In September, 2018, a girl student of the prestigious National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru bagged the most number (13) of gold medals at the 26th convocation from of then Chief Justice of India, Deepak Mishra.
After 4 years, the same girl, now a lawyer, has cracked the most prestigious and toughest exam of India, UPSC CSE-2021, with the high rank of AIR 60 in her very first attempt!
This high achiever is Shraddha Gome, who wanted to be a Collector since her 10th class. To fulfill her dream, she quit a well paying job in London at Hindustan Unilever Ltd.to concentrate fully on UPSC preparation.
Indian Masterminds had an exclusive interaction with her to bring you her inspiring story.
BACKGROUND
26-year-old Shraddha Gome belongs to a schedule caste of Bairwa and right through school to university was always a topper. From her childhood, she showed a keen interest in in singing, dancing and writing since childhood. She has even written editorials on contemporary topics for newspapers like Indian Express and Deccan Herald. She said, “I believe the UPSC CSE examination is a journey with its own share of ups and downs. Our focus should be on things which are in our control, that is right strategy, hard work, dedication and perseverance.”
She advises never to fear anything, giving her own example. Even after clearing CLAT, she feared about clearing NLS thinking of the high level competition there, “but with my courage, I won and passed out of university with 13 gold medals.”
BEGINNING
Shraddha hails from Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Her father Ramesh Kumar Gome is a retired SBI officer while her mother Vandana is a homemaker and is the biggest inspiration behind Shraddha’s success. She has always been a topper student – topped in CBSE class 10 and 12 in Indore city. She also secured first position in an international debate competition during this time. She did her schooling from St. Raphael’s H.S. School in Indore. After the, she cleared CLAT test as a topper and went to one of the most prestigious law colleges of India, NLSIU, for graduation. Then, she worked as legal manager with Hindustan Unilever Ltd for a brief stint as part of its prestigious Unilever Future Leaders Programme.
She said, “I have been inclined towards administrative service since childhood. I used to participate in social work during my school-college days. Since then, I had decided that by becoming an IAS officer, I could do something good for the country and society. My parents also wanted me to get into IAS.I am very happy that after much hard work, my and my parents’ dream has come true.”
UPSC PREPARATION
Shraddha’s optional subject for UPSC was Law. She opted for self-study by staying in Indore. Along with checking the UPSC syllabus and the last 25 years’ papers, she gathered all the necessary material through online education. For optional subject, she studied her law school notes and revised them again and again. Taking occasional guidance from mentors, she studied hard with full of dedication. She used to study for 9 to 10 hours from the beginning of her preparation in January 2020. After passing the pre and main exams, she prepared for the interview by staying in Delhi for 15 days, giving mocks and taking guidance from seniors and some officers. The result of her tireless hard work and proper preparation was that in the very first attempt, she got selected for the IAS with 60th all India rank.
She said, “I did everything while preparing for the exam and never isolated myself for study. Even when I was giving UPSC, I watched movies, read my favorite books, played badminton and spent time with my family. Yes, when I sat down to study, I would concentrate fully on it. Then, neither TV nor mobile nor anything else.”
She studied for eight to ten hours, getting herself ready for the exam in just one and a half year and passed it in her very first attempt, that too without any coaching.
She said, “While working after graduating from NLS, I had to travel between Mumbai and London for the firm I was working for, but my aim was clear and that was to become an IAS officer. I didn’t want to give myself a second chance or an option to fail, and it worked for me.”
ROLE OF NLS BENGALURU
On being asked about the role of NLS Bengaluru in her success, she said that NLS played a very crucial role in her journey. “Today whatever I am, it is because of NLS. When I decided to take Law as optional, it was because of the courage given by NLS and my background in that subject is much strong due to the study at NLS. For UPSC study, I mainly relied on my law school notes and learnings.”
She added that the innumerable opportunities that she received in law school – like leadership experience as Vice-President of SBA, internships, research opportunities, and academic publications – have all contributed immensely in her personal and professional development which helped her a lot in the interview round.
SUGGESTIONS
Shraddha further said that UPSC tests one’s entire personality. It tests one’s knowledge, understanding, ability along with the personality. Every aspect of the personality is tested in Prelims, Mains and Interview. It sees whether the candidate understands a particular situation, its background and tests his/her ability to deal with it. According to her, all kinds of questions are asked in the interview.
Se advises that if you do not know the answer to a question, then instead of giving a wrong answer, you should say that you do not know the answer. However, she warned that if you do not know the answer to questions related to your own subject, there will definitely be negative marking. So, she says that one should leave no room for mistakes in the main exam. And for this, giving mocks and practicing hard is extremely necessary.
For law background aspirants, she suggests focussing on building a strong foundation in law before attempting the UPSC exam.
AIM IN SERVICE
Shraddha said that wherever she gets posted as an administrative officer, she would like to work for the rights of children and women, especially, as “if they get opportunities to move forward, they will focus on them and do well in life.”
