[3] BPSC Experience : Prelims, Mains, Interview

Besides UPSC, I also wrote the 65th BPSC Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) and the results have arrived. I have secured Rank 19th, and have been allocated Bihar Educational Services (BES). Marks are awaited.

I want to share my experience of the BPSC, because a number of people who prepare for UPSC Civil Services also write other exams. I might be able to give some pointers on how to prepare, especially for aspirants who have simultaneously prepared for UPSC.

General Information

BPSC conducts the exam in three stages. While the syllabus is quite similar, but the quality and nature of questions is quite different. It is a misconception that a person who can clear UPSC, will definitely be able to clear State PCS exams, or at least, that’s my feeling. The reason is the emphasis on state’s history and geography. Also, the nature of questions focuses on recollection than analysis, and I personally like the latter.

BPSC syllabus

Prelims

The paper is of 150 marks, from 6 areas – General Science, CA, History of India and Bihar, Geography of India and Bihar, Polity & Economy of India and Bihar, General Mental Ability. I was able to score full marks in Science, MAT which form a significant portion. I did very poor on History and Geography as most of it was in context of Bihar, but did moderately well in Polity & Current Affairs. Do note that BPSC doesn’t allow you to choose your Exam centre. I was given Bihar Sharif and to reach to the exam centre and to come back turned out to be an adventure in itself.

For preparation, I tried to cover History and Geography from past 3 years of Question Papers available online. I memorized as many facts as I could in that short time-frame. Since most questions are factual like “No of LA seats in Bihar, it’s population growth rate, most densely populated district”, there is little scope of guesswork. The cutoff was 97 and I got 100, with 2 nights of preparation.

My crude BPSC Prelims notes

Mains

BPSC Mains was relatively better in quality of questions than Prelims. There are 4 papers – Hindi, GS-I, GS-II and Optional (Sociology for me). Answers have to be written in answer booklets, which were very coarse & blackish. I found quite amusing.

My UPSC Mains was scheduled in Jan 2021, and BPSC Mains was in Nov 2020. So, I felt that it will be a good exercise of exam-like environment. But, I planned to not devote more than 2 days worth of preparation. I downloaded past 3 years of all the 4 papers and tried to see if I could answer them with my existing knowledge. BPSC asks one to answer only 10 out of 15 questions, which was a life saver for me. I selected the ones which I felt most comfortable with.

The syllabus diverged at quite a few places, like the Cultural History of Bihar and Mental Ability Section in GS-I. Interestingly, I prepared for Pala , which was asked in both BPSC & UPSC (Unfortunately, I hadn’t revised it for the latter). Sociology in BPSC is an outlier. It has more diverse and detailed syllabus than even UPSC Sociology. So, I prepared for them separately over 2-3 days before the exam and made notes on them. The questions asked were however, quite simpler than those asked in UPSC. You can find the divergence between Sociology syllabi from my notes, as the ones put in a table.

65th Mains exam QPs, without Sociology (which I couldn’t find online)

My crude BPSC Mains Notes

I would recommend you to appear for State PCS in two cases – You have reached a threshold of anxiety about future, or you want to practice UPSC-like exam. I have no particular opinion on other scenarios like private vs PCS jobs. On this, I can only quote Cicero “Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself.”

Interview

My BPSC Interview was scheduled on 12th August and my UPSC Interview was on 20th August. I planned to not go, but Papa convinced me to. It turned out all for well, because I had my UG Certificate at home, which I realized well in time. Again, I decided to go with only the preparation of UPSC Interview and did not read anything specifically for the Interview. Yet, it was very exciting for me, to be giving an Interview. However, it was very saddening to see the tattering condition of the waiting arrangement of candidates in BPSC Office.

All the candidates had a RAT test for COVID. We waited in a big airy room, full of adrenaline, to be called for the interview. In my panel, there were 4 interviewers – one gentleman Chairperson, a lady panelist and two gentlemen Panelists. The room was quite small, and had a chair, put against the wall. The panel had a glass sheet separating them from me. The Chairperson was very cordial, but the same cannot be said of other panelists, which I felt was to see my reaction to stress. M2 was frustrated with my answers, M3 asked factual questions & M4 was particularly combative.

