The longing to do something for your country and serve your own people can be so strong sometimes that even top-notch positions in big multinational companies abroad can’t stop a person from coming back to try for civil services as a career.
Such is the story of Abhishek Surana, who left a well-paying job in London to study for UPSC and become a civil servant in his own country.
WORKING ABROAD
Many young Indians continue to live abroad after completing their studies there. But there are few who choose to come back and serve their country after spending some years abroad. Mr. Abhishek Surana is one such individual.
Born and brought up in the Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, Mr. Surana completed his schooling at a public school in the district. He was brilliant in academics from a young age, which helped him to get enrolled in the prestigious IIT Delhi. He completed his graduation in Electrical Engineering and almost immediately received an impressive placement.
He secured a high-paying corporate job at Barclays Investment Bank in Singapore. After working for a year in Singapore, he bagged another well-paying job in a bank in London. He worked hard abroad and earned pretty well.
Soon after, he decided to start his own venture and founded a mobile-based app start-up company of his own. He shifted to Chile and started working there. But his work and the good money it provided didn’t seem to satisfy him. He realized something was amiss and longed to come back to India. This was the time when he made up his mind to try his luck in UPSC as he wished to become a civil servant and contribute to society.
UPSC PREPARATION
He came back to Indian and began preparing for the UPSC examination. Even though he studied very hard, he wasn’t able to crack the examination in the first two attempts. However, this did not break his spirit and he gave it another try.
He got lucky the third time, cracking the examination with AIR-250. The rank definitely helped him enter the civil services but he could not fulfil his dream of becoming an IAS officer as he was allotted IPS.
But he did not give up. He knew what he had to do. He prepared for the exam again alongside his IPS training. He gave his fourth attempt in the year 2018, and this time, secured AIR-10. This top rank got him IAS and he finally achieved his long-time dream of becoming an IAS officer.
ADVICE FOR ASPIRANTS
Currently posted as Chief Executive Officer, Zila Parishad, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, Mr. Surana, in a media interview, said that he had to prepare himself hard mentally for UPSC as there are many challenges during the journey. The candidate needs to rise above all these and focus on his goal.
Sharing his experiences, he says that to prepare for the Mains exam, one needs to study in detail, keep books limited and read them again and again. He also lays great emphasis on revision and note-making. Further, he suggests revise often what you read. Otherwise, there is no benefit of studying. He also suggests making notes, but cautions that the notes should be such that they can be customized easily.
No doubt, Mr. Surana’s journey would act as a big motivating factor in an UPSC aspirant’s life.
