M. Lakshmi Soujanya from Visakhapatnam cracked UPSC CSE 2020 clinching 127 spot in the coveted list in her third attempt. As she hails from the coastal region of Andhra Pradesh, she grew up watching cyclones hammering her city and causing devastation to life and property. She also keenly observed the relief work carried out by the government officers and was greatly impressed by them. This motivated her to take up civil service as a career so that she, too, can provide help to people in distress. In an exclusive interview to INDIAN MASTERMINDS, she talked about her motivational journey from a low-lying city frequented by cyclones to the highest platform of civil services in the country.
MOTIVATED BY DISASTER MANAGEMENT
M. Lakshmi says, “I am from a coastal region where there are crisis situations like cyclones, and the way civil servants worked to cope with the situations inspired me a lot to be a part of the civil services.”
Her father is a senior manager at the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) plant in Visakhapatnam. Lakshmi finished her schooling from DAV Public School located in the plant area and did B-Tech in Computer Science from NIT Warangal. After passing out, she took up a job as a software engineer in a company, which she quit soon after to focus solely on CSE preparation, investing 10 to 12 hours a day.
Now that she has finally become a civil service officer, she wants to bring about greater transparency and accessibility in the service so that people can easily approach public servants.
A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO EXAM PREPARATION
She started her CSE preparation in 2016 and made her first attempt in 2017. She took coaching only during the initial phase and studied on her own after that. “I tried to cover all the topics of the syllabus and made sure not to miss any portion. I gathered material for all topics and made short notes for everything. I practiced answer writing and gave a lot of test series, so that in the actual exam, the structure becomes easier for me,” she confided, adding that she kept herself totally cut off from social media during the entire preparation phase to avoid distractions.
Talking about her optional subject, she said, “As my background is Computer Science Engineering, and this subject is not included in the UPSC syllabus, I chose Geography as my optional because the technicality of the subject attracted me.”
She kept herself updated on current affairs by reading newspapers daily. The Hindu and The Indian Express became a part of her daily routine.
ADVICE FOR ASPIRANTS
Her success formula is to make a structured plan and stick to it. And practice hard! Her tips for aspirants are: “Try to understand the demand of the exam rather than directly jumping into the preparation. Previous years’ question papers are the best source to understand the syllabus. If possible, make a small group to discuss the topics.”
A SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR WOMEN
M. Lakshmi sums up with these encouraging words for women: “We constitute 50 per cent of the population, hence we should increase our contribution to the development and economy of the country. More and more women should come forward to join civil services.”
