Karishma Nair hails from Palakkad district of Kerala. She aced UPSC Civil Services Examination 2020 with AIR 14. This was her second attempt. She had made it till the interview round in her first attempt but couldn’t make it to the final list. Finally, hard work and confidence made her long-cherished goal of becoming a bureaucrat come true in her next attempt.
Although Karishma is from Kerala, she has spent most of her life in Mumbai. She completed her graduation in Forensic Science from the Institute of Forensic Science under Mumbai University.
PREPARATION STRATEGY
In her second attempt, Karishma didn’t leave any stone unturned in her preparation. “In my second attempt, I didn’t leave any of the topics,” she says.
She focused on reading newspapers daily, watched TV news channels, and studied the syllabus pattern thoroughly. “When you start preparing, don’t forget to take advantage of any opportunity to improve your general knowledge. Read newspapers daily to improve language skills and knowledge,” says Karishma.
OPTIONAL SUBJECT
Karishma’s optional subject was Public Administration. According to her, one must choose their optional subject after analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. “Don’t opt for optional subject just because it had been the choice of most toppers,” she says.
MYTHS AND RUMOURS
Karishma thinks that there are many myths and rumours going around about UPSC. According to her, some consider coaching to be the only path of achieving success in UPSC while others think that only aspirants with affluent background can crack civil services examination. She clears these misconceptions with friendly advice: “If you are preparing honestly and working hard, then no one can stop you from achieving your goal. Do not listen to people’s talks during your preparation and keep your focus only on your studies.”
MESSAGE FOR ASPIRANTS
Karishma believes in hard work, proper strategy, limited books, maximum revision, answer writing practice, and positive attitude to clear UPSC CSE exam.
“If people are saying to limit your resources, that doesn’t mean you limit your preparation, too. And do not stick to NCERT only, visit government websites also, and do value addition to your preparation,” she advised.
