UPSC Civil Service Examination can take its toll on aspirants preparing for it as it is an extremely tough one to crack. One not only has to tackle an exhaustive syllabus but also keep oneself updated with current affairs. Also, there are a few subjects where new additions are made to the syllabus every year. Under such circumstances, it is natural for aspirants to have meltdowns after getting highly stressed out. And every aspirant’s way of dealing with such stress is different. Some take to yoga, some to sports, yet others spend time with friends and family.
IRS officer Neha Nautiyal took time off to watch films, read novels, and go on outings to unwind and refresh herself before getting back to preparing for the exam again. In her case, the stress was more as she was doing a full-time job while preparing for CSE. However, despite the time constraints, she cracked the exam in 2011 in her second attempt and opted to join Indian Revenue Service, although she had the option of joining the Indian Police Service, too.
EARLY LIFE
Born and brought up in the small but beautiful town of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Ms. Nautiyal’s father, P.K. Nautiyal, worked in the post office and her mother is a homemaker. Youngest of the two siblings, Ms. Nautiyal was an average student in academics since her school days.
She completed her schooling at Kendriya Vidyalaya School, Dehradun, after which she moved to Ajmer, Rajasthan to study further. She completed her graduation in a four-year integrated course of B.Sc. and B.Ed. After completing her graduation, she moved back to her hometown, Dehradun, and did her M.Sc. in Zoology.
“It was when I was doing my post-graduation (in 2009) that I started thinking seriously about Civil Services. I was interested in teaching but slowly I realized the impact of various other factors on education. This was a major driving force that inspired me to join the services. Besides, there were many other factors like good career profile, varied opportunities, etc.,” shared Ms. Nautiyal in an interview with the media.
PREPARATION
The first challenge that she faced during her preparation was the selection of optional subjects. After much thought, she decided to choose History and Public Administration as her subjects due to her interest in them. The relative popularity of the two subjects proved to be a bonus, as well.
In the meanwhile, the officer cracked her CASE Examination and received a placement in a well-paying job. She had an option of quitting her job during her preparation, but she decided not to, just in case things didn’t pan out the way she wanted them to.
Regarding her preparation, she shared, “I never gave much importance to hours. I believed that one should be honest with themselves while studying. If you don’t feel like studying, don’t do it. It will not be productive. Rather, take interest while studying even if it is for a short duration of 15-20 min. Believe me, it will give good results. If I calculate on an average, it will come to around 2-4 hours. As I was a working professional, I was not getting much time on weekdays, so I stretched it during weekends.”
CRACKED IN THE SECOND ATTEMPT
Ms. Nautiyal gave her first attempt at UPSC CSE in the year 2010 but, unfortunately, was not able to crack it. However, she didn’t lose hope and decided to prepare for another attempt, all of this while still working as an IT professional.
At times, when she felt demotivated and wished to give up, she took a break of 1-2 days during which she indulged herself in movies, novels, or outings. However, she kept her goal in mind and kept reminding herself that she had a long way to go.
In 2011, she gave another attempt, and her happiness knew no bounds when she saw her name on the final list. She had bagged the rank of AIR-185 and was assigned the post of an IPS officer. However, she always wanted to become an IRS officer and, therefore, she chose this service.
“The mistake which I committed during 2010 was that I didn’t have much writing practice for mains. As a result, the quality of my answers was not good at all. Besides, I resorted to reading many books. But this time I continuously revised and tried to memorize and relate different topics as much as I can. Apart from that, mainly in Public Administration, I focused more on the theoretical part related to thinkers and used it in many other questions also,” she shared with the media.
ADVICE TO ASPIRANTS
Sharing a few words of advice for the aspirants, as well, the IRS official said, “Be honest to yourself and always believe that yes you can do it. It’s not easy to think about preparing for Civil Services but you have thought about it, which means you have the caliber. Work smartly and think about what the exam demands. Perseverance, self-confidence, and a positive attitude are the key to success.”
Ms. Nautiyal kept away from office gossip and utilized whatever little free time she could get to prepare for the examination. She properly utilized the internet facility given by her office. Apart from that, she read newspapers during office hours and made sure to study daily, even if it was only for an hour. She stretched her time on weekends.
Following a routine, maintaining a work-study balance, and taking breaks to beat stress, helped Ms. Nautiyal crack the UPSC exam and join her preferred service, IRS.
