It is about
getting a sense of what the exam demands out of you and meeting that demand.
That would mean figuring out the technique, and, doing the slog work. The first
cannot be outsourced to coaching institutes or other ‘learned’ aspirants. The
importance of the second cannot be overstated.
UPSC is quirky.
Either all can read its mind or none. So there is no underestimating oneself to
figure out what the exam demands of you. The key to unravel it lies within the
puzzles it sets. The previous years’ question papers. No institute, no person,
can be a better soothsayer of what tricks the exam has up its sleeve.
UPSC is ruthless. Until you figure out how madly
people want to get in, and all that they are ready to give - you do not know
what is the distance you have to run fastest to win the race. Get that
estimate, assess your standing and do what it takes to win the steeple chase.
There is no place for ‘Oh! So much to do’, ‘Sigh! Such sacrifice’. Until there
is two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen, there is no water, if water is what
you want.
UPSC is long drawn. It tests tenacity and patience.
One’s own self cannot always swim like Phelps. There are times when we sink and
times when we lose sight of the shore. We need our life guards- out family and
friends and our light houses- well meaning peers. The support staff are crucial
members of the competitors’ team.
UPSC is a love affair. Embrace the challenge and make
it the dream which does not let you sleep. Seeking pleasure is no vice and
being happy no sin. Movies, friends, conversations when they make you happy
(and not dull your time) are all good. The more endearing and joyful the
affair, sooner the ‘Diwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’!
Really, it has got to be about the
journey. About finding opportunities, creating possibilities. Most importantly,
never giving yourself a chance to regret. When that sense of enlightenment
dawns - the path matters more, the end becomes of little consequence. But you
win the race anyway. By then, this steeplechase would have become the smallest
of the many challenges you had set yourself to overcome.
