Reform should come from within: IAS aspirant

CHENNAI: How to cleanse the political system and bureaucracy is a question that has caught the country’s imagination for the last couple of weeks. Ask about reforms and Cheryn (29) quips, “Reforms should come from within.” The IAS aspirant, who fasted for over 240 hours on the trot, believes that only an intention to carry out worthwhile service to the nation could lead to reform.Cheryn, a mechanical engineer by qualification, quit his cushy job at L&T in 2005 to pursue his inner voice. “It was a question of what I was supposed to be doing. One should always love to do something for the nation. I chose this path as bureaucracy gives you the access and the opportunity to serve the people,” he says.Still standing after 10 days of fasting, Cheryn complained of stomach pains due to acidity. But that did little to wipe the smile off his face. However, Cheryn ex plained his grouse to Express, “Most of my fellow IAS aspirants have not even visited the venue of the protests. Of the 35, only three came to see how I was doing. May be they have inherited what they think is a ‘bureaucratic’ mindset,” he says.He adds that none of them were in support of the Jan Lokpal Bill. “Many of them even tried to dissuade me from going on fast. They keep telling me to think like a bureaucrat,” he says.Cheryn says his aim was to set up an NGO to help people. Five days into the fast, he got the news that he had cleared the UPSC preliminary exams for the fifth time in a row. “Bureaucracy is my chosen path. Let us see where it goes,” he adds.