IRS officer Avadh Kishor Pawar, hailing from Chhindwara district in Madhya Pradesh, always dreamt of becoming somebody that everybody looks up to, one day. Since he was young, he used to see various officers coming into town and wished he could be like them someday. As he grew up, the feeling of stability and power that comes gift-wrapped with the services of an officer mesmerized him! But the intimidating aura surround civil service exams, portraying them as the most difficult in India, putt him off.
“No one in my town had ever been able to clear UPSC exams before. It was way out of everyone’s league. I saw a lot of people fail, right before my eyes, which made me think that it’s not my cup of tea. I wouldn’t be able to clear something as tough as UPSC examinations!” Avadh told The Indian Masterminds
That little ray of motivation:
Avadh had pursued engineering and was working in a well-paid job at Godrej, Mumbai. It was his usual night in the office and as he didn’t have much work to do that day, he started reading articles of people who had cleared UPSC that year, when he came across the article that changed his life. There, right in-front of him, was the story of how a rickshaw puller’s son cleared UPSC and had now received the post of an IAS officer, thus pulling his family out of misery and shaping a stable life!
“I was always under the mindset that only extremely educated and well developed people are able to clear UPSC but when I read that people coming from such small backgrounds are also able to clear it, without having many resources to them, I got the push that I needed. I realized that if they can do it, why can’t I?” says Avadh. “I was still a little skeptical though, if I’d be able to clear it or not, but I knew that at least, I have to give it a shot!” he added with a little chuckle.
Challenges faced after saying goodbye to his job:
Avadh had made up his mind to get into Civil Services now. And to prepare without any hindrance, it was necessary to bid farewell to his well-paying job at Godrej. But saying good-bye to a stable life and income has its own downhill. Talking of the challenges that he had to face, he says “I belong to a middle class family and my father had spent most of his money in educating me and making me an engineer. I had a stable job and the money income was good, so when I told him of my decision to quit and prepare for civil services, he was unwilling to let me do so. His concerns were genuine, though. I had to try hard and convince him.”
The second challenge that he was facing was of the uncertainties that UPSC brings along with it. “One can never be sure if he would be able to clear the exams or not. I had known people who had failed even after multiple attempts. It was a great risk to leave a stable job and sit at home to prepare, but I guess, I had to do it!”, Avadh told us.
And the biggest obstacle he had to face was of funding. “My father was a teacher and it was only after the 6th pay commission that his salary increased, but around 2005-2010 teachers didn’t have a big pay scale. He had no savings as he had spent almost all his money into educating me. So I definitely couldn’t ask him for more. I had to use up all my savings that I had from working in Godrej to fund myself.”
Hailing from a Hindi medium background, he even found it difficult to get study material as most of them were available in English. “I lost a lot of time in finding quality books and study material for preparing. Moreover clearing Mains every time but getting rejected out of interview level was another pain.” he added.
Never the one to give up once making up his mind, Avadah attempt UPSC four times- but to no avail. He finally made it in his fifth attempt, in 2015, scoring All India Rank of 657.
Preparation Strategy:
Avadh told us that compared to aspirants from U.P. and Bihar, he didn’t have much links. And in order to know more about the process, he used to read interviews of UPSC toppers. He used to make his preparation strategy based on theirs. He even followed the preaching of his coaching teachers, religiously. “The problem is if one doesn’t get the right kind of guidance from the beginning, his initial 2 or 3 attempts go in vain, just like that! I had to face it too. The only plus point I had was that I always managed to reach interview level somehow, and therefore I was able to make a strong set of friends there. I stayed with these friends and they guided me throughout. Their continuous motivation helped me a lot, and for people who couldn’t find proper coaching, online portals like Insights, Vision IAS and mrunal.org provided appropriate supplements to study from.”, he exclaimed.
A message for today’s youth:
Avadh says that patience should be your priority! “Most of the times youngsters coming from rural backgrounds are overridden by aspirants hailing from big, developed cities. It’s not your background that gets you into civil services, but your hard work and patience. Never lose hope! Keep a strong foundation, and keep putting in efforts. You are in a line with hundreds of people and you have to prove that you’re the best. Buy good books, make good friends who can motivate you and guide you.” He adds, “Smart and hard work is the key. Keep your calm and be patient and you will get through this one day!”
Well, that’s certainly the way to go.
