IAS Success Stories: Though people come to Delhi for UPSC preparations, Radhika on the other side returned to Indore after leaving her well-paid job.
The much-awaited UPSC Civil Service 2020 results were declared on September 24 and a resident of Alirajpur, in Madhya Pradesh, Radhika Gupta has secured All India Rank 18. She wants to work for the upliftment of tribals and women’s education. Radhika completed her schooling from her hometown only and did B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from GSITS, Indore. After the completion of her graduation, she started working with Honda Motors for a year. Later, she decided to quit her job in order to prepare for UPSC. Though people come to Delhi for UPSC preparations, Radhika on the other side shifted back to Indore after leaving her well-paid job.
As quoted by Indian Express, Radhika said, “Until my graduation years, I wasn’t much aware of the civil services. It is when I shifted to Delhi for work, I came to know about the exam and the entire coaching ecosystem in Rajendra Nagar. For the first few months, I decided to prepare for the exam while working, but once I understood the dynamic syllabus, I decided to quit my job.”
She said, “I have studied in Kota for JEE preparation. And it didn’t bear any bright results as I found the environment aggressively competitive. Such an ecosystem personally triggers anxiety for me. Hence, I learned from that experience and didn’t indulge myself in the charm of Rajendra Nagar.”
She attributes her success to her parents and brother, who were her greatest support. They motivated her and her brother also helped her with the preparations. Her father, Prahlad Gupta is a businessman while her mother, Chanda Gupta is a homemaker. She said, ‘It was their support and belief in my capabilities that I resigned from a well-paid job to prepare for an exam that has no predictable results.’
Every day, Radhika used to study for 9-10 hours and follow a timetable. She made sure she had time for her hobbies. However, she kept herself away from social media sites.
She stated, “If we rigorously study for 8 to 10 hours each day, that preparation is as fruitful as spending 14-15 hours. I have an interest in sports, hence I shell out a fixed amount of time to play table tennis every day. It helped me keep my mind rejuvenated during the preparation and also killed the monotony.”
Radhika followed general books including Laxmikant for Indian Polity, Spectrum for Indian History, NCERTs for all subjects and some online platforms like Insights on India, IAS Baba, KSG for her prelim’s preparation. For other mains subjects, she relied on self-study. She chose Anthropology as an optional subject.
According to the leading daily, while talking about her Plan B, Radhika said, “I had decided to only appear twice for the Civil Service exam. If I had not qualified in any of the attempts, I would have gone back to a corporate job. Hence, I did not register in any other government exams.”
In the year 2019, Radhika appeared in the Civil Service exam for the first time. She got selected for the IRPS services. This year was her second attempt and she has brought glory to her family.
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 "Meet Radhika Gupta, who quit well-paying corporate job and secured AIR 18 in UPSC 2021 exam")
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