The road to success is not easy. Life places many obstacles on an individual’s path to success. Sometimes these obstacles come in the form of irreparable losses that are difficult to bear and the one who learns to overcome them and emerge victorious, is the one that the world looks up to and salutes.
Similar is the story of IAS officer Divyanshu Nigam who scored AIR-44 in UPSC CSE 2020 while he was healing from the biggest loss of his life.
LOSING HIS FATHER TO COVID
Covid19 has been the biggest catastrophe that the world has faced in recent years. Millions of people have lost their lives to this deadly virus making it extremely scary for all. And so was 25-year-old Divyanshu when he learnt that his father had caught the infection. He was extremely scared.
Lucknow-based Divyanshu’s UPSC CSE 2020 interview preparation was in full swing during that time. It was the summer of June 2020 and his CSE interview was in another three months, when unfortunately, his father succumbed to the deadly virus.
It was an extremely difficult time for the young aspirant and his family, but Divyanshu practised restraint and decided that he would focus on preparing for the interview. In fact, adversity made him stronger, and he dived into his preparation with a newfound, bigger motivation – to make his father, IFS officer Late SK Nigam, proud of him. It worked and he cleared the interview.
CLEARED IN THIRD ATTEMPT
Chemical Engineer Divyanshu was not new to UPSC pressure, with this being his third attempt. He had cleared the prelims on two previous attempts but couldn’t advance further.
However, this time, with the blessings of his father, he did not just reach the Mains and Interview levels but also cleared them and got an outstanding rank of 44!
UPSC PREPARATION
For the aspirants who are planning to crack the UPSC examination in future, Divyanshu shared several tips. He advised aspirants to study continuously for about eight hours a day, but only the UPSC syllabus, as anything extra would not be of use on the D-day.
He also asked the candidates to keep themselves motivated and focus on Main exams more than the Prelims exam. He also advised them to practise writing a lot as they will have to write so much during the exams.
Divyanshu considered his father as his idol and believes that his father must be watching over him and is very proud of him today.
