Be Sincere not Serious
“I always dreamt of being in the foreign services. It seemed very glamorous. You get to represent your country in various nations and you get to learn so many things, like their culture, the way their political organizations are structured, etc. To be honest, I thought it was the best thing you can do in life; work for your government, learn from experiences abroad, and come back to India to implement them.
A couple of years ago, my father got transferred to Delhi. He told me that it was high time that I gave UPSC a shot, as I have been considering it for a long time now.
The first year of preparation was the worst. I moved to Delhi, which is not a very friendly place for a newbie. Also, I do not live in Rajendra Nagar like the other aspirants do. When I was studying at home, it took a toll on me because I was constantly surrounded by books, had classes to attend and I was back to living with my parents; it was a lot of pressure.
If you ask anybody who has gotten into the services or are trying to, they will tell you that it is not about how intelligent you are or how lucky you get, it is mostly about how consistent you have been during your preparation. But it is very hard to be consistent like that, you know, especially when you do not have any idea; like a fish out of water, in a different city, in a different situation. Every day you have a target and if you achieve it, you have this instant sense of gratification, but when you don’t, you feel terrible.
I put myself under so much pressure that I was depressed and had to consult a therapist. She said, ‘If you do not want to study, then don’t.’ It helped. This happened in January last year.”
Top Tips:
1) Be sincere and not serious. I know it sounds catchy but it is extremely hard to implement! If you are doing something else, nobody is going to come and tell you, ‘Oh, this is so tough’, ‘So proud of you for trying this’, etc. Everybody would add to making the journey serious, and it builds pressure. Suddenly all these uncles, aunties and other relatives will be calling you the day before the exam when that is the last thing that you need. So, it is very important to teach ourselves to be sincere but not serious.
2) You need to force yourself to take a day off. No matter how much syllabus is left, you have to tell yourself that, I will not study today and rather just chill for a little while, because unless you do that, you are never going to be ready to accept and absorb more information.
3) Nobody is going to come and tell you, ‘Beta, aaj jaake mazey karo’. They will only ask, ‘Aaj kitna padhai kiya?’ ‘Aaj kitne topics complete kiye?’ Just make sure that this year, the time you spend in studying for competitive exams is not spent living in a boring, isolated world. Study sincerely, but go out and meet people. If you do not know people, like me, just go roam around. Delhi is a beautiful city.
— Tanea Bandhopadhyay | UPSC Aspirant | Delhi
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