Being clear about the necessities and a balanced preparation facilitated the accomplishment; says Shreyans Kumat (AIR 4; CSE 2018)

When you take a plunge in to something unpredictable like Civil Services Examination, to emerge successful you need an open mind to face it.

With this idea Shreyans Kumat (AIR 4; CSE 2018) commenced preparation and with some right steps he cracked it in very first attempt.

Indicating the rationale for choosing Civil Services as an opportunity Shreyans said, “While I was working with the business consulting firm Ernst & Young; the work was good; but, I felt kind of void at that time that I was not able to make sufficient impact. So, that was the time when I decided to look for newer opportunities.”

“‘Civil Services’ seemed to me the exact good opportunity that would give me satisfaction and an opportunity to be among the masses and working for them.”

Showing courage for appearing in Civil Services Examination followed by finding a proper strategy. Divulging details about it Shreyans said, “When I was planning to leave the job, I had the opportunity of talking to some alumnus of our institute (IIT Bombay). I searched them through Facebook and got to reach some through their friends because there were very few people at that time from IIT Bombay. They gave me the initial start and then I went to Delhi for some time, there I interacted with few people who had given few attempts and also online guidance and forums helped me. You get to know ideas from working people, so you try and adopt it through these forums.”

Adding a little on how he perceived his chances of success Shreyans said, “I had left my job two years ago to take on this risk. So, at that time I thought that I will try my best to get a rank in the first attempt and will improve it in the second.

When it came to choose an optional subject, I consulted few seniors and got an idea that Anthropology would help me in managing my preparation well. Also it is a subject which is quite diverse. It has many different aspects like sociology, biology etc. So, in a way it helped me grow as well.

Moreover, Anthropology is doing well in UPSC and the idea was to clear the exam in quick time. I really like the subject; actually I commenced preparation much before last year result; however, finding last year’s topper Anudeep with Anthropology at top added to my confidence.

So, for preparation, the idea was; I was researching the kind of questions asked in the exam and they were there. So, my preparation was limited to that only. I was not going through a lot of study-material, very specific just topic to topic, I was preparing.

I was making sure that I cover everything in the syllabus. I wanted to utilize my time at its best because I only had kept only two years for this venture.

I had a kind of balance between General Studies and optional subject. When I started preparing, I had taken around a year before the exam, I was determined to complete my optional in around 6-7 months and that is where anthropology helped, it has concise syllabus. And then, I dedicated the other time for General Studies

For essay, I used to read some books alongside preparation which were not related to the syllabus; but, very thought provoking like 21 lessons of 21^st century by Yuvai Noah Harari. These types of books helped me frame good thoughts & definitely helped in Essay. Apart from that practice and brainstorming with friends also helped.

I am not sure how my interview went. The questions were quite open-ended. The board was very cordial to me. I felt the interview was average for me but I’ll only figure it out when the marks comes in.

If I have to list out factors that contributed in my success, it is the support of the family, friends and God’s grace for the fortunate result. I am really lucky that in the first attempt I am able to do it. It’s the mix of all the good wishes and luck.

Mine is a small family; me, my parents and a sister. My father works in a manufacturing firm in Kishangarh, Rajasthan. My mother is involved in home making and some social work and my sister has completed her CA and she is also planning to prepare for civil services.

Secret of success

Good wishes and regular support and motivation from family and friends.

Credit for Success

My parents and motivation from meditation that I do also helped me focus towards my goal.