Ishita Rathi from Delhi, who achieved Rank 8 in this year’s UPSC examination, credits her police officer parents for inspiring her to contribute to the nation. Despite facing two unsuccessful attempts, her determination to serve India continued to motivate her.
Ishita Rathi, hailing from Delhi and the daughter of two Delhi police personnel, achieved Rank 8 in this year’s UPSC mains. She attributed her aspiration to serve the nation to her parents, who served as her inspiration. At 26 years old, she succeeded in clearing the UPSC in her third attempt, expressing her desire to contribute to women empowerment in the country. She firmly believes that the development of women is essential for a nation’s continued progress.
Reflecting on her journey, Ishita described her disbelief upon learning about her top 10 ranking in the UPSC CSE 2021 result. She emphasized the unpredictable nature of the exam, where each attempt presents unique challenges. Despite facing tough odds, she persevered along with numerous other aspirants. Ishita admitted that she did not anticipate such a high rank and was uncertain about making it to the finals. Nonetheless, her achievement came as a pleasant surprise amidst the challenges she encountered along the way.
Ishita who completed her postgraduate degree in economics from Madras School of Economics, said she did not opt for any coaching to crack the exam. Talking about her preparation she said, “While I did not take any coaching, but for my optional subject (Economic) I took mentoring.” Giving insights from her self preparing journey she says, “After looking at the syllabus I realized that these topics can be covered on my own. There is plenty of free material available now that students can take help from and prepare for the exam on their own.”
She formulated strategies by listening to previous years’ toppers. “For certain subjects such as geography and polity, NCERTs are very well written so referring to those will clear out basics for the candidates. Supplementing them with reading newspapers and current affairs is helpful. I also took help from popular UPSC preparation books, including Laxmikant for polity, and Spectrum for history. I mostly referred to all the resources that are referred by most toppers and it did help me. But the key in all his was multiple revisions, making your notes and revising them repeatedly.”
Giving preparation tip she said, “Candidates should try to do targeted studies, such as specialisation in subjects. This is an exam where candidates need to know all subjects and doing it in a time-bound manner helps.”
Ishita who claims to be a morning person said she planned her days with a few hours of studying and then breaks in between. “I am a morning person and for my exam preparation I work up early. Importantly did not study keeping time in my mind rather I gave targets to myself. Sometimes the targets would get finished earlier than I thought, while on other days it took more than 10 hours.”
When asked to give a last-minute exam tip for the UPSC aspirants she said, “Firstly be confident. Secondly, surround yourself with positive people and be assured that you will clear the exam will you have prepared.” She added,” Carry logic to the examination hall with you. Because the prelim exams are becoming more and more subjective and for this logic will help.”
The soon to become IAS officer said that seeing her parents being satisfied with their work as police officials and serving the country made her aspire to become an IAS officer. “They have been my inspiration, who also made me realise that civil services will be the most effective platform for me to serve the country,” said the topper.
She added that to make her dream come true, her parents gave her all the support and resources, that she needed while preparing for the exam by herself.
Ishita aims to work for women and children empowerment as an IAS officer. She said, “If women in a country are developed only then the country can be developed. This year, the top 10 UPSC candidates are women, and this gives me more hope for positive change.”
