UPSC aspirants struggle for various reasons during their preparation, like monetary problems to take up coaching, lack of the right resources, lack of time to devote 8-9 hours to study and so on. But in the case of Amruth HV, it was a different kind of struggle altogether. He is differently abled, with a complete lack of hearing. But even his disability could not stop him from dreaming to get into civil services, which he finally accomplished in his third attempt.
In the first two attempts, Amruth, who chose to do self-study, did not have a good idea of how to go about the preparation. The two successive failures taught him the right approach and, also, made him more focused on his goal. And, that is why, the third attempt brought him success. Indian Masterminds presents Amruth’s success story of grit and determination.
BACKGROUND
Born and brought up in the beautiful city of Bengaluru in Karnataka, Amruth completed his schooling from a local school near his home. For further studies, he completed his engineering from CMR Institute of Technology in Bengaluru itself.
Right after completing his graduation, the young man received a well-paying job as a software engineer in Tata Consultancy Services. He worked at the firm for over two years when he realized that his heart and mind lay elsewhere.
UPSC DREAM
He had an intense desire and passion to appear for the UPSC Civil Services exams. So, he decided to leave his job and immerse himself in the preparation for the toughest exam of India.
He did not wish to take any crash courses or coaching for his preparation. Therefore, he consciously decided not to take extra help altogether and focused on serious self-study.
WITH HEARING AIDS
This was also the time when he decided to opt for hearing aids for the first time in his life, which he used to dislike before.
“Growing up, Amruth always encountered problems with hearing aids and so he opted not to use them. It was only when he started preparing for the UPSC exam that he decided to try hearing aids again, just so that he could watch a lot of videos related to different subjects that he chose to study,” his Nandini Heddurga had said while interacting with media soon after Amruth’s UPSC success. Incidentally, she is a famous Kannada author.
SUCCESS IN THIRD ATTEMPT
Amruth chose Anthropology as his Mains subject and began preparing for the examination. He waited in anticipation when his result was announced, but unfortunately, he could not clear the examination by a huge gap.
He decided to give a second attempt in the following year, but once again, his luck did not stand by him, and he failed the second attempt, too.
“He could not clear the exams in the first two attempts. He was too confident and wasn’t serious enough during his first attempt. He did a complete 180 for the second attempt and was studying all the time. When he didn’t clear that either, we suggested that he stop preparing and start looking for work in the private sector again. But he was firm and didn’t want to give up,” his mother said.
And he did the right thing! He cleared the UPSC Civil Service Examination in his third attempt with AIR 752.
“We are proud that he has cracked it despite all the challenges he’s faced right from his childhood,” said his mother.
Like any other UPSC candidate, Amruth spent many early mornings pouring over his books and videos. He spent days making his own notes and analysing the news, editorial pieces that he read and a lot more to perfect his knowledge. And all of this paid off in the end!
