For tainted Punjab Public Service Commission chief Ravinderpal Singh Sidhu, it was a long road to power from the classrooms of Lawrence School, Sanawar, to the corridors of PPSC.
A student of St. Stephen's College, New Delhi, Sidhu taught briefly at Lawrence School, Sanawar, near Kasauli (Himachal Pradesh) while preparing for the Civil Services examination.
When he could not make it to the Civil Services, he joined Indian Express, Chandigarh, as a sub-editor from where he moved to The Tribune as a staff reporter.
His colleagues remember him as an arrogant, self-righteous individual who did not have many friends. Not surprisingly, not many met him in police custody or in jail. Sidhu always had a craving for the good things in life.
He had a lust for power and clout. As a journalist, he went out of his way to get the Number 1 allotted for his car - usually allotted to senior government officials.
He did some good stories and was even selected for a fellowship in the United States.
While covering the commerce and business beat, he courted controversy as he started dabbling in stocks and shares.
Later, he joined The Hindu as a Special Correspondent and became close to the then Punjab Chief Minister, Harcharan Singh Brar. It was Brar who appointed him chairman of the PPSC.
By a special dispensation, the government provided him a house in Chandigarh, though the PPSC office is located in Patiala.
Married to a professor in the Punjab
University, Chandigarh, Sidhu has a daughter from the marriage. However,
family sources said his relations with his wife are estranged and they
are living separately.