in 2011 and became a mother in 2013. Nearly a decade later, her life changed when her husband died on February 18, 2021, after suffering a cardiac attack and undergoing treatment for almost two months.
After his death, Rohini said she faced a lack of support from her in-laws and was taunted because she had two daughters rather than a son. She also faced severe social stigma in the village, where some people blamed her for her husband's death and called her a witch.
"I remained depressed for nearly six months. I could not understand how everything had changed so suddenly or how I would take care of myself and my daughters," she recalled.
Her brother Narendra Gurjar and her grandmother-in-law, Pushpa Devi, helped her through the difficult period. Pushpa Devi, who was around 95 and had never received formal education, encouraged Rohini to resume her studies.
After a gap of nearly 15 years, Rohini returned to education in late 2021 and began preparing for competitive examinations. She had little knowledge about the process but decided to give it a try. In her first attempt, she cleared the preliminary examination but missed the mains cutoff by 10 marks.
She appeared again in 2023 and moved to Jaipur to prepare. Her mains examination was initially scheduled for January 2024, but shortly before the test, Pushpa Devi died. The examination was later postponed to July, giving Rohini additional time to prepare.
However, another devastating loss followed. On June 29, 2024, just weeks before the examination, Rohini's 10-year-old elder daughter died after suddenly falling ill. The loss left her shattered, and she initially decided not to sit for the examination.
"I had lost all hope. I felt there was nothing left for me to achieve," she said. After the mourning period, Rohini went to her mother's home with her brother. Soon afterward, she and her sister-in-law were involved in a road accident. Rohini suffered injuries to her face and eyes and remained hospitalised for around five days.
After she was discharged, her family encouraged her to at least appear for the examination. Thinking about her younger daughter, Bhoomi, Rohini decided to go ahead."I looked at my younger daughter and thought that I had to take the exam. If I became something in life, only then could I secure her future," she said.
Her decision ultimately paid off. Rohini cleared the RAS examination and secured the second rank in the MBC widow category, earning an allocation to the Rajasthan Accounts Service.
Today, Rohini lives with her younger daughter and credits her brother and late Pushpa Devi for helping her continue her journey through the most difficult periods of her life.
For Rohini, the achievement is about more than securing a government position. She wants to challenge conservative attitudes towards women and encourage girls to pursue education. "I want conservative thinking to change. Girls should get the opportunity to study and move forward," she said.
Rohini's journey-from losing her husband and facing social ostracism to losing her daughter shortly before her examination-has made her success a story of perseverance and the importance of education in creating opportunities for women.
