New Delhi: “पद तो आज छूट गया, पर वह स्पर्श जीवन भर नहीं छूटेगा।”
With these words, IAS officer Divya Mittal brought the curtain down on a 13-year journey in the civil services. But if her farewell note is anything to go by, this is less an ending than a change of course.
The 2013-batch officer, who has served in Uttar Pradesh, recently resigned from the IAS, by choice, after a journey that began far from the corridors of the government.
Growing up in an ordinary setting, Mittal had dreamed of building a good, successful life. She worked her way through IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore and eventually moved to London for a corporate career.
Yet, even after seemingly having it all, something felt incomplete.
“अपने देश में न होना खलता था।”
The education, confidence and opportunities that had enabled her journey, she felt, were ultimately a debt owed to the soil she came from.
“वो कर्ज़ चुकाना था।”
So she returned to India, entered the civil services and got the opportunity to serve as an IAS officer.
The years that followed gave her lessons no classroom could have taught.
Deoria taught her that “सही के साथ खड़ा होना विकल्प नहीं, कर्तव्य है।” Mirzapur taught her that “‘असंभव’ कोई तथ्य नहीं, बस एक राय है।” And sitting at the feet of Maa Vindhyavasini, she learnt that power does not come from a designation, but from grace and the trust of people.
But perhaps her biggest lesson was simpler: her own dreams had already been fulfilled. It was now time to live the dreams she had for others.
And that, she says, was where the real satisfaction lay.
In the eyes of a family receiving land rights for the first time. In the dignity restored to a person with a disability. In the relief of a farmer whose fields finally received water.
“हर सरकारी फ़ाइल के पीछे एक व्यक्ति है, और उसकी गरिमा बनाये रखना ही न्याय है।”
In retrospect, Mittal says she had misunderstood who was giving and who was receiving.
“मूर्ख थी जो सोचा था कि कुछ देने आयी हूँ। सच यह है कि सबसे ज़्यादा मैंने ही पाया।”
The affection and trust she received from people became her greatest source of strength, particularly on days when she herself felt exhausted or broken. She also credits the colleagues, officers and employees who stood shoulder to shoulder with her through the years.
And then there is the memory she says she will carry for life.
At Lahuriya Dah, an elderly woman saw water finally reach her village. She did not say a word. She simply raised her trembling hands, touched Mittal’s head and blessed her.
That moment, more than any designation, appears to define what her 13 years in public service meant to her.
Today, the IAS designation is behind her.
But the कर्ज़ remains. So does the dream.
“वह सपना भी नहीं छूटेगा, जो देश की इस मिट्टी ने मुझे दिया है।”
Perhaps that is the real story behind Divya Mittal’s resignation.
She has left the IAS. She has not left the dream that brought her home.
BI Burea
