The road to success is never an easy one, but some have to struggle more in comparison to others. And when they succeed, naturally their stories become inspirational for others. Such is the story of Lakshay Anand who cleared UPSC CSE in 2021. At one time, he and his family didn’t have proper food on the table and, today, he is on his way to joining the prestigious civil services after cracking one of the toughest exams in the country, CSE, with AIR 101.
Indian Masterminds presents his inspirational story today.
SON OF WATCHMAN
Lakshay and his family live in Delhi in a small rented house. His father used to play cricket in his young days, but after not getting success in that sport, he had to leave it to work in order to feed his family. The economic condition of the family was not very good, still they were managing somehow.
Lakshay did his schooling from Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Surajmal Vihar, Delhi and cracked JEE to get into Delhi Technological University for B.Tech. While talking to a media channel, he mentioned: “Frankly, I was a good student. So, under peer pressure, I gave entrance of engineering. However, just after getting into B.Tech, I realised that my heart is with humanities and I should have opted for that.”
Still, he completed his graduation with good grades and towards the end of college, one of his friends suggested that he should go for UPSC. So, he took admission in MA (History) in Delhi University and started preparing for UPSC CSE.
COVID MADE IT DIFFICULT
While he was preparing for UPSC, the country was hit by two waves of Covid-19. At that time, his father was working as a watchman in a school. Since, all schools got closed, so he was left jobless. This made things worse for the family. Recalling those times, Lakshay said, “Our rent was due for 5 months. We didn’t have enough money to buy food. Sometimes the family used to eat chappati with water. The landlord also started harassing us. He used to lock our house and we had to sleep outside.”
Seeing all this, Lakshay, who is the eldest of four siblings, decided to do something. While some suggested to him to take up a corporate job as he had a good degree, he decided to give private tuitions instead. Since he wanted to focus on the UPSC exam, so that was a good option. The money from the tuitions helped in paying rent and arranging food for his family.
FACED DISCRIMINATION
Lakshay belongs to scheduled caste and says that even in the country’s capital, his family faced discrimination because of that. “I have many times faced direct and indirect discrimination because of the caste. Whenever, we used to go in search for house, one question was asked constantly. First, they would ask about our caste and then refuse to give their house to us on rent. I would wonder if this was the situation in the capital, what would happen in the rural areas.”
FRIENDS SUPPORTED
Lakshay didn’t have enough money to buy books and test series for the preparation. His mother even cleaned houses of people to earn some money for his books. Some of his friends also supported him financially and arranged books and test series for him. With all this support and his own hard work, he cracked UPSC in the second attempt with History as optional. A lover of world history, he wants to get into Indian Foreign Service and is waiting for the service allotment.
