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IIT topper rejected MIT offer
IIT topper rejected MIT offer, became IAS officer: Zoho's Sridhar Vembu remembers classmate
IIT topper rejected MIT offer, became IAS officer: Zoho's Sridhar Vembu remembers classmate
Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has recalled studying at IIT with Raju Narayana Swamy, a brilliant student who would go on to become an IAS officer.
Updated on: Apr 23, 2026 11:20 AM IST By Sanya Jain Share via Copy link Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has recalled studying at IIT with Raju Narayana Swamy, a brilliant student who would go on to become an IAS officer. Vembu was responding to a viral X post about Swamy’s career and his anti-corruption crusade. IAS officer Raju Narayana Swamy studied with Sridhar Vembu at IIT Madras In his post, Vembu recalled Swamy’s academic brilliance and his decision to stay back in India even as most other IIT classmates went abroad. Both Swamy and Sridhar Vembu studied computer science at IIT Madras. “Raju Narayana Swamy was my classmate in IIT Madras. He also had a very high rank in IIT JEE 1985, my recollection was AIR 10 and he came from small town Kerala and most top rankers were from the big cities so he stood out,” Vembu recalled. “Most of our classmates - including me - went abroad. He chose to stay in India,” added the founder of Zoho.Who is Raju Narayana Swamy?
Raju Narayana Swamy is an IAS officer of the Kerala cadre. He topped the UPSC civil services exam in 1991. Born into a middle-class family in Ulloor, Thiruvananthapuram in 1968, Swamy obtained a B.Tech. in Computer Science from IIT Madras in 1989. He ranked first in his class. Despite a full scholarship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he opted to stay in India and study for the UPSC exam. The viral post on X, to which Vembu responded, attributed this decision to Swamy’s urge to serve the people of his country. “He had a computer science degree from IIT Madras. MIT offered him a scholarship. He turned it down. He said the poorest Indians had paid for his IIT education through their taxes. He owed them something back,” the post said. Swamy topped the notoriously difficult UPSC examination and joined the Kerala Cadre in 1991.Anti-corruption crusade
Raju Narayana Swamy’s career is marked by several transfers, allegedly because of his refusal to turn a blind eye towards corruption. A post on the IIT Kanpur website reads: “Dr. Raju Narayana Swamy is an IAS officer highly known for his staunch stand against corruption. His relentless fight against illegal land dealings, real-estate businessmen and political bureaucrats comes from his 'stubborn' nature, as he likes to put it, when things turn 'unjustifiable'. His career may be marked with political controversies, but he has found immense support from the common man.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sanya Jain Sanya Jain is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times Digital. She has nearly a decade of experience in covering offbeat stories that speak to the everyday experience - from viral videos to human interest copies that spark conversation. Her interests stretch across business, pop culture, social media trends, entertainment and global affairs. Before joining Hindustan Times, Sanya spent two years with Moneycontrol and five years with NDTV. She holds an undergraduate degree in English literature from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and a master’s in journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications, Mumbai. Sanya has a sharp eye for spotting emerging trends and looking for newsworthy angles to elevate viral posts into meaningful narratives. She was the first one, for example, to cover Narayana Murthy’s remark on 70-hour work weeks that sparked a national conversation. She is equally at ease writing about business leaders as about the common man, about issues of national importance and memes that amuse social media. Sanya enjoys speaking with content creators, newsmakers and entrepreneurs to transform everyday moments into engaging, slice-of-life stories that resonate with readers. When she is not working, Sanya can be found curled up with a good book. Born and raised in Lucknow, she has spent the last several years in Delhi. She is deeply interested in animal welfare and now spends a lot of her time running after her destructive orange cat.Read More Ias Officer Massachusetts Get Latest Updates on Trending News Viral News, Video, Photos and Weather Updates of India and around the world News/Trending/IIT Topper Rejected MIT Offer, Became IAS Officer: Zoho's Sridhar Vembu Remembers Classmate See LessZoho founder Sridhar Vembu has recalled studying at IIT with Raju Narayana Swamy, a brilliant student who would go on to become an IAS officer. Vembu was responding to a viral X post about Swamy’s career and his anti-corruption crusade.
In his post, Vembu recalled Swamy’s academic brilliance and his decision to stay back in India even as most other IIT classmates went abroad. Both Swamy and Sridhar Vembu studied computer science at IIT Madras.
“Raju Narayana Swamy was my classmate in IIT Madras. He also had a very high rank in IIT JEE 1985, my recollection was AIR 10 and he came from small town Kerala and most top rankers were from the big cities so he stood out,” Vembu recalled.
“Most of our classmates - including me - went abroad. He chose to stay in India,” added the founder of Zoho.
Born into a middle-class family in Ulloor, Thiruvananthapuram in 1968, Swamy obtained a B.Tech. in Computer Science from IIT Madras in 1989. He ranked first in his class.
Despite a full scholarship from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he opted to stay in India and study for the UPSC exam.
The viral post on X, to which Vembu responded, attributed this decision to Swamy’s urge to serve the people of his country. “He had a computer science degree from IIT Madras. MIT offered him a scholarship. He turned it down. He said the poorest Indians had paid for his IIT education through their taxes. He owed them something back,” the post said.
Swamy topped the notoriously difficult UPSC examination and joined the Kerala Cadre in 1991.
A post on the IIT Kanpur website reads: “Dr. Raju Narayana Swamy is an IAS officer highly known for his staunch stand against corruption. His relentless fight against illegal land dealings, real-estate businessmen and political bureaucrats comes from his 'stubborn' nature, as he likes to put it, when things turn 'unjustifiable'. His career may be marked with political controversies, but he has found immense support from the common man.”
Source: HindustanTimes
Related Posts: Raju Narayana Swamy,IAS officer,UPSC civil services exam,IIT Madras,anti-corruption crusade,Sridhar Vembu
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