Coming from a tribal community, Ajmera Sanketh has been exposed to a lot of deprivation since his childhood, due to which he always wanted to give back to society. The boy from the Lambadi/Banjara community cracked UPSC CSE 2022 with All India Rank 35.
Hailing from Hyderabad, Telangana, Sanketh completed his graduation in the year 2017 in B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi. The love for research from the very beginning led Sanketh go for a job in Research and Development in Japan in the year 2018.
But that was not what Sanketh was looking for. Although he was working in Japan, he wasn’t satisfied with the work. So he decided to start preparing for the civil services examination. Meanwhile, he also completed his MS research in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Delhi In 2021.
ONLY CHILD BRINGS GLORY
He is the only child of his parents. Sanketh’s mother is a Project Manager in ISRO. His father is a Deputy Director of Horticulture in the Telangana state. “My parents were elated and felt really proud that their only child is about to become an IAS officer,” said Sanketh in an exclusive conservation with Indian Masterminds.
GREAT CLARITY SAW HIM THROUGH
Sanketh was very clear with his preparation strategies right from the beginning. At every stage of the preparation, he had clarity of what exactly he has to study and what not to study. This helped him immensely and led him to get AIR-35 in the tough exam.
He shared that he used to plan strategies for every month, every week and every day. “I used to fine tune my preparation based on my test scores and adjust my strategy accordingly,” Sanketh said.
For the interview round, he created detailed notes of each keyword in his Detailed Application Form (DAF). He used to speak in front of the mirror and also took help of a friend who used to take mock sessions almost every day until the day of the interview.
“During my personality test, the board members asked me about three national level policy changes, which was a difficult, open-ended question. Half of my interview revolved around my answers to this question,” he shared with Indian Masterminds.
Having an Engineering background, Sanketh chose Mathematics as his optional subject. He says that he always loved solving Maths problems. However, other reasons for choosing the subject was the advantages of high scoring potential, ample availability of resources, etc.
“As a researcher, I wish to implement technical solutions to a lot of socio-economic platforms,” he said.
NEVER COMPROMISED ON MENTAL HEALTH
All along his CSE journey, Sanketh never compromised on his mental health. “Taking breaks whenever there was a mind block, pursuing hobbies like reading, and consuming pop culture went hand in hand with my preparation,” he said.
Sharing some wise tips for aspirants, he urges them to give priority to their mental health along with their preparation. Further, he advises them to know what not to study. He says that the UPSC is looking for generalists and not specificists at this stage, so they should tune their preparation accordingly.
Finally, Revise, Replicate, Take Feedback and Repeat. “This is the only necessary and sufficient way to be ahead of the race,” he said in conclusion.
