“Don’t dream of becoming something. Dream what you will do after becoming it.”
That one line, heard years ago in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat, quietly changed the course of a teenager’s life in Indore.
Today, that teenager is Nikit Singh, who has secured All India Rank 491 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2025, a journey built not in Delhi’s crowded coaching lanes, but entirely in his hometown, with limited resources, repeated revisions, and a mindset shaped by purpose.
For Nikit, this was his second attempt and his first interview. In his first attempt, he had cleared prelims and even written mains, but the interview stage remained out of reach. That failure stayed with him.
“I was devastated when I couldn’t clear mains. There was very little time to recover and start again,” he shared in an exclusive conversation with Indian Masterminds.
But that setback became the turning point.
Born and raised in Indore, Nikit comes from a simple family. His father works as a mechanic, while his mother is a homemaker. Unlike many aspirants who migrate to Delhi for preparation, Nikit stayed rooted.
“I’ve studied in Indore only. I had never been to Delhi except for the personality test,” he says.
That detail matters because his journey breaks one of the biggest myths surrounding UPSC: that success is tied to geography.
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A THOUGHT IN CLASS 10 THAT STAYED FOR YEARS
Nikit traces his civil services dream back to Class 10, when he listened to Mann Ki Baat. The message struck him deeply.
“Don’t dream of becoming something. Dream what you would do if you became that person.”
For him, that changed the focus from ambition to impact. Later, during his preparation years in 2022–23, another figure sharpened that vision: S. Jaishankar.
Nikit found himself drawn to Jaishankar’s diplomatic clarity and global understanding. That’s when he decided he wanted to join the Indian Foreign Service.
WHY SOCIOLOGY? TO UNDERSTAND INDIA BETTER
Choosing an optional subject is often one of the toughest calls for aspirants. Nikit was torn between Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) and Sociology.
He eventually chose Sociology. His reason was deeply personal.
“I wanted to understand grassroots realities like gender disparity, casteism, communalism.”
For Nikit, the subject was not just about marks. It was about understanding India beyond books. That approach shaped his preparation.
HIS UPSC STRATEGY
At a time when aspirants are buried under endless PDFs, coaching modules, and Telegram notes, Nikit’s approach was surprisingly simple.
For prelims, his focus remained heavily on static subjects. Current affairs, he says, can be managed through one trusted source.
“There is no need for classes or too many materials.”
For mains, he believes answer-writing changes everything.
“Writing as much as we can is the golden strategy.”
What makes his preparation style stand out is how he used technology. Instead of depending entirely on expensive test series, Nikit used AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini to compare his answers with toppers’ copies.
He would write answers, study toppers’ responses, and ask AI to identify gaps.
“That tells us where we are lagging and where we could do better.”
It’s a practical, modern approach, blending old-school discipline with new-age tools.
THE INTERVIEW THAT TESTED MORE THAN KNOWLEDGE
UPSC interviews often go beyond facts. Nikit’s was no different. One of the most unusual questions asked was about something as basic as the sequence of alphabets.
How did B come after A? Why does C follow B? It sounded random, but he understood what the board was doing.
“They wanted to see if I could handle pressure,” he told Indian Masterminds.
But the more fascinating part of his interview came from something unexpected: his own book. Yes, while preparing for UPSC, Nikit also wrote a book titled ‘Council of the Beast.’
That instantly became a major discussion point in his interview.
THE BOOK THAT TURNED ANIMALS INTO GLOBAL POWERS
Written around one-and-a-half years ago, Council of the Beast is a political allegory. Through animals inside a zoo, Nikit tries to mirror global institutions like the United Nations, Asian Development Bank, World Bank, and WTO.
The story begins with animals overthrowing the zookeeper, only to later collapse into internal divisions and power struggles.
“There is a criticism in it,” Nikit explains. “Global organizations often start on a good note but fail because of internal differences or the supremacy of a few countries.”
That level of conceptual thinking made his interview memorable. Interestingly, the book isn’t available online. Nikit has chosen to sell it only through offline bookstores in Delhi and Indore.
“I want to promote paperback editions rather than online editions.”
A MONKEY ATTACK BEFORE GS PAPERS
Every UPSC journey has its moments of chaos. Nikit’s came in a way few can imagine.
Just before one of his General Studies papers, after completing GS-1 and heading toward the next paper, he was attacked by a group of monkeys.
“They beat me from nowhere.”
He entered the exam hall injured, his hands covered in blood. Yet he wrote the paper. That moment captures the unpredictability of the UPSC journey, where preparation meets sudden, harsh reality.
But for Nikit, the story did not end there. This time, he secured his rank. He got the service he wanted. And perhaps more importantly, he proved his own point: that UPSC can be cracked from home, with fewer books, repeated revisions, and clarity of purpose.
His advice to aspirants is blunt and refreshing:
“Go back to the 1980s and 1990s. Fewer sources, standard books, and revise them twenty-five to twenty-six times.”
In a time of information overload, Nikit Singh’s story is a reminder that success is not always about doing more. Sometimes, it’s about doing less, but doing it deeply.
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