Once a wise man said that, ‘You will not fulfill your purpose in life without stepping outside your comfort zone.’ Lucknow’s Aditya Srivastava assimilated this thought while doing his job in world’s second largest investment bank. He came out of his comfort zone and took the risk that can even change his life forever. If one want something truly, universe too conspires to make it happen. Aditya left his well paid MNC job in awe of civil services. And now he cracked UPSC CSE-2022 with AIR-236 in his second attempt.
This journey was full of mistakes and tough decisions, but Aditya’s dedication for his goal was permanent.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, Mr Aditya said, “I would say that there is a lot to be learned in this journey. Some mistakes also happened, like when I got failed in my first prelims, life taught a lesson. Leaving job for preparation was really a tough decision for me.”
JOURNEY SO FAR
Aditya’s father is assistant audit officer in CAG, while his mother is homemaker. His father was his motivation behind his journey.
He did his primary schooling from CMS, Lucknow. Then, he did his graduation (B.Tech) in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur in 2019.
After that he joined Goldman Sachs, an American Investment Bank in Bengaluru. He worked there for 15 months only. He quit the job in 2020 and started preparing for UPSC CSE.
UPSC
His whole preparation took place in Lucknow. He never attends any coaching barring test series and mock interview. His strategy centred around solving previous years question papers (PYQ’S) and writing as many test papers as possible for the mains. His optional was electrical engineering.
He studied last year’s papers and did his preparation according to that for prelims and mains both. He made notes for every topic of the syllabus.
Accepting his mistakes, he said, “In my first attempt I was collecting information only. I did not analyze PYQ’S that how UPSC designs the statement to test one’s analytical skills. How UPSC mixes wrong statements with correct ones to confuse candidates and how one should analyze that? I was doing more hard work rather than smart work. This is what I learnt from first attempt.”
INTERVIEW
His interview was a mixture of DAF and current affairs.He was asked questions about his hobbies, Dinosaurs and evolutionary theories. “What does he know about the DNA of Dinosaurs found sometime ago and what is its significance?”
Some surprising questions were also asked like does he believe in ghost. “This was interesting question which I replied that yes, I believe. Then they asked why? I said that I believe in God who is the positive energy that guides us towards light. And we have seen that with positive energy there is high probability of presence of negative energy too. So I believe in negative energy as well.”
There was question on International relations too. “How India did benefit by Saudi Arab and Iran’s deal?”
MESSAGE FOR ASPIRANTS
Giving suggestions to every aspirant, Mr Aditya said, “Following your nose every time is not good. Take suggestions from seniors and expert. Do smart work than hard work. Consider PYQ’S your God in this preparation. Make your strategy according to that and analyze your syllabus well.”
