When we hear successful candidates discussing the UPSC CSE exam, it emerges that it is like a ‘five-year plan’. Being one of the toughest exams in the country, much planning is required to clear it. Some manage to crack it in the very first attempt while some need many more attempts.
Today’s success story is about an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer who cleared the exam after facing failure for five straight years. She is Ms. Namita Sharma, who pursued her dream with sheer determination and finally achieved it in the year 2018.
Her will to get into the civil services was so strong that she managed to deal with the mental stress that came from being jobless and experiencing failure in CSE year after year. People around her tried to dissuade her from her civil services goal, but she stood firm and focused on clearing the exam. And, ultimately, her firm resolve won!
LEFT IBM JOB
Ms. Sharma hails from New Delhi, where she studied at Lady Irwin College. She did her graduation from Indraprastha Institute of Technology in Electronics and Communications Engineering and got placed in IBM as a software engineer. She worked there for almost two years but wasn’t satisfied with the work and wanted to explore other fields.
She finally left the job and started looking towards UPSC exam, which is a gateway to the world of civil services, one of the most prestigious services in the country. After quitting the IT sector, she started preparing for the exam. She failed in the Prelims exam in the first attempt but did not lose hope and sat for other competitive exams, as well.
FAILURES IN UPSC
While she started preparing for multiple government exams, she lost focus on the UPSC exam. While speaking to media, she said, “I started giving all government exams after I passed graduation, and in this period, I had exhausted my initial three attempts at UPSC without even knowing about the exam.”
She could not clear even the preliminary stage for four years straight. However, she still had faith in herself, although she was facing a lot of criticism from the outside world. People around here were not that supportive, but she stuck to her decision and continue her CSE preparation.
It is indeed remarkable that she survived that period of stress, without a job, four failed attempts, and discouragement from people around her. Anybody else in her shoes would have been tempted to quit.
FINALLY COURTING SUCCESS
After facing four consecutive failures in CSE, Ms. Sharma realised that unless she focussed solely on the UPSC exam, she would not be able to clear it. She couldn’t afford to give more years of her life to preparation. It was a do or die situation for her. Still, in the fifth attempt, she made it through the prelims and mains exam, but could not make it to the final list by a very small margin. This gave her hope, and she knew that with a little more effort, she would be able to crack the exam. So, she sat for the exam one last time in 2018.
This time everything got aligned for her and she made through all the stages in UPSC to get into the Indian Revenue Service (IRS) with AIR 145. She is currently posted as Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax, Indian Revenue Services, Delhi.
Thus, years of hard work and determination to pass the exam, no matter what, brought her the desired result. Her long UPSC journey is a lesson for all aspirants that not veering away from one’s goal, despite setbacks, is a sure shot recipe for success. The universe always favours a stubborn soul, and we saw it in Ms. Sharma, when she refused to budge from her UPSC goal in the face of criticism from her immediate circle.