Transcript

• Chairperson
  1. Why did you leave such a rich paying job as consulting, when your alumni like Pichai are leading Google ?
     • I was happy in 1st year of job, but I realized that I would sell ketchup till my last breath.
     • Bihar is my janmabhoomi, what better if it becomes my karmabhoomi, what better use of this life. (Impressed)
  2. What are you educational and job qualification? Where are you staying ? What is your optional?
  3. Who founded IIT Kgp? When was it established? What do we celebrate on the birthday of its founder? Where was he born?
     • BC Roy. 1951. Doctor’s day.
     • I didn’t know the last question. He told me – Bankipore, Patna
  4. What is Jajmani system?
     • Feature of the caste system, where jajman of upper caste gives food and protection to lower caste groups, in return for jobs like nai, dhobi. Part of WHR Rivers Unity Reciprocity Theory.
  5. What is the contribution of MN Srinivas ? What is Sanskritization?
     • Analyzed village studies in structural functionalist tradition.
     • Sanskritization is a process by which lower caste accept rituals, norms and practices of upper caste for social mobility. Studied in Sripuram
  6. I will give you an statement. If you support it, say why, if not, tell me why. Caste census – should it be conducted or not?
     • Should be conducted, because beneficiaries of welfare scheme eg Ujjwala identified through it.

• M2
  1. About caste census, do you support sub categorisation of caste into caste 1, caste 2 and caste 3?
     • Yes, because caste hierarchies are no longer homogenous. Id should be on caste basis, but sub-categorisation on economic like creamy layer
  2. If exclusion should be on economic basis, then what is the need to identify caste? Existing castes can be separated
     • Deprivation definition is different between Census & SECC. Census id by asset def eg cars, SECC id by multi dimensional status eg MPI
  3. [Not satisfied] Both are types of economic indicators, why caste information?
     • Because caste is multi dimensional deprivation, like caste based violence against rich castes as well
  4. [Frustrated] You studied at IIT, did you know the caste of other person. Wouldn’t a caste census lead to more caste hatred?
     • Census acts protect privacy, and no caste-based identifier would be given. Only govt would know
  5. [Super frustrated] If it is private, then what is the point of census? It is not confidential.
     • [Wanted to say, aggregation, but she moved ahead]
  6. What is desanskritization ?
     • Process where upper caste people accepting rituals, practices and norms of lower caste to gain reservation benefits.
  7. If de-sanskritization is happening for reservation benefits, then wouldn’t people lie on caste census? What is the point of doing Caste census?
     • Yogendra Singh’s theory of “Traditional modernization“, co-existence of of progressive and regressive social forces in India
  8. What role will you get as BAS officer ? [I didn’t know]
  9. If you are posted in Supaul or Shivhar district, What will be the difference in your quality of life between the two places – personally and professionally? [ Children’s education, parents’ health]
  10. What changes will happen in your own personal life ? [Marathon, OTT)
  11. And what will be change in your professional life ?
      • What I will loose in personal life, I will gain in personal life. Connected to community roots and impact people’s lives.
  12. Name two things you will add to Indian villages?
      • Health.” What can an SDO do?” Idk. “He can do nothing nothing. What else?”. Skill mapping

• M3
  1. What is the advantage of Rafale?
     • Fill strategic gap between heavy Migs & light Tejas as a Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft. “No, but why is the world afraid of it?” Idk.
  2. Which was first smart city of India? Bhubhaneshwar
  3. Which was first fully vaccinated city in India ? Bhubhaneshwar
  4. Which is the Har ghar jal city of India? Idk
  5. Which state is sponsoring Olympics hockey team? Odisha
  6. Why is it sponsoring ?
     • Many players from Sundargarh in Orissa, having produced numerous Captains. “But many from Punjab too”. Idk. “Because Naveen Patnaik was a hockey player himself”. Thank you Sir
  7. What is the name of military exercise between India and S Arabia? Idk
  8. What is eRUPI ?
     • Digital voucher system, which allows a person to encash voucher for a specific purpose only, thus, preventing its leakage
     • Who is implementing it? NPCI
  9. What have we done after IAF Jammu drone attacks?
     • DRDO jammers installed. Smash 2000 Plus of Israel fast-tracking acquisition
  10. What % of Assembly size can the council of ministers be ?
      • 15% for most states, under 91st Amendment. But only 10% for Delhi.
• M4
  1. According to you, what is one big issue with Indian villages? Migration
  2. Is it the disease or symptom?
     • Cyclical relation. Migration takes away productive labour force. Lack of employment opportunities result in migration
  3. What are the causes leading to migration ?
     • Health facility. Job. Amenities like water. “Nobody leaves cuz water is bad, plus Har Ghar Jal yojana”. [Should have said caste anonymity]
     • Pull factor of urban amenities like urban lifestyle. “Focus only on the pull factors”
  4. Lets take health. What is one magic wand you will rotate to solve health problems? [At this, he laughed to scorn me, looking at other Panelists to support his ridicule ]
     • Sir, Magic wands exist only in movies. If it was as easy as swooping a wand, would have already been solved
  5. What would make you happy? Is it that you want everyone to salute you, red batti car and naukar, 5 people doing sir, sir to you [Another scorning laughter. The Chairperson said let him give an answer, turned to me and asked to take a deep breath, think, give a positive answer]
     • Bihar is 36th on HDI in India. There are only 28 states and 8 UTs and Bihar is at the very last. If I can contribute to making it even 35th, it will be adequate for me.

