Girish Chaudhary from Karnal, Haryana, has triumphed in the 2023 UPSC exam, securing the 263rd rank after an arduous journey filled with perseverance and determination. Coming from a family deeply rooted in resilience—his grandfather migrated to India during the 1947 partition and worked various jobs before retiring as a Patwari—Girish carried forward this legacy by aiming for civil service success.
Girish, initially aspiring to be a journalist, shifted gears to pursue the UPSC exam after completing a B.Tech in Computer Science and securing a job at EY. However, her desire for a more fulfilling career led her to quit her job and fully commit to preparing for the highly competitive civil services examination.
Her journey, however, was not without its challenges. Girish faced repeated setbacks, missing the UPSC prelims cutoff by 20 marks in her first attempt in 2018 and by just 1.5 marks in 2019. Her third attempt in 2020 was derailed by severe anxiety, which affected her performance. In 2021, despite battling a panic attack the night before the exam, she mustered the courage to appear for it but failed once again.
Determined to succeed, Girish rededicated herself to the exam in 2022. With medical support to manage anxiety, she finally cleared the prelims and mains, though she missed the final list by a narrow margin in the interview round. However, her persistence paid off in her final attempt in 2023, where she not only cleared the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) mains exam but also achieved success in the UPSC exam, securing a rank of 263, as mentioned in a report by DNA.
Girish’s inspiring journey highlights the importance of resilience, illustrating that failure is never the end but part of the path to success. Her story serves as motivation for countless aspirants facing similar challenges in their UPSC journey.
