Agra: Suraj Tiwari of Mainpuri has emerged as one of the standout stories of the UPSC Civil Services Exam 2022. Tiwari has scored the 917th rank, but it’s the odds he has overcome that really highlight his achievement.
The 26-year-old lost both his legs as well as his right arm and two fingers of his left hand in a train accident at Ghaziabad’s Dadri in 2017. For the family, it was a time of extreme despair. Just earlier that year, Tiwari’s elder brother Rahul had died.
For Tiwari, the son of a tailor and housewife with two other siblings, a battle with depression ensued, and he dropped out of his BSc course at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).
Six months later, however, he was back at JNU with a strengthened resolve, and enrolled himself for a BA in Russian.
In 2020, he got enrolled for a Master’s in the same subject and began to attempt the UPSC exam just as Covid struck.
On his first try, he passed the written test but fell short in the interview by a few points. Success came in the second attempt.
Speaking to ThePrint, Tiwari said persistence was the key to success. Instead of studying for 15-16 hours each day, studying with a focused mind for just a few hours every day can lead to success, he added.
Just how big a deal was clearing the UPSC for Tiwari? He had barely passed his Class 12 exams in 2014, after failing the previous year.
Tiwari’s father Rajesh Tiwari told ThePrint that, at one stage, he could not believe his son had finally achieved success despite facing so many difficulties.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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