“We must never forget the lonely non-glamorous long hard work behind success”. It’s not a success story of ‘Proving’. It’s a story of ‘Improving’.
Hi Guys, Abhijit Ray secured AIR 50 in UPSC-CSE 2021. Let’s have a glimpse of his journey.
Table of Content
- About Abhijit- his UPSC journey + Hobbies
- Family and education
- UPSC Preparation strategy
- Abhijit’s Notes and Booklist
- Motivation and Inspiration
1. About Abhijit- His UPSC journey + Hobbies
| Name | Abhijit Ray |
| UPSC | 2021 |
| Rank | AIR 50 |
| No. of Attempts | 4 |
| Attempt in 2018 | couldn’t clear Prelims |
| 2019 | failed prelims again |
| 2020 | couldn’t clear Mains |
| 2021 | AIR-50. Get in Final Merit list. |
| Optional Subject | Anthropology (in all the attempts) |
| Hobby | Composing Poem & recreational cycling |
“Never overestimate yourself and don’t think that even a non-serious effort will take you through”.
Went to several villages in Karnataka as a volunteer. That is the turning point in Abhijit’s life. He decided to work for them after seeing the pictures of the village. The answer came to mind — Civil Service.
Abhijit Roy was an engineer by profession. After passing, he got a job in a first-class company in Bangalore. From the very beginning of his career, he was associated with the soil. He went to several villages in Karnataka as a volunteer for the CSR activities of the organisation he worked for. That is the turning point in life.
But how? Going to inform you that, Abhijit mentioned an incident. He said, ‘I once went to a blind school in Karnataka. I saw that there is no basic facility. But not that it is very difficult to give. It will be done if you see a little. ‘ He had several such experiences.
2. Family and education
| Father | Mukul Charan Roy, a retired health official in Darjeeling |
| Mother | Dr. Chandra Roy, a homeopathic practitioner. |
| Education | a) Completed schooling from St. Joseph’s School b) Completed Graduate Engineering from University in Delhi. |
His father and mother gave him their full support through all thick and thins. Although they were dubious about his leaving job for UPSC preparation initially, they stood beside him later on.
3. UPSC Preparation Strategy
Earlier failures taught Abhijit many priceless lessons. He shared his hard-earned experience separately for Prelims and Mains.
Preparation Strategy for UPSC Prelims:
- Practice, Practice and Practice. Abhijit couldn’t clear prelims in first 2 attempts because his practice was not sufficient.
- PYQs: It is always helpful to have a good idea of the core areas of the question topics from the previous years papers.
- Practicing Mock tests: UPSC prelims is a game of intelligent guessing rather than bookish knowledge. So, never ignore test series. Because test series can only help you to mend your mistakes.
- Time & energy mustn’t be wasted on digesting more than 1 newspaper.
- Revision & Consolidation: Revision is extremely important for all stages of the exam. Consolidating your studies is probably more important than reading new sources.
- It’s better to talk with a senior IAS mentor, if you’re novice.
Preparation Strategy for UPSC Mains:
- Guidance: Do proceed your journey under the guidance of mentors at least in initial days.
- Mains Prep: must be carried simultaneously with prelims. Answer writing practice is that skill that resolves everything.
- Studying a lot new mains stuff after prelims must be avoided. Focus only on revision and improving answers quality.
- Essay & Optional papers: These papers are game changing. In GS papers almost every candidate scores the same. So, the decider of your ALL INDIA RANK is them.
- UPSC Main is the higher bar to cross so, selecting right sources, evaluation of answers, and hand-holding support are the key to success.
4. Abhijit’s Notes + Booklist
5. Motivation and Inspiration
Abhijit is used to be a self-motivated person. Once he went to a blind school in Karnataka. The difficulty and hardship of the natives moved him deeply. It was his inspiration that he wanted to do something for their betterment.
Besides his parents, he didn’t forget to mention about his office manager. He also inspired Abhijit time to time. Abhijit received influx of congrats after getting into final merit list 2021. He cordially thanked to his teachers & mentors.
