IAS is a dream career of many peoples but to become an IAS officer is not at all easy. You have to do a lot of hard work in order to achieve your success. In this article, we are going to discuss another example which made our country proud.
Artika Shukla cracked the UPSC IAS exam in her first attempt only and without any coaching classes. She got AIR 4 in UPSC IAS 2015. She made her parents proud. She made everyone proud by her stunning achievement in the UPSC Civil services Examination.
UPSC is a very prestigious exam and to become a national topper is a proud moment for everyone. She is a true example of brilliance and inspiration. So we hope that our article will help you to stay motivated and tells you the importance of hard work in your life.
Also see: How to prepare for UPSC?
ABOUT ARTIKA SHUKLA
Father’s Name: Dr. Brijesh Shukla
Mother’s Name: Lena Shukla
Brother’s Name: Gaurav Shukla
Brother’s Name: Utkarsh Shukla
Birth Place: Varanasi, India
Residence: Gandhinagar, Naria
Age: 25
No. of Attempt: 1
Rank: AIR 4
Also read: Motivational story of Ira Singhal: IAS Topper.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
She comes from a family where the education is a most important thing for the career. She was born in Varanasi but now she is a resident of Gandhinagar. Her family was a huge support for her in her success. Her brother always motivated her to prepare for UPSC exams.
Her father is a physician and also the secretary of IMA. Her mother is housemaker and she played a very important role in her success. She motivated her daughter to do hard work and tell her to believe that she can do it. She is the youngest member of her family, both of her brothers are elder than her.
Her eldest brother, Gaurav Shukla always motivated her to prepare for the exams as he also cracked the UPSC exam in 2012. His brother is an IAS officer and currently posted in Guwahati. Her elder brother, Utkarsh Shukla has also cracked the UPSC exam and he is currently an officer of Indian Railway Traffic Services (IRTS).
After her achievement, her father said that “It is a happy and proud moment for us. She had worked really hard and always been an intelligent student and also I am glad that luck was on her side. In fact, we used to give quite a high importance to education”.
Artika was also amazed by her performance in the exams. She told a media person that “This is a great moment. I will work tirelessly for bringing a positive change in lives of the poor. I will be an honest officer with a difference as the god has given me a chance to serve the people. I will do it with utmost sincerity and dedication. I want to see India on top of the world. As an IAS officer, I will make efforts for it“.
Must read: Daily Current affairs for UPSC preparation.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
She is a brilliant student from her school days. She was always interested in studies. For her being educated is important.
She did her schooling in Varanasi from St. John School. She was the topper of her school. Later on, she wants to pursue something different and something interesting. So she shifted to Delhi.
She cracked the pre-medical test and went to MAMCH for MBBS. She had also done an internship at Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhi and after some time she joined PGIMER, Chandigarh as a Junior Intern.
When she was pursuing her MBBS, her brother suggested her to prepare for UPSC examination. After completing her MBBS she was doing MD Pediatrics from Chandigarh. But she will be going to Mussourie for her IAS training.
Also read: Struggle of Nandini KR: IAS Topper.
STRUGGLE
She was a brilliant student and always interested in studies. She resigned from the course (MD) and started preparing for UPSC. It was a tough decision for her as from her younger days she was interested in medical but her brother suggested her to go with UPSC and do something for our country.
When she started her preparation, it was totally a new field for her. She had no idea about where to start, what to do and what will be the right things she will need for her preparation. But she was confident about herself she wanted to at least give a try at Civil Services.
Her brother helped a lot during her preparation. He motivated her and suggested her about the preparation. He told her not to join any coaching classes instead of that she should prepare without any classes. She started her preparation in 2014.
She was completely depended on her brother, Gaurav as he was also cracked UPSC. Her brother gives her the notes of some subjects and suggested her to read a newspaper daily. Her brother provided some useful tips for her during preparation. She used to follow Insights and give some test so that she can learn new things.
She always revised all the things she learned after some regular interval. She used to read NCERT books as well to get some knowledge of geography, history etc. So, she had to struggle in her hard work but she made it to the exams and makes the whole country proud.
Also read: Meet Youngest IAS Officer: Tina Dabi.
SCORECARD OF ARTIKA
She had scored very well and got 1000 marks and secured 4th rank all over India. Her scores are given below:
Mandatory Subjects:
Essay: 139
General Studies-I: 088
General Studies-II: 096
General Studies-III: 112
General Studies-IV: 106
Optional Subjects:
Optional-I: 144
Optional-II: 142
Written Total: 827
Personality Test: 173
Total: 1000
Must see: Strategies for preparation of UPSC.
STRATEGY
There is always a strategy behind a successful plan. So, the strategies Artika followed are:
1. Optional Subject
Always choose an optional subject you’re comfortable with. It is the only choice you get in the exams so use it smartly. Never go for any subjects which don’t suit you.
Like Artika was a Science student, she had a deep knowledge of medical stuff. So she opted Medial Science as her optional subject. This will helped her to score well.
You can score smartly by choosing the correct optional subject. Optional marks also play an important role. So choose the subject which you enjoy reading and writing and you have a knowledge about.
2. Follow Insights
Insights is a very good and popular way to prepare for UPSC. You can get knowledge about current affairs, new technologies from insights. You can give revision tests on insights also which will help you to test your knowledge and make your preparation stronger.
3. Practice
As we all know, practice makes a person perfect. So always practice before your exams. You can attempt some general knowledge questions and practice them. You can also practice for your essay by writing some essays before the exam. Practice writing some essays on the recent or trending topics.
You can also practice and take help of previous year papers. This will give you an idea of the exam pattern and exam questions.
4. Read Newspaper
Reading newspaper is the thing which everyone suggests you during your preparation. But the question is “Can only reading the newspaper worth it?” No, to remember what you’ve read, you have to make notes.
So first thing is read a newspaper daily and the second important thing is to make notes from the newspaper. Take a pen or pencil and start making notes from the newspaper.
Must read: International relation for UPSC preparation.
So, we hope that our article will help you to prepare for UPSC Exams and let you know about some strategies or points during your preparation.
You can see some of her interviews by the following links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWkN9_VZEus
If you have any doubt or need guidance you can comment below, our team will try to answer it.
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