The saying, ‘Failure is not the opposite of success, it is part of success’, seems to fit the journey of IAS officer Vijay Wardhan perfectly. While some people get disheartened after failing in one or two exams, this boy from Sirsa, Haryana, didn’t lose hope even after failing in 35 different exams.
The continuous rejection only motivated him further to learn from his mistakes, get up and start again. This is the reason why he first got selected in UPSC CSE as an IPS officer but now he is training as an IAS officer. Indian Masterminds presents the incredible story of 35 failures and then the astonishing success in UPSC of this officer from Haryana.
WHY DESTINY TESTING ME?
Mr. Vijay Wardhan, who is a graduate from Electronics and Communication Engineering, started his UPSC CSE preparation in 2013. After failing in 4 attempts, he finally got selected as an IPS officer in 2019. However, he appeared in the next year exams again in the quest for IAS and secured a rank that enabled him to do so.
In the six years of preparation for UPSC, he didn’t only focus on clearing the CSE but also gave other competitive exams of Grade A and B. During a video interview to media, he said, “I failed 35 exams. They include states PCS of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Besides this, I failed SSC CGL three times and exams for LIC, ISRO, CAPF and others, too. The continuous failures made me wonder why destiny was testing me only as I had qualified Mains of more than 95% of my exams and was left out of selection even after coming in the reserve list. One thing was clear in my head though, that one day my struggles will end as failure is just a stepping stone to success.”
STOP THE VICTIMISATION
Mr. Wardhan has seen it all in his journey. How people gave up and how they shifted blame for their failures. “When you fail, it is a natural tendency to look for external factors. We blame the examination pattern or the question. Sometimes we make excuses of personal problems and health. We only do this to run away from our own guilt of not doing well,” said the IAS officer.
To all senior aspirants who have given more than two attempts, Mr. Wardhan advised that there is “no scope for victimisation but only Improvisation in UPSC”. He emphasizes that every aspirant should only focus on controlling the controllable, rest doesn’t matter at all.
CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT
After many failures, a person starts getting advises from everyone. It seems everybody else, except him, knows what he is doing wrong. Citing an example, the officer said that his brother’s wedding was on the same day when the result of his fourth attempt was going to come out. His entire family was waiting for a double dose of happiness. They made lot of preparation, but he was again left out from the final list of selection. Everybody went silent.
“I was also disappointed a little, but I thought let’s enjoy the wedding as it is a one-time affair. After this, a lot of people advised me to not give the next pre as only one month was left. But I had made a list for the preparation. I decided that if I complete the list before the pre, I will appear again. I did that and result is in front of you.”
He said that nobody knows you better than yourself. So, one should always have trust on his own ability and decision-making power. Advising senior aspirants especially, he said, “You can’t repeat the same process you’re following. You need to change a bit. Start making fresh notes because the ones you have are irrelevant now. Also, you must change your environment of study. For instance, if you’re doing self-study at home, you should go to a library. If you’re in Delhi, you should go to your home. Changing of place and environment gives you a fresh perspective.”