After leaving the hall, I felt good about how I handled the stress scenarios. It boosted my confidence in my ability to handle a stress scenario in the UPSC interview. I clicked a selfie with Papa and took my flight back to Delhi, to prepare for the big day.

[2] UPSC : Working Aspirants Tips & FAQs

In this post, I want to add some nuggets of advice for working aspirants. I also want to address my take on some specific questions many people have asked me, under FAQ section. People have widely varying opinions on these aspects. My takes are only an addition, and to an extent, a repetition of some of these views.

My Experience

I have put my entire preparation journey on this post [1] UPSC : My Preparation Journey. It might help to picturize how I kept trying very hard to balance these two things. Speaking from experience, simultaneous preparation and working depends on the nature of job (eg IT vs banking) & times (COVID WFH). UPSC needs dedication and single-focus, which is difficult to achieve with office calls and tons of work.

I started preparation in early 2018, while working full time at Deloitte. I was not very serious about the preparation, and so, mostly read books slowly. It took me 2 months to read Laxmikant, 3 weeks to read Indian Constitution at Work and so on. Plus, reading newspaper also used to take a lot of time, since I had little background. So, I could do little besides reading newspaper and a few pages everyday. After June Prelims, I had decided to take Civil seriously. But I had to save money (to not take it from parents), for which I kept working for 6 more months till Dec 2018. Jan 2018-Dec 2018 was very less productive.

I left the job from Jan 2019 till Aug 2019, went back to hometown (Katihar) and prepared from there. I wrote and failed in Prelims in June, but continued the preparation. I joined back Zivanta in Sep 2019 as a Data Scientist. I got huge (unimaginable tbh) flexibility from my boss, who is an NRI. He had prepared himself and cleared in 1996, but got Allied Services. So, he had left to USA. He was very sympathetic to my cause, and gave me leaves whenever I needed. This year was also filled with a lot of other personal challenges, which made it more difficult. You can check that out here, if you are interested.

I worked there until my interviews in August 2021. I had made my mind to take a break from preparation in 2021, as prep had gotten very monotonous. I had lost much of the steam with which I started. So, after the Interview, I joined McKinsey. But luckily, I was in the merit list .

