While in Kolhapur Joshi worked sincerely and enjoyed teaching, but as a result of odd hours of working and not getting the study leave, he could not give enough time to prepare for his UPSC examination. College had only four professors and they all had to take classes for different subjects. No one could really be spared. Even during the actual five days of the written examination, Joshi could get just one day of leave for each paper. It meant he always had to take an afternoon bus to Pune immediately after college hours, take an overnight train from Pune to Mumbai reaching there in wee hours of next morning, then freshen up and go to the examination hall reaching there just in time for the paper, and after writing the paper do the reverse journey in the same manner via Pune, so that he could attend college on the following day. As a result he did not do well in that examination and was full of regret. He decided that he would regard that one year as a sacrifice for his former professor but now he would leave Kolhapur job, return to Mumbai, study hard and appear again the following year for the same examination. However, though he had not done well he got enough marks to pass and was therefore called for personal interview. There he did very well and was one of the top three. For appointment in the civil services the marks of the written examination and personal interview were collectively considered. Therefore, finally he was selected for the services. However, he could not get one of the top options of Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service or Indian Police Service. He had to be content with Indian Postal Service. Before he joined, another opportunity knocked on the door. He was offered a scholarship to do research at prestigious Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in Pune. Prospect of doing some research in an area of his choice was quite tempting. But while discussing the offer further in personal meeting Dr Dhananjayrao Gadgil, a renowned economist who was also Entering the Professional World
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