Preparing for and clearing the UPSC examination is not an easy deal. It takes true strength, courage, and determination to crack the nation’s toughest exam – rightfully called, ‘the mother of all exams.’
Preparing for the exam is tough as it is, but if you belong to a family which does not have strong finances and needs to perform duties just to keep your family’s stomach filled, it becomes all the more difficult!
However, we have come across numerous examples when people have not given up because of their poor financial conditions, and in fact, have worked even harder to change their and their family’s future and live a life of respect and comfort. Today, Indian Masterminds brings you another example of this kind. This is the story of an Indian Administrative Service officer, Ms. Preeti Hooda, daughter of a bus driver, who did not let her financial condition come in the way of achieving her dream.
BRILLIANT STUDENT SINCE YOUNG
Since her school days, Preeti was exceptionally intelligent and had topped her class numerous times. She scored 77% in her class 10th examination and 87% in 12 th. Due to a not so strong financial condition, her family wanted her to do away with her studies and settle down in life. But she convinced them to let her study further by showing good results again and again.
She took admission to Laxmi Bai College in Delhi and graduated with 76% marks in Hindi subject. Her thirst for studying did not just stop there. She even pursued Ph.D. in Hindi from the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
NOT LETTING ATROCITIES DIVERT HER
Hailing from the small town of Bahadurgarh in Haryana, Ms. Hooda’s father drove the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses for a living. He worked day and night; driving busses from one place to another, but his income was meager.
Ms. Hooda kept her requirements to the lowest and studied hard for the examination. She focused on her studies entirely and never let anything sway her away from it. She started preparing for her UPSC exam alongside her Ph.D.
PREPARING FOR THE D-DAY
Ms. Hooda strategized her preparation. She selected Hindi as her medium as well as her optional subject. Sharing her strategy, she stated that she did not read a hundred books at a time but read one book a hundred times so that the concept settles down clearly in her head.
She gave her exam and was eagerly waiting for the result, but was disappointed when she came to know that she did not clear it.
THE SECOND ATTEMPT
After failing one time, her will and motivation to clear the exam increased further. This time, she was aware of the mistakes that she had made previously and set on to correct them. Her first attempt already gave her an idea of the kind of questions that come and how to answer them in order to ace the exam.
She studied according to the syllabus and went on to give another attempt at cracking the exam. This time she was confident about her answers and her happiness knew no bounds when she saw the result. She had cracked the Civil Service Examination 2017 with an All India Rank of 288!
A PROUD FATHER
After seeing her UPSC result, her father was the first person that Ms. Hooda called to give the happy news. According to her, he was driving his bus when she had called him to tell her about her result and that she is now officially an Indian Administrative Service officer.
Her father’s happiness crossed cloud 9 and he praised her for the achievement, which was a rare spectacle in itself. “When the UPSC result came, I called my father. At that time, he was driving the bus. After hearing the result, my father said to me: – ‘Shabaash beta’ (Well done, my child). My father never congratulated me before, so this brought tears in my eyes” said Ms. Hooda.
RELAX WHILE PREPARING
Talking about the stressful preparation that aspirants usually do, Ms. Hooda stated that ‘`all work and no play makes jack a dull boy.” She expressed how important it is to keep taking breaks in between studies, so one doesn’t lose his/her sanity.
“You should have fun along with the preparation. Give yourself time to relax by watching movies,” she remarked. She believes that studying continuously for hours at stretch, without taking breaks to relax, may form mental blocks in a person’s head that might cause even lesser focus on studies.
Ambitious people never give up on dreams, come what may. In a competitive world, where people sweat it out to give absolutely everything to crack the exam, only very few have touched the pinnacle of success and IAS officer Ms. Hooda is an inspiration for all.
