My Story: I Was A Backbencher & I Failed UPSC 4 Times, But I Believed In Myself Despite All Odds

“In my Childhood days, I was a mediocre Student, the typical backbencher, the one on whom the brighter classmates and teachers would look down upon.

There was hardly a handful who believed in me, now when I look back and reflect on all these, they were a blessing in disguise. I believe people clearing civil services or achieving anything else in life do not possess some extraordinary abilities or skills, they are ordinary people who believed in themselves despite all odds.

After Graduation, being the eldest son, I had to join a job to support my parents who were nearing retirement. While I was working as a software professional, I felt something was missing. More than three years into the job, my younger brother took up the responsibility of our home giving an opportunity for the long sown seed by my father to sprout in me.

It was an unfulfilled dream of my father. I wanted to be a civil servant and a police officer in particular. Whenever I saw a policeman on road there would be a spark in me. When I cleared the exams, many asked me why not the Administrative service. I had no answers, I could not explain to them how much the Uniform fascinated me and that I had always imagined myself to be in one. I believed any person in despair or an emergency would first run to either a hospital or a police station.

I failed for 4 times at different stages in UPSC, each time having a different experience and learning a new lesson. It was though but it moulded me as a person.

To conclude, I would like to share a belief of mine that got reinforced in LBSNAA and SVPNPA, “To go ahead or to stop is all in our mind, you never really know how far you can reach unless you try”

Story By – Mithun Kumar G K | IAS 2016 Batch | Karnataka Cadre

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