Background:
His journey starts with running after train at 5:30 am in morning every day. He lived in Ghaziabad but his school was almost 35 km away from his home. It was a government school (at civil lines Delhi). Every day he used to spend 5 hours in travelling, till class 12th.
He had a dream to become a doctor but like many middle class boys it was just a dream. He got selected to BTC/JBT/ETE (TEACHER TRAINING). After training, he joined as a teacher at MCD school Delhi (September 2003), at the tender age of 19.
Then he strained his energy in the struggle for marriage – as love marriage is a taboo in Indian society, it took him almost 7 years to marry in 2008, at the age of 25. He then started thinking about taking up civil services exam.
Being a general candidate it was already late to start preparation to use all four attempts (then there were 4 attempts). He also had family responsibilities to look after. After arranging marriage for his younger brother and younger sister and after his own marriage, he thought it apt to start focussing on his dreams and needs (but it was almost March 2011 by then).
He gave one attempt without preparing well and had lost one precious attempt in 2010. He then started serious preparation for Civil Services after relieving himself from home responsibilities, with one attempt already down. Meanwhile, he had passed BA, MA, B.Ed. In addition he also did LL.B., LL.M from correspondence mode.
Inspiration for Civil Services:
During his service as a teacher in MCD School, he joined Teacher’s Association in 2009 as a nominated General Secretary (of Shahdara south zone), there he worked for teachers’ issues and this work was one of the motivations for civil services. While working with the association he came in contact with higher officials and came to know that what a bureaucrat can do with his authority. Hence, he tried his luck in 2010 Prelims.
Preparation journey:
The great leap for UPSC started in 2011, with one attempt already down, his second attempt was lost by 7 marks in prelims (CSE 2012). After losing, he felt bad but also got courage that if he came so close, maybe I could clear the exam in another attempt. He says:
“This is the dilemma of all the aspirants, it’s like YA TO ATTEMPT KAHATAM YA AADMI KHATAM HO TABHI MUKTI MILEGI.”
For his third attempt, he prepared well with the help of his wife and his friends. He was expecting score around 216 in Prelims and committed a mistake by exaggerating his score with friends and relatives. This kind of mistake is being committed by so many aspirants. In this attempt he got only 206 and cutoff was 209 (CSE 2012). He lost battle for the THIRD time with only ONE attempt left to go.
Now it was the D Day moment- final attempt with ‘Zero Mains’ experience. This time he scored 232 in the prelims (CSE 2013) and was very optimistic for the mains. But destiny had another shock for him, for the first time cutoff crossed 241 marks and it was his final attempt and hope at UPSC civil services.
Grief struck and disappointed, he came back to teaching with empty hands. Colleagues taunted him, laughed at him, and started teasing him with sarcasm. He had created a hope and hype around his civil services dream. After his failure, people around him didn’t respect him much. He was considered a non- serious aspirant because he did not even clear prelims. At that moment he thought about giving State PCS exam.
Then came the opportunity of lifetime, UPSC gave 2 extra attempts. These two attempts were a life for him. He was 31 by then.
He gave his all to this attempt and could clear not only prelims but reached upto interview level. But when the final result came, he was out of the game once again. Failure after reaching at interview level is not an easy ordeal to bear with. His Fifth attempt was over and he was a failure for 5 years in a row. (CSE 2014)
In CSE 2015, he gave another final attempt, he gathered himself for another final fight. It was do or die for him (aged 32 now). He worked hard with more focused study, proper strategy for PRELIMS, Mains and moreover for INTERVIEW, & committed to himself that “I would crack exam this time, learned from my past mistakes and worked hard”.
Finally, he was AIR 300 Rank. He proved with his result that simple middle class family boy with no formal education (all correspondence) can crack UPSC civil services.
His never say die attitude, perseverance, parents blessings and continuous effort towards his goal made him successful.
His message:
He requests his fellow aspirants that never lose your hope. Your perseverance, consistency and your passion will definitely pay for you.
