Aashna Chaudhary believes that there is no shortcut to success, referring to some UPSC CSE toppers and aspirants who have spoken about ‘smart work’ rather than ‘hard work’, as if these are two totally different things. According to her, these are not opposite terms and aspirants shouldn’t get confused about it. Instead, they should understand that to crack an exam like the CSE, they must do the required hard work and do it smartly.
Ms. Chaudhary cracked UPSC CSE 2022 with AIR 116 and has been allocated Indian Police Service. She had failed to clear Prelims in two previous attempts, and her experiences with failures made her realise that there is no substitute to hard work.
PREPARED FOR UPSC AND MASTERS TOGETHER
Born in Pilkhuwa, Uttar Pradesh, Ms. Chaudhary considers her family to be progressive. Speaking to Indian Masterminds, she said, “Not only did they celebrate my birth but made sure I got all the comforts and opportunities in life.”
Her father is a professor and there were many PhDs in her family, so the habit of reading books was inculcated in her from a very early age. She was sent to St. Mary’s School in Udaipur and Delhi Public School, Ghaziabad, for her studies. After scoring good marks in the 12th boards, she took admission in Lady Shri Ram College for graduation and then enrolled in South Asian University for Masters in International Studies.
When the results for UPSC CSE 2022 came, she was in her university writing her exams. “My friend called me to tell me about the result and I couldn’t believe it. I was hoping to get through but wasn’t expecting the rank I got. I am happy that my UPSC and Masters journeys got completed on the same day,” she said.
WRESTLING WITH DOUBTS AFTER FAILURES
In the gap year, she tried to get into corporate world, but couldn’t. She reached till the final round, but couldn’t get the job. So, she decided to quit trying for a job and instead start preparing for UPSC CSE. “I had decided to appear for civil services exam much earlier but it took a backseat for various reasons. It was a conscious decision to go for the UPSC exam as many in my family are in academics and even though I had the same interest, I wanted to do something different,” said Ms. Chaudhary.
After starting her preparation in 2019, she gave her attempt in 2020 but couldn’t score much. And she started questioning her decision, whether she was doing the right thing or not, and whether she was cut out for this exam or not. These thoughts bothered her for few days, but she got a grip on herself and decided to try again with a different strategy.
She realised that she was more focused on knowledge acquisition in the first attempt and did not practice much. “In the exam hall, I realized my lack of practice. I couldn’t use the elimination technique for many questions,” she said. For the next attempt, she limited her sources and focussed more on solving mock papers in a simulating environment like the examination. This helped her to manage time and stress in the exam.
NO SUBSTITUTE FOR NEWSPAPERS
In 2021, she was just 2.75 marks behind the cut off. She took it as an improvement and started again. This time, she focused on current affairs more. She said, “I realized that apart from static portion, current affairs is very important. Not only for Pre but for Mains and Interview as well.” She started reading three newspapers daily, making notes, and also referring to the current affairs compilation. Finally, in the third attempt, she got through all the rounds.
She started her preparation with studying the syllabus, identifying the source, and classifying the content. She calls it a very crude strategy which can be followed by anyone. She advises the aspirants to take an integrated approach for the exam. “Don’t categorise your preparation for Pre, Mains and Interview separately. Also, give equal importance to current affairs and static syllabus,” she said.
For those who mostly depend on current affairs magazines, she advises to read newspapers daily as there is no substitute for that. She also suggests that aspirants should start with the optional subject and follow some hobby to manage stress. She said, “UPSC CSE preparation can be a long journey and failures can increase your stress. You have to prepare yourself for a long haul and stay motivated, and a hobby can be a good stress-buster.”
