Pradeep Singh: UPSC AIR 1 (2019), Strategy, and the Journey That Took 4 Attempts
An IIT Bombay graduate in Civil Engineering sitting down to study medieval Indian history for hours every day sounds like an odd picture.
Jagrati Awasthi: AIR 2 in UPSC CSE 2020, Strategy, and the Story Behind the Rank
An electronics engineer from Bhopal picks Sociology as her optional subject. She sits for UPSC twice. In her second attempt, she lands All India Rank 2
Shubham Kumar: UPSC CSE 2020 AIR 1, Strategy, Preparation, and Journey
An IIT Bombay Civil Engineering graduate. Three attempts. Anthropology as an optional subject. And an interview score of 182 out of 275, one of the highest recorded in recent UPSC history.
Gamini Singla: UPSC AIR 3 (CSE 2021), Strategy, and Journey
A Computer Science engineer with a JP Morgan offer in hand chose Sociology and civil services instead. She was 22 years old.
Smriti Mishra: UPSC AIR 4 (CSE 2022), Strategy, and Journey
One year, she could not clear the CSAT. The very next attempt, she secured All India Rank 4 in one of the world's toughest examinations.
Donuru Ananya Reddy: UPSC AIR 3 (CSE 2023), Strategy, and a First-Generation Success Story
Her grandfather envisioned her as a civil servant before she had even finished school. Her father farms land in Mahabubnagar, Telangana.
Ishita Kishore: UPSC AIR 1 (CSE 2022), Strategy, and the Comeback That Topped the Country
She failed to clear UPSC Prelims in her first attempt. Then she failed again in her second. Two attempts, two Prelims failures, zero Mains appearances.
Animesh Pradhan: UPSC AIR 2 (CSE 2023), Strategy, and a Story That Deserves to Be Told
His teachers in Odisha had saved his father's phone number as "Animesh IAS" years before he ever appeared for the exam. His father, a Political Science lecturer,
Tina Dabi: UPSC AIR 1 (CSE 2015), Strategy, and the Making of a Historic Rank
What does it take to top India's hardest exam at 22, in your very first attempt, as the first Dalit woman in history to ever do so? For Tina Dabi,
Anmol Sher Singh Bedi: AIR 2, UPSC CSE 2017, Strategy and Journey
If you secured AIR 2 in the UPSC Civil Services Examination, most people would assume you walked away with IAS. Anmol Sher Singh Bedi chose IFS instead.