“The one who never gives up never loses.” Raghavendra lived up to this stage as he never lost hope despite failure and was awarded for his patience, perseverance and determination in the UPSC 2021 exam.
Indian Masterminds presents the story of Mr Raghvendra Sharma who didn’t lose faith in himself.
A DELHI BOY
Raghavendra Sharma is born and brought up in Delhi. He has done his graduation in Economic Honours from Shivaji college of Delhi University.
Raghavendra started his preparation in 2019 and completed the first round of interviews. However, the missed the merit by only two points.
Following this, Raghavendra put all of his work and effort into his second attempt and successfully passed UPSC with an All India Rank 340.
PAME IS THE INSPIRATION
Asked about his motivation, he said that “being born in a middle-class family, it’s always a dream to have an IAS/IPS in your family”, he also mentioned that the idea to pursue civil service as a career option came from his parents and grandparents, as he was good in studies so they often suggested him to try for civil services.
Raghavendra was inspired by Armstrong Pame, an IAS officer from Manipur. He came to know about him through Facebook when he was in 10th grade.
He was inclined towards civil services as he observed it as an opportunity to bring direct influence on the lives of the people.
DISCIPLINE IS THE KEY
He got motivated by seeing his co-aspirants clearing the exam. He made a firm notion that “if they can, I can too succeed”.
He said that one gets motivated when they are confident about their hard work. He emphasized that having a disciplined routine makes it all possible.
He says that the background of a person doesn’t matter if one is disciplined and motivated enough.
SUCCESS MANTRAS
Raghavendra claims that the only trick to crack the UPSC exam is set a target and be updated with current affairs. “Answer writing is an art which has to be developed”, he suggested.
He further added that it is futile to assume that people are naturally good at writing. Writing flare comes with practice. The more you practice, the better you write.
COACHING OR NO COACHING?
Raghavendra further discussed the stages he went through while preparing for the UPSC exam.
He claimed he didn’t enroll in any coaching for GS preparation as UPSC coaching is quite expensive. So he just attended classes for optional topics and requested notes from friends to help him with his GS preparation.
DON’T ATTEMPT UNTIL SURE
In his first attempt, Raghavendra missed out by just 2 marks. The next preliminary exam was held just 14 days after the release of the final result. He missed it even though he was certain we would succeed on our first try. His efforts over the entire year were in vain, but he didn’t give up and began to prepare again.
Raghavendra realized that now is not the time to feel let down. After just two weeks is the next preliminary exam.
In such a circumstance, he overcame his dejection, and the outcome of his actions is now on display for the world to see.
