Thoughtful Tips

“The secret of success is constancy to purpose”. - Benjamin Disraeli
Ankur Vyas
(Indian Revenue Services)
MBA 2008
He can be reached at vyas.anku7@gmail.com

I strongly believe in this statement as it was nothing but stick-to-it-iveness which paved the way towards my goal. Since my childhood, I had a penchant for books, Reading was one thing I would always enjoy and this hobby did inculcate a strong foundation of knowledge in me. With passage of time my love towards reading grew and so did I. In school, I was good at academics and my teachers used to consider me one of the sincere and hardworking students. I won’t say I was the best, but one amongst the best. I would also participate in extra-curricular activities, such as dramatics, quiz, creative writing, etc., which, in turn, helped me to build an all round capability towards variety of traits such as public speaking, good writing skills and, most importantly, confidence to fall back upon. I opted for sciences after matriculation and cleared the entrance test for MBBS in Mysore and BDS in my home state, Himachal Pradesh, but since I never aspired to be a doctor, I didn’t join either. This was something my parents didn’t agree with but I had my own goal, which was to be an IAS officer. I remember when I was in class 7, my father, who happens to be a gazetted officer in Himachal Pradesh Government took me along to meet a female IAS officer, who was at the Secretary rank in the department my father worked in. At first, I thought how come such a young person can control and command such a big department? The answer was in the three alphabets—IAS. I was mesmerized by the way she carried herself among the masses, her authoritative speech and the respect she was commanding from everyone. That day I told myself that I wanted to be like her. It was where my inspiration came from.

By this time I had got to know about the exam and the intricacies associated with it. Honestly speaking, I realized that I was up against facing one of the toughest exams in terms of vastness of the syllabus and the quality of questions. A success rate of 0.237% was not at all promising. But I said to myself that I can even afford to fail, as some goals are worthy enough that it’s glorious even to fail; but I should not fail to make the effort. This thought helped me to start the pursuit of my dream. I started collecting relevant study material, which was not easy, for Shimla was not ideal for IAS preparation, as not many people from here took IAS as a career option. Moreover, the syllabus was very vast and required in-depth analysis of the subject matter. I had no option but to start with what I had and where I was, as despite all my problems I had my optimism that I can do it, if I am able to put in my best.

Time flew by and it was the end of college. Although I had prepared my optional in science, I was not happy about general studies. So I made up my mind to go to Delhi which, they said, was the Mecca of civil services coaching. I joined a coaching centre and started preparing wholeheartedly, studying as much as I could. Study hours would extend to 14 hrs in a day leaving no time for other activities. The family back home was worried, as I would at times not inform them about my well-being as that would dilute my concentration and make me feel home sick. It was hard, but “no-pain-no-gain”, I told myself. After about a year my father came to take me back. Although reluctant I couldn’t say no. So I came back to Shimla. After writing the prelims, my father told me to pursue my studies further, he wanted me to take up MBA from INC. I was not at all excited, because I knew MBA was a tough degree to pursue along with IAS. But I had no other choice except to accept the challenge. It was a real test of mycharacter studying management, marketing, finance, HR from MBA and preparing for the main exams for IAS as well; but I must say the faculty at INC was of real help to me to enable me to give my best on both fronts. I scored a good CGPA in the first semester and with it came the moment I was waiting for, a call from UPSC to write the ‘mains’. ‘Wow’ I exclaimed ‘this is it !!’

Right before my second semester, I was off to Chandigarh to write my ‘mains’, which went quite well, since I had prepared well. It was here I got to know why IAS is one of the toughest exam because in every paper, 30% of questions were those I had never heard of despite studying well, through my syllabus, but I had been told that a score of around 55% would ensure an interview call. So I did my best to get maximum marks by answering well. I was satisfied with my first attempt at ‘mains’ and came back to write End-Sem Exams for the second Sem… Gosh!!! It was tough but I knew I had to pull through and I did, a CGPA of 8.09, I felt happy about my effort but it was another result I was waiting for that came right at the beginning of our SIP. Ankur Vyas, yours truly, had been selected out of a handful from all across India, for the personality test for IAS and believe me, I was as happy as Neil Armstrong setting his foot on the moon, or may be even more. I was interviewed by a panel of highly knowledgeable people with crystal clear concepts. I knew whatever I spoke had to be nothing but quality and I did my best to answer the board aptly and with brevity, for now my thinking was on test along with my notions about the society and what changes I would like to forge in the system.

I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I came out of the UPSC, as I had appeared for all three stages of the exam. I felt proud that this is something I can cherish for the rest of my life. Again back to MBA where my SIP was going on with Reliance Life. I must admit it was INC faculty, who helped me out to complete my MBA, or else I would have had to drop out in between. I am really grateful to all of them without whose help, MBA was just not possible. Then came the D- day when the IAS results were out. I was so nervous that I went in slippers to the cybercafé. Alas my fairy tale didn’t have a fairy tale ending. I could not make it to the final list, just missed by a whisker that made it even tougher. I was dejected, but not disheartened because “defeat is not when you fall down; it is when you refuse to stand up” as one of my friends Shruti, had told me and how right she was. I had no time to grieve as after couple of days again it was the IAS prelims. So I regrouped myself again with the same enthusiasm and wrote the exam. This is one of the tough aspects of this exam. If you fail, you need to start from scratch again. I was ready to put myself under the same strenuous routine, because it was my dream and I had to make it come true, come what may. Ajit, one of my very close friends, kept saying one thing “don’t be tensed, buddy. You will make it” and the confidence with which he used to say it induced life and blood to my efforts. Now my parents were much more involved as they didn’t want me to break down under the sheer pressure of this exam. My efforts again bore fruit, as I cleared the prelims again, but I had to miss my third Sem exams at INC as it clashed with the mains. Again INC came to my rescue. I dropped the regular exams and appeared for examination make-up. I wrote the IAS ‘mains’ from Delhi.

In February, I bid adieu to INC, a place which taught me so many things, gave me so many friends, made a science graduate worthy of an MBA in no time. The faculty was so cooperative and caring, but more importantly, professional in their way of teaching management. I am sure, with time INC will be a robust force in the field of management education. I wish INC all the best for the future and express my gratitude for providing me such good learning and giving me principles which are going to shape my life in future.

I had the IAS interview call immediately after completion of my MBA; I rejoiced all over again clearing two successive ‘mains’ and I said to myself, “this is it!” I appeared for the interview with utmost confidence as I had nothing to lose.

Two months had passed. I don’t know where I was. But God didn’t break my hope. My prayers along with those of my parents and friends did not go unanswered. It was a victory for my hope, strong willpower, and faith in God. My father handed me an envelope from the UPSC. Which read “CANDIDATE RECOMMENDED FOR SELECTION BY THE BOARD” I was wonderstruck. It meant that I had made it to the most prestigious and tough services, in one of the best bureaucratic systems of this world. I was elated! UPSC gave me time to join and then start my portfolio, i.e., Revenue Officer, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India. IRS is fourth in the hierarchy after IAS, IFS, and IPS. To me, it is the fruit of my hard work, ability to see beyond the present, perseverance, setting my priorities right, setting high standards for myself and then trying my heart to reach those benchmarks, which I had set for myself. I would like to thank the Almighty first, then my Gods on earth – my parents, teachers, relatives, and last, but not the least, all my friends without whom Ankur could never have existed. For all those people who have a dream in their eyes, who long for something that is their goal of life, I just want to say “If you want something you never had then do something you have never done” I will be writing the Civil Services exams again this time to replace the “R” in this three letter prefix to my name (IRS) with “A”.

It’s Not The End, It’s Just The Beginning!!!