Working Aspirants Tips

1. Right Job : You can prepare for UPSC while working full-time in only some types of jobs. In my Consulting jobs at Deloitte USI and McKinsey, I barely used to get time for reading the newspaper, let alone books. It was only because of my job at Zivanta, the startup where my boss offered me flexi-work that it became possible (at half my previous salary, though :p)
2. Finding the right job : This is the most important thing in life of a working aspirant. For me, I had interned at Zivanta in 2017 for 3 months, and my Boss knew me before. Since I was coming from a big firm, at half the salary, I had a better negotiation hand. I know this is a very specific criteria which can’t always be fulfilled. But sectors with fixed office hours like teaching, product etc are easier to handle than Service-based, Sales or Consulting (12 hrs work-day, worst !!). You gotta figure this on your own, with your own assessment of your powers.
3. Leave Policy : Most offices have a leave policy, like Deloitte had a 3 months unpaid leave policy. But you cannot usually de-group that. But Avi (Boss) offered me to break it. I took 1 month off before Prelims, 1 months off before Mains and 2 weeks off before Interview. This was a crucial phase for preparation, and I couldn’t have done without it.
4. Sabbatical : Unfortunately, I couldn’t avail Sabbatical at Deloitte. They offer it only to people who have worked with the firm for 7 years. However, when I was leaving the firm in Dec 2018, my Boss had promised to take me back, by the end of the year (much like it happened in Aspirants!!). But by the time, I came back to join, he had left the firm. I could still have applied, but I wanted to look for something better. If you are getting a sabbatical, please take it ! Otherwise, leave the job for 9-10 months, finish the basic books and get back. This will serve as a foundation, on which you can value-add later.
5. Sabbatical Period : I would suggest taking sabbatical in the second leg of preparation, while reading basic books (like I did). From Dec 2018 – Apr 2019, I read basic books only. And try to get the 1 month leaves before exams in last leg of exam. In the middle leg, you are mostly updating notes and refreshing memory , which is possible with 3-4 hours of work. [ Check diagram below]
6. WFH : LIFE-SAVER. I abused my WFH privileges to be frank. And once, COVID started. It was pure heaven for me. I used to try and wrap office work in 4-5 hours and get more time to study. (I am very organized and a good coder. So, it used to take me less time). This benefit is obviously not present, when you are working, since you have to take part in chit-chat, small talk and boring formalities.
7. Coaching – I personally don’t believe that coaching is essential. I didn’t take any coaching at all. If you are working, coaching is a luxury due to the time commitments. Online coaching reduces the commute time, but from my NPTEL experience, it is not very effective. I was able to do all the preparation by myself and coaching would probably only had a marginal impact. Instead, follow toppers’ blogs, their videos, analysis videos for navigating your prep.
8. Optional : I had started with Maths optional, and studied it for nearly a year during my unofficial sabbatical. I later had to ditch all that hard-work, when I joined Zivanta, because Maths just takes too much time. Sociology was more manageable. So, I had to take this highly important decision because of my working.
9. Digital Notes : You have to keep digital notes. I use OneNote, where I can edit or revise from anywhere. This means if I am in office and I have free time, I can open its online version and edit from my office laptop. You cannot carry your copies or personal laptop to the office.
10. Study Material : I bought(downloaded) kindle(pdf) versions of almost all my books, and put them in kindle app(OneDrive). This again meant that I could carry my books and material anywhere. I could access these even from my phone and other people’s laptops (if needed).
11. Online Mock Tests : I wrote almost all my mock tests online. I bought a cheap printer-cum-scanner, and would print the answer booklet. Then, I would scan and upload it to the website. This saved me the commute time on weekends, since I stayed in Gurgaon.
12. Office Parties : I didn’t attend any office parties. And frankly, it is a waste of time if you are preparing. But you might not be able to skip all of them, all the time. Similarly, I avoided doing anything beyond the office hours, including meeting old friends.
13. Project Timing Negotiations : I used to study mainly in the morning. So, at the time of getting staffed in any project, I would negotiate with the Engagement Manager (EM) that I will start my day late. It is essential that you get a big chunk of uninterrupted study time, and not numerous broken ones.
14. Relaxation : Stepping in two boats at a time is a tough nut to crack. There is no easy way out. You have to find time to relax as well. I used to go running, 20 minutes – 3 km, every 2-3 days. It is essential to keep your emotions in check, lest they end up making this more difficult for you. I also started reading a lot of Hindi poetry, which also helped in my interview.
15. Sacrifices : UPSC demands a lot of sacrifices. For a working aspirant, these are manifold, especially if you have a family or financial compulsions. But I always used to recall a story I read about a candidate – he was married, about to have a baby, sole bread-winner, working full time at RBI. Imagine that man’s struggle, and he had gotten a two-digit rank. This was really, really inspiring. In some ways, my story also turned to be quite tumultuous, read here (XD).
16. Support : Household work is an essential aspect of living alone. So, either don’t live alone (Thank you @prachichime), or keep a maid to minimize any work you might have to do. Emotional support needed even more for a working aspirant, because you are always apprehensive how you are competing with people who do nothing but study. I had done to ORN a few times. Every time I looked at students toiling so hard, I felt a little anxious about the shortage of time at hand.
17. Typical Workday : This is highly variable. Depending upon intensity of project and timing of the call set, I might have the whole day free or no time at all. This also varies by industry you work
    • 6 AM – Wake up, freshen & coffee. Sit to study at 6:30 AM
    • 6:30 – 10 AM : My Daily Minimum Routine – IE Explained, Hindu, Last Day’s Vision CA, 25 MCQs – Iasbaba, Insights. I had made this process efficient enough to finish in 3:30 hours exact.
    • 10 AM – Leave for office. Take morning check-in calls. Setting office work agenda. Try and finish up as soon as possible, like by 1 AM.
    • 1-3 PM – Devote some time to revising things or covering backlog work, if you are at home. If you are in office, try getting in some unoccupied conference room. You are not gonna get this window everyday. So, no high priority work here
    • 3-6 PM : Take up more calls. Do more work. Wrap up for the day. Leave for home (or get up from the work-station).
    • 7 PM – 9 PM : Read new stuff, or basic books. Cover Value Added Material, or prepare for Optional.
    • 9-10 PM : Dinner, watch Friends or some series. Go to sleep.

