Meet S Aswathy, daughter of construction labourer, who cracked UPSC 2020 in fourth attempt

The Civil Services Examination (CSE) of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is considered to be one of the most prestigious yet toughest examinations in the country. Every year, lakhs of candidates appear for the exams but not all are successful. Among those are many who taste success in spite of adverse situations and they become a source of inspiration for others, too. 

Today we will talk about S Aswathy's success story. Awasthy, the daughter of a construction labourer in Thiruvananthapuram, secured 481st rank in UPSC 2020 Civil Services Examination. She proved that hard work and dedication can certainly take you places.

Aswathy, 27, dreamt of becoming an IAS officer since she was in Class VIII. But chose to study engineering and got into Government Barton Hill Engineering College in Thiruvananthapuram. During her final year, she got placed at TCS Kochi in 2015. During her job, she got drawn towards the UPSC exams. 

She went about working and studying simultaneously. In 2017, she resigned from the lucrative IT job and joined full time learning for civil services.

She studied at Kerala State Civil Services academy and some private academies in Thiruvananthapuram.

Aswathy told news agency ANI that this was her fourth attempt. Though she failed the first three attempts, she didn't lose heart and prepared with the fourth attempt more vigorously.

Aswathy said, "It was my fourth attempt at civil service examination. The last three times I could not clear the preliminary exams and I was a little anxious. I am happy now. To crack this examination, I focused on writing practice and maximum content improvisation, so that I could present my content well in the papers."

Aswathy's father Prem Kumar is extremely proud and happy with the daughter's success. Premkumar, her father, said, "I am very happy. Under difficult circumstances, she cleared the civil service exam. I am proud of her. She was excellent in her studies." Her mother, Sreelatha P is a housewife and her younger brother works in an IT firm.