When UPSC Breaks Your Dreams: 12 Attempts, 7 Mains, 5 Interviews… Yet NO Selection

When UPSC Fails You: 12 Attempts, 7 Mains, 5 Interviews but NO Selection

When the results for the Civil Services exam came out, the world rushed to celebrate the winners. News stories filled with smiling faces and inspiring tales of those who had made it. But success has a quieter, more complicated cousin, one that teaches a different kind of lesson. This is a story about that cousin. This is the story of Kunal R. Virulkar.

For Kunal, the UPSC exam was not a single chapter in his life, it was an entire era. It was a journey that stretched over twelve long years.

It began in 2012, full of hope, and ended with a stumble at the very first hurdle, the Preliminary exam. He got up and tried again in 2013. This time, he cleared the Prelims but couldn't get past the Mains. The pattern repeated in 2014. Another year, another Mains exam he did not qualify for.

Then, in 2015, a breakthrough. He qualified for the Mains and then, for the first time, faced the final Interview. When the final marks were calculated, he found he had missed selection by just 52 marks. It was a heartbreak, but it was also a sign. He was close. So close.

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But the path to success is never a straight line. In 2016 and 2017, he was back to failing the Prelims. It felt like starting over from zero.

Yet, he persisted. In 2018, he was back in the game, clearing both the Prelims and Mains. The final tally of marks that year would become a particularly sharp memory. He missed becoming a civil servant by a single, solitary mark. One mark, the difference between a lifetime of service and another year of struggle.

The cycle continued. He failed the Prelims in 2019. In 2020, he made it to the end again, missing the final list by 10 marks. In 2021, the gap was 16 marks. After failing the Prelims in 2022, he gathered himself for one more try in 2023. The result? He missed by 9 marks.

Twelve attempts. Seven times he wrote the Mains exam. Five times he sat for the intimidating Interview. And yet, no final selection.

When the 2023 results were declared, Kunal decided to share his story with the world. He didn't frame it as a tragedy. On a social media platform, he simply wrote: “12 attempts, 7 mains, 5 interviews. No selection…" He added, with a touch of poetry, “Shayad zindagi ka doosra naam hi sangarsh hai.” (Maybe the other name for life is struggle.)

His post was not a cry of defeat, but a quiet statement of fact. And the world heard it.

Kunal's story is a powerful reminder that our lives are not just defined by our final destinations. He is an engineer and a mentor, and the knowledge and strength he gained from his twelve-year journey are etched into his character.

His example teaches a crucial lesson: the importance of celebrating the effort, not just the outcome. And sometimes, the most inspiring story isn't about the person who reached the peak, but about the one who never stopped climbing.