The road to cracking UPSC Civil Services Exam is not an easy one. An aspirant faces failures, repeated attempts, disappointments, and immense pressure while going through their preparation. But once they crack the examination, the tough journey feels worthwhile.
Today Indian Masterminds presents the story of Ayushi Jain, who did not just go through the tiring journey multiple times but did it while being visually impaired.
EARY DAYS
Born and brought up in the Rani Kheda village near New Delhi, Ayushi had been academically brilliant since her school days. She studied at a government school in her district. She scored over 90% in both her class 10th and class 12th examination and completed her schooling in 2009. Further, she studied at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) located in Keshav Puram, Delhi.
Right after she graduated, Ayushi enrolled herself in Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College and topped all three years of graduation getting a degree in engineering in Computer Science in 2011. She went on to do her post-graduation from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) in 2016.
However, Ayushi’s mind was always inclined towards doing something for her country and her people. Therefore, she made up her mind to join the civil services and decided to quit a job to begin preparing for UPSC Civil Services Examination.
PREPARATION AS A VISUALLY IMPAIRED PERSON
The UPSC CSE preparation is extremely difficult as it is. But for Ayushi, the level of difficulty was a notch higher because of her visual impairment. She required support while preparing for the exam.
Her mother Asha Rani worked as a senior nursing officer. She worked the hardest while helping Ayushi prepare for her exam. She took Voluntary Retirement through VRS and sat at home to help her daughter with whatever she needed. It was her dream to see Ayushi become an IAS officer, and she did everything in her power to help her in doing so.
Earlier in the year 2019, she had secured the top position in the examination of the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB). After which she was appointed as a teacher of history in a Government Girls Senior Secondary School.
Ayushi prepared for the UPSC CS examination using speaking mobile apps that read out her notes and study material to her. Apart from this, the people of her family used to read and recite the syllabus to her, which she used to remember. She only took coaching for mock test preparation, otherwise did her entire preparation for UPSC CSE through self-study.
VICTORY AFTER MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS
Even though she was academically brilliant and had always topped all her examinations from school days, the UPSC CS examination seemed like a tough nut to crack for her.
She gave repeated attempts but failed. At times, she couldn’t even reach the preliminary stage, other times she failed her Mains examination. Everything suddenly started seeming so difficult that she almost decided to quit her dream of cracking the examination. But her family’s support and motivation kept her going.
Ayushi did not make use of any quota during her preparation and finally achieved success in her sixth attempt by scoring a commendable rank of AIR-48 in UPSC CSE 2021.
Talking about her success in an interview, Ayushi said that she could not believe that she not only cleared the examination but also bagged a rank in the top 50!
Ayushi wishes to change society’s mentality toward a person with disabilities. She wants to prove those people wrong who think and believe that a person with physical impairments is unable to achieve anything in life and shouldn’t follow their dreams. Through her victory, she has become an idol to others like her, who may not be able to see the world but can definitely sense what’s going on and wish to help in nation-building.
