While many UPSC success stories speak of brilliant first attempts, IAS officer Vijay Wardhan's journey tells a different, more powerful truth that success isn't about how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up.
Hailing from Sirsa in Haryana, Vijay always dreamed of serving his country as a civil servant. After completing a B.Tech in Electronics Engineering, he moved to Delhi like lakhs of others, ready to dedicate himself to UPSC preparation. But what followed was a test of will that few could endure.
Year after year, Vijay faced closed doors. He attempted numerous government exams, including Haryana PCS, UPPSC, SSC, CGL and the UPSC itself, accumulating a staggering 35 unsuccessful attempts in total. For many, this would have been reason enough to quit. For Vijay, it became fuel.
Instead of seeing each failure as a defeat, he treated it as a lesson. He analysed his mistakes, adjusted his strategy and returned stronger each time. His journey wasn't a straight line to success but a long, winding road built on resilience.
In 2018, his persistence finally paid off. He cleared the UPSC exam with an impressive All India Rank (AIR) of 104 and was selected for the Indian Police Service (IPS). For most, this would have been the happy ending. But for Vijay, it was only the beginning.
He had always dreamed of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). So, while serving as an IPS officer, he prepared once more. In 2021, he re-attempted the UPSC exam—and cleared it again, achieving his ultimate goal of becoming an IAS officer.
Vijay's story is a living testament to the power of never giving up. He didn't just keep trying the same thing 35 times, but he learned, adapted and evolved with each attempt. His journey teaches us that failure is not a full stop, it's a comma in the story of your success. For anyone on the verge of giving up, remember the man who failed 35 times but never lost faith, and eventually cracked the world's toughest exam not once, but twice.
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