Meet IRS Girisha Chaudhary, who failed to even clear the UPSC prelims in her first four attempts, fell short in UPSC Mains in her fifth attempt, but persevered and ultimately cracked the exam in her sixth and last attempt in 2023.
The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) is one of the toughest in the country, and while for some success comes easy, but for many the journey of becoming an IAS, IPS, or an IRS officer is paved with hardships, full of setbacks, failures, and soul-crushing disappointments. One such example is IRS Girisha Chaudhary, who failed to even clear the UPSC prelims in her first four attempts, fell short in UPSC Mains in her fifth attempt, but persevered and ultimately cracked the exam in her sixth and last attempt in 2023, securing an impressive All-India Rank (AIR) of 263.
Who is Girisha Chaudhary?
Born in a middle-income household in Karnal, Haryana, Girisha’s family, which came to India from Pakistan during the 1947 partition, has a legacy of perseverance. After being forced to leave everything behind in Pakistan, Girisha’s grandfather worked menial jobs to ensure the family’s survival and later retired as a Patwari.
Girisha father served as a manager at the Punjab National Bank while her mother also worked in the banking sector.
Girisha Chaudhary early life, education
Since her early days, Girisha Chaudhary was never an exceptional student and wanted to be a journalist after completing her studies. However, life had other plans and she joined a college to pursue a B.Tech degree in Computer Science.
After completing her degree, Girisha landed a well-paying corporate job but despite stern opposition from friends and family, she decided to quit her job to focus on preparing for UPSC CSE.
Failures and panic attacks
Following the life-changing decision of quitting her job, Girisha Chaudhary immersed herself in preparations for UPSC exams. However, instant success was not in her stars as she failed in to crack the prelims in 2018 and 2019, falling short by 20 marks in her first and coming miserably close in her second, missing her shot by just 1.5 marks.
The repeated failures and societal pressures to pursue a different career path on young Girish and she suffered from insomnia and even had a panic attack the night before her fourth attempt in 2020 due to which she passed out and woke up next morning with severe anxiety. Girisha mustered the strength to sit in exam, but faced her fourth consecutive failure, sinking her deeper into depression and anxiety.
In 2021, Girisha, now on anti-anxiety medication, cleared the UPSC Prelims and but failed to make the interview list, falling short by 11 marks.
Success at last!
Despite successive failures which would overwhelm any normal person, Girish refused to give up and finally cracked the UPSC CSE in 2023, securing an impressive rank of 263 and ultimately realising her dream of becoming a civil servant.
Notably, Girisha had also cleared the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) Mains in her fist attempt in the same year but the real success came when he was listed among UPSC toppers for the year.
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