Even failures had to finally bow down before Aditya, who goes by his first name only. The quintessential boy-next-door from Rajasthan with humble beginnings faced 30 failures in various competitive exams, before clearing CSE in 2017 in his fourth attempt. With AIR 630, he was allotted IPS and Punjab cadre.He is currently posted as Additional DCP in Jalandhar.
Indian Masterminds presents his UPSC success story today, to inspire and motivate aspirants to work on their goal and hold on to it, no matter what.
30 FAILURES
Aditya faced a series of failures as he went on a competitive exam-giving spree. Despite 30 failures in all, he remained unnerved and resolved further to crack the toughest exam of all, UPSC CSE. Here too, he had to go through three failed attempts to finally make it to the successful candidates list in 2017 with AIR 630 in the fourth attempt. He was allotted IPS and Punjab cadre.
WHAT KEPT HIM GOING
“I was discouraged on multiple occasions and thought of quitting. But I chose to stay away from unnecessary societal pressure and negativity. After every exam, I would motivate myself to perform better in the next one. I decided to do my job because I had faith that apna time aayega,” Aditya told media after his success.
PARENTS’ SUPPORT HELPED
Because his parents were teachers, they understood his problems and struggles better and could support him during his bad days. The parents ensured that education was always a priority in the family, and this helped to keep the studying momentum going for Aditya during the difficult times. “Having a strong support system is very important,” he says.
FROM HINDI MEDIUM
Aditya didn’t let his Hindi-medium background stand in the way. Although the process was more difficult for him and many of his co-aspirants got discouraged by the fact that their first language Hindi acted as a barrier, he didn’t lose hope and worked extremely hard to improve his performance in the personality test.Which he did, as proved by his success in the fourth attempt, which shows that he kept on improving with each try.
His biggest learning was not to take anything for granted. He changed his preparation strategy every time and worked on mastering all aspects, right from general knowledge to time management.
AVERAGE STUDENT
After completed his schooling from his native town Ajeetpura in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district, Aditya completed his BA in History, Political Science and Geography. He was an average student and got 67 per cent in his Rajasthan boards exams in 2009.
“I grew up listening to how civil servants were the first in line to lend a helping hand to common people. They have the power to use their position to solve basic civic problems. This ignited my curiosity as a child, and I leaned towards it after my graduation.”
THICK SKINNED
Facing failure after failure during his UPSC journey did not deter him from his goal. Never once did he consider giving up. But it was not so easy as it sounds. “It’s tough to handle constant failures. When one belongs to a middle-class family whose only investment is your education and there are high hopes, the pressure is immense.”
Eventually, his persistence brought him the success that always seemed to elude him before. He cleared UPSC CSE in 2017 and joined one of the most coveted services – IPS.
What got him this success? Hard work, patience, “and a very, very thick skin,” he says.
