Quest for Excellence: The Strategy of IAS Srishti Singh in UPSC CSE 2020

March 7, 2024

4 Minutes

Perseverance is the only key to success. Maintaining that you are not putting your mental and physical health at risk was the mantra of IAS Srishti Singh in her journey to clearing the UPSC exam. She secured AIR 78 in UPSC CSE 2020 and was posted in the Assam-Meghalaya cadre. She hails from Uttar Pradesh and completed her graduation in B.Tech. from NIT Allahabad in Electronics and Communication. In May 2019, she completed her graduation, and in July only, she commenced her UPSC preparations.

Planning for UPSC and COVID: Blessing in Disguise

The first thing Srishti did in her preparation was understand the vast and complex syllabus of UPSC and divide it into different parts to prepare in a better manner. She first studied politics, economics, history, science, environment, geography, and art and culture for prelims. However, she was also covering the mains’ portion of the above-mentioned subjects. From the very beginning, she was doing answer-writing practice. Moreover, when COVID hit, Srishti’s prelims were postponed by 4 months. Where COVID proved to be adverse for most people, Srishti’s case was different. These four months were very beneficial for her preparation, and she honed a lot of her skills during this period.

Strategy for UPSC Prelims

Srishti started off with Polity from the most commonly followed book, Laxmikant, and then also solved some past-year papers. Then, studying economics was the toughest part, owing to her engineering background. She studied economics at a coaching school she was enrolled in and again solved past-year papers, which was her habit. Srishti never left any portion of the syllabus because it was difficult. She placed more emphasis on the tough parts since she believed that these are the portions where we can do better than others. The prelims were scheduled for March 2020, but got postponed, and Srishti stuck in Delhi with her parents. Her parents were her constant strength in these times.

On the day of the preliminary examination, like others, Srishti was extremely nervous, and when she saw the paper, she thought she wouldn't be able to do it. However, on that hopeless point, she remembered a few lines that her teacher told her once:

“Agar kar ke aaoge toh shayad nahi hoga,Agar nahin karke aaoge toh pakka nahi hoga.”

She solved the paper in 2 hours, and when she came back home and matched it with the answer key, she was sure she would qualify, and she did.

Strategy for UPSC Mains

For the answer writing in mains, Srishti was always confident since she was always very active in college societies in the writing arena, and she started practicing answer writing from the very start of her preparation. From October 2020 to January 2021, she solved more and more optional papers, worked on parts that were weak, and never used to write complete answers and practice. She used to go through past-year questions, brainstorm on them, and make brain maps. Srishti laid more focus on her optional since optional is twice as important as the normal papers, and hers was Anthropology and she was from an engineering background. Even while choosing her optional, she took 15–20 days, and owing to a limited syllabus and availability of resources, she chose the humanities.

Srishti used to live in Kashmere Gate with her family, and her center of examination was on Shah Jahan Road only. She used to travel every day to give her main examination, and it was the time of extreme winter. It was very difficult to write on paper with heavy, warm clothing. Therefore, she places emphasis on the fact that candidates should also prepare for the day of the examination rather than just the examination.

Interview Phase and Result:

After the mains, due to COVID, Srishti’s interview was also delayed. In this period, she used to read newspapers daily and focus on hobbies mentioned in her form, like poetry reading from famous Hindi literature writers. Srishti says one should not panic on the day of the interview and avoid lying. Her interview was on the first day, i.e., August 2, 2021.

After 2 months, she got her result, and for some time, she couldn’t believe that she secured rank 78. She then told her family members and relatives about the same. However, as Srishti says, she got real exposure to public services after her result when she went to LBSNAA and met her colleagues. She got to know that, as a public servant, she can do a lot for people at the grass-roots level.

Learnings

First, when someone aspires to be a civil servant, his or her  only motive should be UPSC. For example, Srishti herself left a placement offer and chance to study abroad to become an IAS officer.

Second, along with the exam, it is of high importance to take care of your physical and mental health. For example, Srishti used to dedicate some time of her day to herself.

Third, one should never leave doubts and weak areas behind. Clearing them on the spot builds confidence.

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