Express guard's son cracks UPSC exam

The UPSC examination's success saga of this boy is no less than a Bollywood story. His father is serving as Express Guard in South Western Railways in Hubballi. He cracked the examination in his fifth attempt with a firm belief in principle ''Try, try, try again" and secured 235th rank.

"Constant efforts, confidence and perseverance are key to my success in UPSC Examinations," Srinivas MP, son of South Western Railways Express Guard and a native of Davangere said.

To achieve his dream and serve as an officer in India, he quit his job as a software engineer in the US and returned to India in 2016 after a year. Though he failed in his four attempts, he did not lose hope.

Speaking to DH, he said he used to write mock tests conducted by Insights IAS Academy in Bengaluru for two years to get acquainted with the format of the examinations. He had chosen Mathematics as an optional subject in his initial two attempts. Later, he switched to Kannada literature with the sole intention of cracking the examination.

"I took the guidance from Narahalli Subramanya and his tips and interaction proved highly beneficial for me."

On tips for budding IAS aspirants, he said regular studies, a thorough reading of old question papers and knowledge of current affairs and reading newspapers are vital to get a good ranking in the UPSC examinations.

He said his father Prasanna MP hails from Malebennur of Harihar taluk and his mother Sandhya MP from Harihar of Davangere district. After his father obtained a job as a guard in Railways, they moved to Hubballi and currently he is residing with his parents there.

He also made it clear that he is ready to serve as an officer in any department, adding that he is glad that he fulfilled his parents' dream.

He did BE in Instrumentation at R V College of Engineering in Bengaluru in 2014. Later, he went to the US and did PG in Computational Finance and Risk Management (CFRM) at The University of Washington. After working for a year in Russel Investments Company in America, he returned to India.

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