General Preparation Workflow. Notice when to take sabbatical / leave

FAQ 1 : Should I leave the job?

Easiest answer is Yes. I did it, and still, I believe that it cannot be done. I had specific circumstances, like contacts to get the desirable job, negotiation skills to get these flexibilities and most importantly, a kind boss who allowed me these things. I couldn’t have cleared it with Deloitte or McKinsey.

Even if you find a relaxing job, it would be preferable to take a sabbatical or leave the office for some-time during the starting phase. Join back once you feel more confident of your preparation.

FAQ 2 : Should I tell people in my office that I am preparing?

I believe you should. Because I have found most people to be more supportive and accommodating if they know about your personal struggles. Plus, many of yours co-workers would have appeared / contemplated about appearing for UPSC. They go out of their way to help you.

However, it might be a good idea to not tell them this if you are being interviewed for a job. That might give a bad impression that you will not take the job seriously.

FAQ 3 : Isn’t it unethical to study during office hours?

Opinions will definitely vary. But I don’t consider it to be unethical. In office, you were hired to do a job. If you can deliver on those asks, and find time to study by being efficient / pragmatic, it’s an achievement. How is this worse than a person who uses that office time to gossip, use Facebook or party.

FAQ 4 : These are only downsides. Are there any upsides to being a working aspirant?

I feel there are a few.

• Financial independence is liberating. Money doesn’t become an issue for you. I wouldn’t have to think twice while choosing between cheap and good.
• Self-esteem when many of your friends would be earning and spending lavishly. This is even truer for graduates IIT/NIT or other top colleges. I really hurts to see your friends vacationing in Europe.
• Interviewers give you brownie points for managing both. I got this compliment in many mocks. I am yet to see the final mark-sheet, whether final interviewers were impressed too.
• Career Gap is a major obstacle for people who don’t eventually make it through. But I wouldn’t over-emphasize this factor. If you are a serious candidate, you might eventually end up getting RBI, EPFO etc. But for me, if IFS wouldn’t work out, my plan B is going back to corporate. So, I played safe this way.
• Respite from studies, because studying could also turn monotonous.

FAQ 5 : To prepare or To not prepare?

UPSC is called “Mother of all exams”, but at the end of the day, it is still an exam and not the beginning / end of life. Success/failure in the exam is not and should not be linked to your self-esteem. But truth be told, :

1. It is indeed a very long exam. When I broke the news that I want to prepare for UPSC to my flatmate in 2017, he thought he should do something too. But he didn’t want to study for something this heavy. So, he prepared and got admission to IIMA in 2017 only with 2 hrs preparation for 2 months, post-graduated in 2019 and started working at BCG (big co.). By then, I had failed two Prelims and had no results to show for last 2 years.
2. Poverty hurts. I was able to pay back my education loan within 12 months of working at Deloitte. For the 9 months I was unemployed between Dec 2018 and Sep 2019, it did hurt on every 1st of month. Once you get the taste of endorphins of salary credit, it hurts to not have that. Once you stop asking parents for money and have had financial independence, it hurts to not have that.

But, at the end of the day, you have to choose the “path of least regret“. Do what it takes to minimize your regrets 30 years from now (or 10 for mid-life crisis). If that includes preparing while working, know that you will have to make a lot of adjustments to your work-style, study-style and life-style.

I want to give one last advice : if you can, leave the job. if you can’t, leave the job temporarily.

[1] UPSC : My Preparation Journey

Update 24 Sep 2021 : Results were out today. I got AIR 233. It’s a day of joy for people around me.

I am writing this blog on 1st September 2021, 12 days after my Interview and probably a month before the release of the final results. I will list down in this series of posts, everything that I did, things which I think I did right, things where I improved and lessons for fellow aspirants.

Why UPSC?

