UPSC CSE 2021: Meet Samyak Jain, visually-impaired JNU alumnus who bagged AIR 7

Samyak did his schooling and graduated with BA in English honours in Delhi. Thereafter he went to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) to do a PG Diploma in English Journalism.

Samyak then did his Masters in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). He took political science and international relations as optional subjects in UPSC.

Both of his parents work for Air India. He lives with his mother as his father is posted in Paris. He said that he is blessed to have such supportive parents and friends.

Samyak used to read books in digital format. He started his preparation for UPSC civil services exam during lockdown (March 2020) when he had a lot of time to study due to home isolation.  

He believes that the key to clearing the exam is consistency. He used to study for at least seven hours a day. 

Samyak said when he was in JNU, many people around him were preparing for the civil services exam. Following that, he understood about the exam and then started preparing for it.

As he is visually impaired, he had to take the help of a writer to write for the exam. In prelims, his mother wrote in the exam while in mains exam, one of his friends wrote the paper.