This year’s UPSC Civil Services Exam’s final list is full of bright young minds from varied backgrounds. The list features rankers who have had to struggle with difficult circumstances to reach this far.

One such unique story is of Swapnil Pawar, the son of an auto-rickshaw driver, who made it to the final list in his second attempt and brought laurels to his family.

Today, Indian Masterminds will take you through Swapnil’s hardship-filled journey, from which he emerged victorious.

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EARLY LIFE

Born and brought up in the Nashik district of Maharashtra, Swapnil was brilliant in academics since his school days. He scored 93% in his class 10^th board examination from Pethe Vidyalaya. After his 10^th, he joined KTHM College and completed his class 12^th.

Once his schooling was complete, Swapnil took admission in the Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune by passing the JEE examination. While completing Chemical Engineering, he worked as a Project Engineer at Fabus International.

However, it was Swapnil’s childhood dream to crack UPSC and become a civil servant that kept him up at night. He finally decided to begin his preparation for the examination but decided not to quit his job, in case things didn’t pan out well for him.

FIRST ATTEMPT

While still working as a Project Engineer during the day, Swapnil spent his nights studying for the examination. No matter how tough the situation became, he kept going. His challenges came along with financial constraints but his zeal to keep on learning as much as possible, and his parents’ support, helped him in pursuing his goal.

He gave his first attempt in the same year and cleared it securing the All India Rank of 632. He got posted in the Indian Railways Service and began his training.

However, he wanted to get into the Indian Police Service, and to achieve his goal, he decided to give the UPSC CSE Exam once again, and improve his rank.

SECOND ATTEMPT

He started studying for the civil services examination alongside his training for Indian Railway Services, with renewed vigor. It wasn’t easy to balance such tough training along with preparation for UPSC CSE, but with great determination and zeal, Swapnil carried on.

His efforts finally bore fruit when he scored AIR- 418 in UPSC CSE 2021. “Since my school days, I wanted to prepare for the UPSC and become an officer. In my first attempt, I could not score well and so got a lower rank. So, I decided to prepare again, and with dedicated and consistent studies along with my work, I achieved this success. I am happy for the success that I have got, and my parents have supported me a lot in this,” he said.

He feels it is a misconception amongst youngsters that preparing for competitive exams involves studying day and night. He says he studied for only four to five hours daily.

“When you do proper time management of your studies along with your other daily routine, nothing is impossible,” he shared.