Rajat Ubhaykar

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Rajat Ubhaykar
Rajat Ubhaykar.jpg
Born (1991-04-30) April 30, 1991 (age 30)
Bhatkal, Karnataka
OccupationTravel Writer, Civil Servant, Former Journalist
NationalityIndian
EducationB.Tech in Electrical Engineering
Post-Graduate Diploma in Print Journalism
Alma materIIT Kanpur
Asian College of Journalism

Rajat Ubhaykar is an Indian civil servant, travel writer and former journalist. He is well known for his book "Truck De India: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Hindustan".[1][2][3]

Ubhaykar has travelled more than 10,000 kilometers in India by trucks to understand the struggles, challenges and life of Truck Drivers.[4][5][6]

He has cleared UPSC 2020 with All India Rank 49 and will be joining Indian Foreign Service as a diplomat.[7][8] Ubhaykar has also achieved 378th rank in Civil Services Examination 2019.[9]

Early life and education[]

Rajat Ubhaykar was born in 1991 in Bhatkal, Karnataka and grew up in Mumbai.[10] He did his matriculation at Sainik School Satara.[9] Ubhaykar graduated from IIT Kanpur with a B.Tech in electrical engineering in 2012.[11] After a stint in management consulting, he did a post-graduate diploma in print journalism at the Asian College of Journalism.[12][13]

Career[]

Rajat Ubhaykar speaking at the Vidarbha Literary Festival in Nagpur, 2020

After doing Post Graduation Diploma in Journalism, Rajat Ubhaykar worked as a business journalist at Outlook Business in Mumbai.[4][14] After travelling more than 10,000 kilometers in India by trucks, he wrote a six-part series for Outlook Business.[15] after closely experiencing the struggles, challenges, lives and motivations of truck drivers.[16][2] He put all those experiences with the truck drivers in his book.[17][18] Ubhaykar wrote Truck De India while preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination. In 2020, after clearing the exam, he was appointed as a Probationary officer in the Indian Railway Accounts Service. He cleared the UPSC CIvil Services Examination again in 2021, and will soon be joining the Indian Foreign Service.[8][19]

Truck Journey[]

Ubhaykar was inspired to write about truck drivers when as a student at IIT Kanpur, he found himself stranded on a highway near Shimla and a truck driver agreed to give him a lift without charge. He started his journey from Mumbai, headed north via Gujarat and Rajasthan to Kashmir, then steered east beyond the chicken-neck of the country all the way to the troubled Nagaland and Manipur borderlands, before undertaking the last leg of his tour south via Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, where he eventually traversed Tamil Nadu and reached land’s end at Kanyakumari.[20][21]

He stayed in lodges that charged not more than 500 rupees per night. During his journey of around six months he encountered the real struggles of truck drivers which influenced him a lot and this made him to cumulate all his experiences with the truck drivers in his book.[22][23]

Writing[]

In 2019, Simon & Schuster India published his book "Truck De India: A Hitchhiker's Guide to Hindustan". It received widespread critical acclaim in India and internationally.[24][25][26] [27]

References[]

  1. ^ "Are we ready for the passion economy?". BBC.
  2. ^ a b "Road Trip - Hitchhiking in Trucks across India". National Geographic.
  3. ^ "Manjula Narayan, National Books Editor, picks her favourite reads of 2020". Hindustan Times. 25 December 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Rajat Ubhaykar on hitchhiking 10,000 km across India, on trucks". Forbes.
  5. ^ Nov 6, Mumbai Mirror / Updated. "Things to do in Mumbai today". Mumbai Mirror.
  6. ^ "Of truck drivers and their arduous journeys: Author Rajat Ubhaykar on his latest book". The New Indian Express.
  7. ^ "Candidates List Civil Services Main Examination 2020" (PDF). upsc.gov.in.
  8. ^ a b "UPSC Civil Services 2020 result live: Shubham Kumar tops, Jagrati Awasthi second". Hindustan Times.
  9. ^ a b वेबटीम, एबीपी माझा (24 September 2021). "'ट्रक दे इंडिया' या बेस्टसेलर पुस्तकाचा लेखक रजत उभायकरचं UPSC मध्ये मोठं यश". marathi.abplive.com (in Marathi).
  10. ^ "Truck De India: Rajat Ubhaykar on traversing highways across the country, and the fascinating, complex lives of Indian truckers-Living News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 12 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Truck tales: Rajat Ubhaykar's travelogue records his unique on-road experiences". Hindustan Times. 18 January 2020.
  12. ^ "Trucking through India – A Hitchhiking Adventure with Rajat Ubhaykar". The Indian Express. 15 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Truck by chance". www.mid-day.com. 21 October 2019.
  14. ^ "A hitchhiker's guide to Hindustan". Deccan Herald. 3 December 2019.
  15. ^ "Death on Wheels". Outlookbusiness.com.
  16. ^ "Truck De India: Long Haul Trucking, an Exciting Yet Troubled Profession in India". Moneylife NEWS & VIEWS.
  17. ^ December 27, Srinath Perur New Delhi. "The Truck Stops Here". India Today.
  18. ^ Sharma, Sudhirendar (21 March 2020). "'Truck De India' review: The road to highways". The Hindu.
  19. ^ "UPSCचा निकाल जाहीर, सोलापूरच्या शेतकऱ्याचा मुलगा देशात 445 वा". BBC News मराठी (in Marathi).
  20. ^ Shah, Vikram (18 November 2019). "A journey to India's four corners by trucks". mint.
  21. ^ "Book Review: Truck De India!". Outlooktraveller.
  22. ^ Iwanek, Krzysztof. "Meeting the Drivers of India's Growth". thediplomat.com.
  23. ^ "Forbes India 2020 Rewind: Best Of 'From The Bookshelves' Podcast". Forbes India.
  24. ^ "4 Acclaimed Writers Tell Us What Travel Means To Them". grazia.co.in.
  25. ^ "Trucking Through India: Stories Of Sex, Drugs And The Highway Economy | Forbes India Blog". Forbes India.
  26. ^ "Trucking through India: Stories of sex, drugs and the highway economy". Forbes.
  27. ^ "50 More Books To Look Out For In 2019". .Huffpost.com.
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