Arvind Kejriwal

He was born on 16 August 1968, in Siwani, Haryana, as the eldest child of Gobind Ram Kejriwal and Gita Devi. He has two younger siblings. His father was an electrical engineer and the family moved often because of his work. His mother was a well-educated woman for her time and ensured that her children focused on their studies well.

Arvind was sent to Campus School in Hisar before he attended a Christian missionary school at Sonipat. He was a loner and an avid reader. He was also a religious and spiritually inclined teenager.

A bright student at school he was confused about choosing a career path. Initially he wanted to become a doctor but changed his mind and opted for engineering instead. On learning that the Indian Institute of Technology was the best for engineering studies, he set his heart on getting into the prestigious institute.

He appeared for the test and cleared it in his first attempt. Thus, he joined IIT Kharagpur, in West Bengal, choosing mechanical engineering as his stream.

His college experience was an eye-opener for him. While many of his classmates planned to go abroad after graduation, he decided to stay in India and do something for his country. He received job offers from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Gas Authority of India, but had set his mind on getting into Tata Steel, a company that had rejected him in their interview round.

In 1989, he was placed in a training program at Tata Steel and then assigned as assistant manager in Jamshedpur. In spite of getting into his dream company he was not happy with the job; in fact he found it quite boring.

He decided to further his studies and attempted to get into a prestigious management institute but was turned down. Then on the advice of a friend he decided to study for the Civil Service Examination.

By 1992, he realized that his true calling was in serving the society and quit his lucrative job even as he waited for the results of the Civil Service Examination.

Meanwhile he met Mother Teresa and worked at her Kalighat Ashram for two months. He then joined the Christian Brothers Association and also did village work with Ramakrishna Missions. In addition he did some outreach work in the rural areas with a government organization called Nehru Yuva Kendra (Nehru Youth Center).

Having cleared all the rounds of the Civil Service Examination, he joined the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) in 1995. But again he was disillusioned with his job. Exposed to rampant corruption from the very beginning, he realized that this was not what he had imagined government service to be.

He played a major role in the Jan Lokpal movement which pressurized the then Central government to bring the Lokpal Bill in the parliament.

He is the National Convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which he formally launched in November 2012 with the main motive of fighting corruption in order to bring more transparency in governance. He also served as the Chief Minister of Delhi from 28 December 2013 to 14 February 2014.