Having faced the biggest blow of her life with her parents’ death, young Anshika Jain was brought up by her grandmother and uncle, who she considers to be the biggest pillars of strength of her life. It was her grandmother’s dream to see her become a civil servant and Anshika decided to do everything she could to fulfil it.
Indian Masterminds spoke exclusively with her to know about her difficult road to success in UPSC CSE.
EARLY LIFE
Anshika grew up listening to her grandmother’s stories on the importance of education and how necessary it is for one to become an asset to society. Being a teacher, she inculcated the essence of a good education in her granddaughter and expressed her dream of seeing Anshika become a civil servant one day.
A B.Com graduate from Ramjas College, Delhi University, Anshika began preparing for UPSC alongside her M.Com. Right after her graduation, she got a good job in one of the biggest MNCs in the country, but she opted out of it and decided to go ahead with her CSE preparation.
ANOTHER BIG BLOW
Unfortunately, Anshika lost her grandmother in 2019, while she was still preparing for UPSC CSE. It was one of the most difficult times of her life as she lost her guiding light and was deeply sorrowful that her grandmother could not see her dream being fulfilled.
But she recollected herself, stood strong, and faced the challenges head on and started her preparation once again. “She’d have never wanted me to leave that dream and I am happy that I could ultimately make her dream come true,” she shared.
FIFTH ATTEMPT
In her first few attempts, Anshika wasn’t really clear about the aptitude of her preparation. Her uncle, cousins, and friends guided her all throughout and helped her through the phase. She ultimately changed her strategy and practised as many mocks as she could in all three stages of the examination.
“Furthermore, I made short notes of every single topic as I realized that revision is highly essential to crack the UPSC CSE. I chose Commerce and Accountancy as my optional as I had a general interest in that subject and also had a basic idea of the subject matter,” she told Indian Masterminds.
INTERVIEW ROUND
Anshika has been ‘gratitude journaling’ since a young age. The panellists of her interview round were quite impressed with the term and asked her about it in detail. She was also asked about the last diary entry she had made in her journal.
“I told them it was about a funny incident that happened with my niece and they all burst out laughing which lit up the entire room! It was my most memorable moment from all these years of preparation and giving exams,” she shared happily.
Anshika’s hard work and dedication bore fruits as she secured AIR-306 in UPSC CSE 2022 in her fifth attempt and got Indian Police Service in her service allotment.
FUTURE PLANS
As a budding police officer, Anshika now wishes to work in areas that demand attention and development, no matter where she is posted. Education and women empowerment are also two other sectors that she is looking forward to working on.
