Mysuru: The Indian Railways is one of the world’s largest and biggest employers with 1.4 million people as its workforce. The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) conducts the world’s biggest online recruitment every year to absorb talented candidates.

The exams are tough in their own way and there are different levels for the candidates to clear before they end up being recruited by the Railways. While the minimum age limit for the Railway posts is 18 years, 30 years is the maximum age limit.

Among the thousands of candidates who clear the examinations every year, here is a 16-year-old boy from Mysuru who has cleared Three Levels of the RRB exams and is awaiting the results for his Fourth Level exams that he wrote on Sept. 11. He already has a Railway job offer in his hands.

He is R. Yashas, a first PUC student from Sapient College. He has been qualified as the youngest Loco Pilot and will join the Railways when he is 18 years old. He wants to work in the Railways and continue his studies till B.Com and join as a full-time Railway employee after graduation.

Yashas is a resident of Kumbarakoppal near Surya Bakery and the son of Ramesh and Sandhya couple. While Ramesh is a Loco Pilot himself, Sandhya is an Assistant Commissioner in Income Tax Department. Yashas studies Economics, Business Studies, Accountancy and Computer Science at Sapient College.

Long-winding trains with a distinct sound and loud whistle has always excited Yashas. Since a kid, he used to observe trains criss-crossing the tracks and even used to travel in them. His father being a Loco Pilot kindled his interest towards trains and he wrote the First Level of RRB exams when he was in Seventh Standard where he scored 82.6 percent.

There was no stopping ever since. He cleared the Second Level in Eighth Standard and scored 76.2 percent. Yashas was qualified to appear for the Third Level on 21.7.2017 and scored an impressive 99.5 percent. As he has cleared the three levels of RRB exams, Yashas has now the authority to set the question papers for level one, two and three examinations. He can prepare the question paper and submit the same to the RRB which in turn distributes the papers to the aspiring candidates.

Asked about the difficulty level of the examinations, Yashas says that multiple choice questions, basic general knowledge, IQ and 10th Standard Mathematics and Chemistry test the candidates’ intelligent levels. He has passed with “Five Star Excellency” the simulation test conducted in December 2017 by Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) on behalf of Indian Railways, Mysuru Division.

Not only this, Yashas has some hands-on experience of being a Loco Pilot for a train. He was in the team that drove Mysuru-Arasikere Passenger Train on Aug. 28 this year along with Assistant Loco Pilot Manoj, Guard Venkatesh, and Loco Foreman Ramesh that is Yashas’ father. This was his third experience of steering a train to its destination.

Yashas has also the experience of preparing the driver’s manual, caution order and repair sheets. In other words, he can say whether a train is fit for the journey or not. Yashas comes from a family that is closely associated with trains. His grandfather G. Venkatesh was a Loco Pilot in post-colonial India. After his grandfather, his father Ramesh entered the Railways. Now the family’s third generation (Yashas) is set to enter the institution.

During his free time, Yashas reads about history of Railways. “I have an undying passion for Railways and I am determined to make it big. Even my friend Dheeraj R. Nadig is an Honorary Division Officer in Railways. Rest of the time I write stories and poems and read books by Rashtrakavi K.V. Puttappa (Kuvempu) and D.R. Bendre,” he adds.