At 14, Pankaj Kamboj was not thinking about becoming a government officer. He was in Class 9, helping his mother and five elder sisters keep the family going after his father’s sudden death.
His family had always depended on farming. Their village, Padampur, lies close to the Uttar Pradesh-Uttarakhand border. There was no proper school in the village, so Pankaj travelled to Uttarakhand for his education.
Then, in 2016, life changed overnight.
His father died of a sudden heart attack. The family of six children was left with a small piece of land and a difficult question: how would they survive and educate their children? For the next few years, farming was not just a family occupation. It was their means of survival.
Today, Pankaj has cleared the UPSC CAPF (Assistant Commandant) examination and is set to join as an Assistant Commandant. He has also cleared the CDS examination four times out of four attempts and the AFCAT examination four times out of four attempts. But behind these successes is a journey filled with failures, financial pressure and repeated uncertainty.
WHEN FARMING BECAME THE FAMILY’S SUPPORT
After his father’s death, Pankaj and his mother continued farming with his five elder sisters. The family had around four acres of land. Two acres were mainly used to grow food for the family. Whatever remained was saved for education and other needs. The other part of the land was given on a rent to generate some income.
The family was already trying to become financially independent. Two of Pankaj’s elder sisters eventually joined the police as constables. His sisters also supported themselves through tuition and other work. For Pankaj, however, education became the family’s biggest investment. His mother, who had never attended school, wanted something different for her youngest child.
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She planted a dream in him that seemed much bigger than the circumstances around them. “My greatest motivation has always been my mother. She always told me that I had not come into this world without a purpose. She wanted me to become something.”
That belief stayed with him.
FROM A VILLAGE WITH LITTLE KNOWLEDGE OF UPSC
Pankaj’s village had very little exposure to competitive examinations. Exams such as CAPF, CDS, AFCAT, CSE and CGL were largely unknown in his surroundings. He came to know about them only after entering college.
He completed his graduation from Delhi University in 2023 and emerged as the topper of his batch. It was during his college years that he began to understand the world of government examinations and the opportunities available to him.
In 2021, he moved to Delhi from his village. Delhi opened a completely new world for him. It also brought a new challenge. He had to prepare for highly competitive examinations without the financial comfort of expensive coaching.
Pankaj chose to depend largely on himself. He searched the internet, collected study material and prepared his own notes. Except for CAPF interview coaching and a recent online CSE module, he did not take regular coaching.
FAILURE DID NOT END THE JOURNEY
Pankaj’s UPSC Civil Services journey did not begin with success. His first three attempts at the Civil Services Preliminary Examination did not work out. The Civil Services Aptitude Test, or CSAT, became a major hurdle.
Yet, at the same time, he was finding success in defence-related examinations. He cleared CDS four times in four attempts. He also cleared AFCAT four times in four attempts. But clearing the written examination was not always enough.
The Services Selection Board process brought its own disappointments. Pankaj faced setbacks, including conference-outs. He would spend days going through the demanding SSB process, only to return without selection. Then another examination would arrive. He would start again. The cycle continued for years.
“Whenever I got a conference-out in SSB, the CDS examination would come next. Then I would clear CDS and get another hope. So, for the last three-four years, I kept telling myself that something would work out.”
That hope became his fuel.
WHEN EVERY FAILURE BROUGHT ANOTHER CHANCE
There were moments when giving up seemed easier. Financial difficulties made preparation harder. There were also expectations from home and questions from people around him. At times, even relatives asked him to return to the village if he could not succeed.
For someone who had already spent years away from home, these words could have been crushing. But Pankaj found strength in his mother’s faith and in his own belief that he would eventually make it. He also carried another motivation. He wanted to become the first person from his region to clear the UPSC examination.
His family had struggled to give him an education. He did not want that sacrifice to end without achieving the dream they had built together.
FOUR YEARS AWAY FROM HOME
Pankaj has spent much of the last few years in Delhi, away from his village and family. The distance was difficult, but it also gave him the freedom to focus on his goal. He had left farming completely in 2020, although he later continued it as a hobby. His life had moved from fields and family responsibilities to books, online resources, examination forms and long hours of preparation.
Yet the village remained a part of his motivation. He knew where he had come from. He remembered the years when farming supported his education. He remembered his father’s death. He remembered his mother encouraging him despite having never attended school herself.
CAPF SUCCESS, BUT THE DREAM IS NOT OVER
Clearing CAPF Assistant Commandant has given Pankaj a major achievement. It has also given him a secure career in public service. But it has not ended his Civil Services journey. At the time of the interview, he was preparing for the UPSC CSE Mains after clearing the Preliminary Examination on his fourth attempt.
The pressure may have changed, but the goal remains. For Pankaj, success is not simply about clearing an examination. It is about completing a journey that began in a small farming family where government examinations were barely known. A boy who once worked in the fields after losing his father now stands at the beginning of a career in uniform.
His journey is a reminder that failure does not always mean moving backwards. Sometimes, it simply means finding another road forward.
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