Aahana Swrup
In charting the story of Manoj Kumar, a determined Indian UPSC student who overcomes several obstacles, including his humble beginning in the small village of Chambal, the Hindi film, ’12th Fail,’ simultaneously presents a story about love and its strength. After arriving in Delhi, with grave effort and some luck, Manoj finds enough footing in the big town to begin preparations for his UPSC’s first attempt. During the same, his paths crossed with Shraddha Joshi, another UPSC aspirant who wants to be an IRS officer and shares Manoj’s dream of bringing effective change in the country.
Thus, despite their vastly different backgrounds, Shraddha and Manoj form a close relationship as they move toward their shared aspirations. While the couple faces their fair share of complications, their love helps them grow as individuals and become their best selves. As such, given the film’s true story tag, viewers must be curious about Shraddha’s connections to reality.
Shraddha Joshi, The Real-life IRS Officer
Yes, Shraddha Joshi from ’12th Fail’ is based on a real-life IRS Officer of the same name. In depicting the story of real-life Manoj Kumar Sharma, the film incorporates several facets of the man’s life into its narrative. For the same reason, the film couldn’t have possibly left Shraddha Joshi, who met Kumar during his UPSC attempt days and ended up becoming an instrumental part of his life, out of the IPS Officer’s life story.
Even though the film doesn’t shy away from employing creative liberty in adapting the story of Kumar’s life to depict a general experience relatable on a large scale, Joshi’s character remains accurate to her off-screen counterpart for the most part. While Shraddha comes from Mussoorie in the film, her real-life inspiration, Joshi, has different roots in the nearby town of Almora.
However, apart from this minute detail, Joshi and her character share many other similarities. Joshi first met Kumar in Delhi, the designated hub for aspiring UPSC students. The two met in a coaching center at Mukherjee Nagar, where a teacher advised Joshi to meet Kumar due to her interest in Hindi Literature. While it was almost love at first sight for Manoj, who was mesmerized by the woman on their first meeting, Joshi took some time to come around to the idea of starting a relationship with Manoj.
Nevertheless, over the course of the pair’s friendship, Manoj continued to put his best foot forward in an effort to impress the woman. A particular trick that the man equipped in his mission to woo his co-UPSC-aspirant was expanding his cooking skills. As such, Kumar started bringing lunches for her at coaching and found the key to her heart: tea.
“I used to make two rotis for her and pack them with achaar and her favorite “Makka” namkeen,” The IPS Officer told Lallantop in a conversation. “My first concern was Shraddha should believe that I am a good man.” Eventually, the two ended up together, with Shraddha constantly encouraging Manoj’s dreams and helping him better himself throughout his several UPSC attempts.
From making notes to honing Manoj’s writing skills, Joshi provided an invaluable support system to the man, who ultimately cleared the exam on his fourth attempt. Likewise, Joshi also cleared her own UPSCs and went on to become an IRS Officer. As such, given the obvious similarities between Joshi and her character as depicted in ’12th Fail,’ we can conclude that Medha Shankar’s on-screen counterpart has rich and authentic roots in reality.
Where Is Shraddha Joshi Now?
After becoming an IRS Officer with the 2007 batch, Shraddha Joshi continues to chart an inspiring career trajectory as an Indian civil service officer. Specializing in tourism and medicine, the woman worked in a number of departments, including Service Tax, Customs, and Central Excise, where she worked on tax regime implementation. Furthermore, she was also stationed in Maharastra, where she was a Member secretary at Maharashtra State Women Commission.
Currently, Joshi resides in Maharashtra with her husband, Manoj Kumar, an IPS Officer who serves as the Additional Commissioner of the Mumbai Force. Joshi herself is a part of the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, often abbreviated to MDTC, where she holds the MD position. She often shares snippets of her work life on her social media account. Apart from her work at the MDTC, the woman is also involved in advocating against social issues and recently attended a government event promoting “youth power against gender-related issues.”
On her social media channels, fans can also find glimpses into Joshi’s happy married life with Kumar and their older son and younger daughter. Furthermore, much like her husband, Joshi was also involved in consultation on ’12th Fail’ during its early production and visited the set during some of the filming.
Read More: 12th Fail: Is Manoj Kumar Based on a Real IPS Officer? Where is He Now?
