When Three Roommates Cracked UPSC Together in 2017 All three friends, IPS Saad Miya Khan, IAS Vishal Mishra, and IAS Gaurav Vijayram Kumar, lived, studied and became administrative officers together.
In an extraordinary display of determination and camaraderie, three roommates achieved the remarkable feat of clearing the UPSC Civil Services Examination together in 2017. This inspiring story highlights the power of friendship and collective effort in overcoming one of the most challenging examinations in India.
You may be familiar with the famous song “Yeh Dosti Hum Nahin Todenge” from the film Sholay, and have heard numerous stories about friendship. Here, we present the success story of three IAS-IPS officers whose bond exemplifies true camaraderie. IPS Saad Miya Khan, IAS Vishal Mishra, and IAS Gaurav Vijayram Kumar, lived, studied, and ultimately became administrative officers together. All three cleared the UPSC exam in 2017.
Saad Miya Khan hails from Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. He met Vishal Mishra during their B.Tech studies at Harcourt Butler Technological University (HBTU), Kanpur. Both later pursued M.Tech at IIT Kanpur. Among their group, Saad Miya Khan emerged as the top-ranking individual.
After completing their M.Tech degrees, Vishal Mishra and Saad Miya Khan moved to Delhi to prepare for the UPSC exams. There, they met Gaurav Vijayaram Kumar, and the three quickly became friends, embarking on their civil service preparation journey together.
Saad first attempted the UPSC Civil Services Examination in 2013. After four unsuccessful attempts, he finally succeeded on his fifth try in 2017, securing an impressive All India Rank of 25. Despite his high rank, he chose to join the Indian Police Service (IPS) instead of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), attributing his previous failures to challenges in the general studies section.
Gaurav Kumar, meanwhile, completed his B.E. Hons. in Mechanical Engineering from PEC University of Technology, Chandigarh. He then moved to Delhi to prepare for the UPSC exam. In 2017, during his fourth attempt, Gaurav achieved success, securing an All India Rank of 34.
In an interview, Saad Miya Khan admitted that he was not adequately prepared for the main examination in his initial attempt. “In the initial attempt, I was not prepared well for the main examination, and in the subsequent attempt, I didn’t score well in general studies papers,” he said.
IAS Vishal Mishra, a resident of Uttarakhand, studied with Saad Khan in Kanpur. He cracked the UPSC exam in 2017 with a 49th rank and became an IAS officer in the 2018 batch.
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