To get into civil services, all aspirants have to be ready to traverse a difficult journey full of roadblocks and dead ends. This challenging journey often takes its toll on the candidates, and many give up on the way before reaching the destination.
Akshat Kaushal was also about to give up, but his friends motivated him to stay on the journey and he cleared the tough exam with AIR 55 in his fifth attempt and joined IPS, which was his preferred choice.
Indian Masterminds presents his story as an example of why people should not give up on a dream, because very often it is just another step away from fulfillment.
MISTAKES IN HIS FIVE-YEAR JOURNEY
Mr. Kaushal, who is an IPS officer of AGMUT cadre, started his UPSC preparation in 2012. He studied hard but couldn’t clear the prelims in his first attempt. While talking to media, he had said, “I used to go to coaching classes in the morning and immediately after coming back, I would go to the library. From 10 AM to 6 PM, you would find me in the library. I skipped lunch to avoid feeling sleepy. This continued till I gave my first prelims, but I couldn’t crack it. I was disappointed because I thought I was fully prepared. This was the time I realized that without learning the nature of the exam, one can never succeed.”
Sharing some of his other mistakes he said that one should never be over-confident about any subject. He revealed that he took Hindi very lightly which was a compulsory subject and he failed in it. “That was the first time and it never happened again. I started giving attention to it. According to me it is very important to focus on every subject equally because one mistake can take you away from your dream.”
Since he used to write for a newspaper before embarking on his preparation, he thought writing was one of his strengths. However, he scored very less in the essay paper in Mains. That was an eyeopener for him and he realised that it is not necessary that your strength is up to the mark when it comes to the criteria of UPSC.
WANTED TO GIVE UP
After the result of his fourth attempt came negative and he failed to qualify, he decided to give up his civil service dream. “I went outside to take some fresh air and plan my future. I was totally convinced to give up. It was three of my friends who kept me motivated to go on. At 7:30 pm the results came and at 9 pm I resumed my preparation. Only 17 days were left for prelims but that didn’t bother me. I continued studying. Rest is all history.”
ADVISE ON ESSAY WRITING
Offering advice to aspirants, he said, “Revision and solving mock papers are the keys to UPSC preparation. If I talk specifically about essay, then according to me, it is not the parameter to check your language. Through an essay, your reasoning, argument, and persuasive skills are analyzed. Also, while writing an essay, one should keep track of the topic while making it diversified through supporting facts.”
LISTEN TO YOUR HEART
One important thing that Mr. Kaushal learnt from his journey of five years is to listen to his heart. “My heart was always inclined towards IPS but under the influence of family and friends, I always chose IAS as my first preference. When I couldn’t make it in my fourth attempt, I decided that I will only listen to what I want. If you’re working for a thing which you don’t even want, then how will you succeed? It is very important to follow your heart.”
