Even after experiencing many failures, Siddhartha Gupta never let go of his dream. He clung onto it desperately as if his whole life depended on it. And, finally, he sailed through comfortably this time and crossed the finishing line first to emerge the topper in UPPCS-2023.
Never allowing failures to defeat him, the boy from Deoband who had failed three UPSC CSE attempts even after writing mains and giving interview, is UP’s state civil exam topper now and is on his way to becoming a deputy collector.
He is already posted in Bijnor as Naib Tehsildar at the training centre for accountant and revenue inspector. His story is an example of how failures can guide one to the right path. All that is needed is the right kind of planning.
Speaking exclusively to Indian Masterminds, the man of the moment, Siddhartha Gupta, narrated his inspiring story.
JOURNEY SO FAR
He had started his Civil Service preparation in 2018 after his graduation. This was his second PCS attempt. He had cracked UPPCS-2022 with 7th rank and got the post of Naib Tehsildar. This time, in UP PCS-2023, he got rank 1 and will finally get his dream post – Deputy Collector.
He had also tried his hands in UPSC. He gave 3 attempts in total and wrote mains each time and reached till the interview once, in 2021.
He said, “This journey has many ups and downs. Ever since I started preparing for UPSC, I have seen many failures. But, finally I have achieved success with rank 1 in PCS. So it really feels good. True hard work always gets paid some day.”
BACKGROUND
Siddhartha hails from UP’s famous town Deoband in Saharanpur district. His father Rajesh Gupta runs a Kirana Store here while his mother is a homemaker. He has two married elder sisters.
He studied till 12th in Doon Valley School in his hometown. Then he moved to Delhi and completed his B.Sc honours in Physics from Hansraj College in Delhi University.
PREPARATION
For UPSC, he studied most of the time in libraries. There were many peer group, with whom he used to write answers and then get these checked by each other. This helped him lot, he said.
His key strategy was consistency and understanding the pattern of the exam. He never missed his study hours in these years of preparation, no matter what the situation was.
He began his preparation with NCERTs, then went to all other suggested standard books. Reading newspapers daily helped him in preparing for current affairs within a short time. After covering the basics, he began solving test series. He also focussed on multiple revisions.
For UPPCS, he specifically practised answer writing a lot. “If you don’t have answer writing practice, you will not be able to complete the mains paper. Plus, without it, you can’t bring quality to your answers. It is value addition,” he said.
UNDERSTANDING EXAM PATTERN
Siddhartha agrees that if one understands the exam pattern well, then one can perform better in the exam. He said that in UPPCS, the commission asked questions directly from the syllabus while in UPSC, questions are also from the syllabus but they are more analyical.
He said, “Read the syllabus many times and understand it properly. Apart from it, you should also focus on PYQs to understand the exam better. Sometimes, even direct questions will be repeated with some change in language.”
INTERVIEW
His interview was very analytical. He was asked questions on various topics and there were some situational questions too.
He gave a few samples: “What are the qualities of a civil servant? Why do you want to become a civil servant? How will you stop corruption in your office?”
He was also asked some interesting questions on the Ram Temple. A panelist asked him whether the Ram Mandir movement was religious or political? To which he replied: “This was mainly a religious movement. This was a matter related to people’s faith and people had been demanding it for a long time.”
Another interesting question he was asked was about his favourite movie. His reply was ‘Shershah’, a film released in 2021 and based on Captain Vikram Batra’s life. Another member then asked what could have gone on in the mind of Mr. Batra just before he was martyred? What values he has left behind?
MESSAGE FOR ASPIRANTS
Giving suggestions for aspirants, Siddhartha said, “Keep in mind that you have to be patient. There are no substitute for study and hard work. This journey takes some time, but when you complete it, you will be in another world. Consistency is the key here. Never give up.”
For all those who are preparing for UPSC and state civils together, he had this to say: “Your preparation for UPSC must be solid. Focus on state civils gradually with proper time management. Only then will you be able to do it. Your UPSC preparation will help you in the state civil exam.”
