Civil Services is one of the toughest exams in India to crack. Every year, lakhs of aspirants apply to appear for the competitive exam, but only a few of the candidates make it to the final list. However, several former UPSC candidates were successful in passing the UPSC CSE exam on their first, second, or sometimes on their fifth attempt. Today, let’s take a look at the success story of Uma Harathi N, who took five attempts to clear the UPSC exam.
Uma Harathi hails from Nalgonda district of Telangana. Harathi is an engineering graduate from IIT Hyderabad who cleared UPSC 2022 with AIR 3. For the aspirants she had only one mantra to share, “It’s okay to fail. I failed so many times. Just be proud of yourself.”
The Telangana engineering graduate excelled in her fifth attempt at the civil services examination.
"This was my fifth attempt. This has been a long process and it was not easy. But it was a great journey. I learnt from my mistakes and discovered myself," she told NDTV, crediting her family and friends for her success.
The 28-year-old said it was her father who motivated her towards civil services. "He kept telling me what a great platform it is - both as a career and a platform where I can do something meaningful," said Uma, who holds a BTech degree in civil engineering.
Uma is the daughter of the Superintendent of Police of Narayanpet, N Venkateshwarlu. A graduate (B Tech) in Civil Engineering from IIT, Hyderabad, she stood third in the rank with anthropology as her optional subject but later changed to anthropology.
Uma urged UPSC aspirants to read as much as needed and practice a lot of tests. She suggested that they come up with their own strategy.
“Without sincerity and discipline, you can't crack UPSC no matter how intelligent you are,” she said.
The police officer's daughter also revealed that she did not expect the third rank. "I was hoping to get some rank but did not expect the third rank," she said.