Different people over the course of time have asked me this question. For me, UPSC allows me entry to Foreign Services which I believe is the most exciting job a person can have. To represent one’s country abroad, in front of other countries and international fora, will be an utmost honour for me. It is a job of immense responsibility and I believe requires an unparalleled mettle and dexterity. I wanted that for myself and I believed that no corporate job can give that kind of a distinction.

I understand that for most people, Administrative Service is the main attraction to All India Services. It is true that it allows one to work at the ground level, with the people, among the people and people tend to really admire the hard-working and polite IAS officers. But I really believe that my core competencies and potential are better aligned to IFS than to IAS. For me, the knowledge of the world works at a macro scale seemed preferable to exercising power at a micro level.

My Marksheet

Preparation Timeline

• 2017 July : Graduated from IIT Kharagpur in April. Joined Deloitte through campus placements as a data scientist

• 2017 Sep : Started reading the book Choices by Shivshankar Menon. Realized how interesting a career choice of Indian Foreign Services (IFS) can be. Spent the first few days reading Quora answers of serving diplomats, blog posts, watching videos of Ms Eenam Gambhir.

• 2017 Oct : Had already bought the Rs 27K Mains test series of VisionIAS, all the famous books of UPSC like Laxmikant, Ramesh Singh, Bipan Chandra. Took 3 months (Oct-Dec) only to finish Laxmi Kant. Soon, bough BYJU’s Prelims test series of 30 tests as well (wrote none).

• 2017 Dec : Got staffed in an intensive project at Deloitte. Working full time & lot of travelling on office work, couldn’t study anything newspaper till April. Switched to Evernote for note-making, since carrying notebook everywhere was difficult.

• 2018 June : Attempted Prelims with Tukke-bazi, 3 Mock tests and read 12 monthly compilations, Laxmikant & Bipan Chandra. In the cab on my way back home, I had decided to go all-in for Civil Service Preparation.

  Chose Maths (so far hadn’t thought about it) that night. Also ordered Lexicon and IMS material for preparation.

• 2018 Aug : Took 3 months to read and make chapterwise notes of Lexicon till August. Started studying Maths after August. Was still working, but I had lost all interest in the corporate job and was only working to save money.

• 2018 Dec : Left job, finished first round of Maths syllabus (except Modern Algebra). Went Katihar to study. Focused on basic books first, but couldn’t read newspaper.

• 2019 June : Was getting ~95 in Prelims, and it was a complete heartbreak. I always had thought that Prelims will not be an issue for me, and only focused on Mains. Stayed up all night and watched Prelims Analysis videos of VisionIAS

• 2019 Oct : Came back to Delhi and started working for an Indian startup again. Had my notes in proper shape for both GS & mains, but lacked Value Addition.

• 2019 Nov : Had to change Maths optional and chose sociology (one of the best decisions ever), after meeting a fellow IITian at a test centre who also resonated my view if you are not studying Maths everyday, it will be impossible to cover it

• 2020 Mar : Finished 2 rounds of Sociology preparation. Had skipped studying for GS and planned to get into full gear for Prelims preparation. But COVID delay pushed me into a phase of inactivity till August 2020, when I again took it seriously

• 2020 Oct : After Prelims, I felt I was at the edge again at ~102, so, I couldn’t start hearty preparation of Mains. But the result on 23rd Oct, put me in 110% activity zone

• 2021 Jan : I was getting good remarks in both Sociology and GS papers. I was able to finish all the papers without missing any question for all 20 mocks I wrote before Mains. But I was feeling burnt out too. Couldn’t study at all between GS & Optional

• 2021 July : 3 things happened : 1. Started looking to change jobs from the startup, because startup was a dull job & got an offer from McKinsey 2. Was so burnt out that didn’t study at all after Jan 2021 till July, not even newspaper 3. Mains result declared in March were pushed indefinitely.

• 2021 Aug : Interviews went well on 12 & 20 August (I had cleared BPSC Mains as well) and I had a very positive feeling about the result. But still, I left the job at the startup and joined McKinsey as a Senior Analyst on 30 August

So, it took me 4 years in total and more than 3 years of whole-hearted preparation. People have survived much worse odds. My purpose of creating this timeline, which I didn’t see any other topper doing was to tell you – it’s okay to feel that this has been too long. And if you feel your journey has been too strenuous, know that it is the same for many other aspirants. Such is the nature of this exam, and such are the hurdles. You have to keep the flame alive inside you…