Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jul 7: Daijiworld's noted columnist Ayush Prasad has secured the 24th rank in the country in UPSC exams, the results of which were announced recently.
Ayush, son of IPS officer Ashit Mohan Prasad and IAS officer Amita Prasad, currently stays in New Delhi where he is working for the State Bank of India as its deputy manager. In fact, A M Prasad had served in Mangaluru as IGP (Western Range) during 2007-2009. This was Ayush's second attempt at UPSC.
Speaking to daijiworld over the phone, an elated Ayush said, "It is by god's grace that I could get this rank and it feels a little overwhelming because it was beyond my own expectactions. Though I have got such ranks in the past in all-India exams, UPSC civil services is by far the largest exam, so this has a very special place and I feel very grateful to god that I could achieve this.
"I would like to credit this success most importantly to my parents for being a very strong pillar of support and source of inspiration for me, especially my father for giving me proper guidance particularly on how to structure answers and how to study systematically. My father really helped me. I have not taken any coaching, so it was my parents alone and I credit my success to them," he added.
Asked how he prepared for the exams, Ayush said, "My study plan was basically divided into 3-4 phases. In the first phase I tried to develop an understanding of the syllabus and collect as much material as possible. In the second phase I studied the syllabus systematically and tried to cover each and every topic one by one; in the third phase I worked on presenting the knowledge I had from various sources, so I developed proper notes on various topics which was very important, and the next phase was about writing answers and structuring the information - my answers were like anyone would write a paper, with abstract introduction, background, supporting information and conclusion."
Though an electrical engineer, Ayush chose geography as his optional subject in UPSC. He is now looking forward to joining IAS training from September.
Ayush had earlier worked for TCS Innovation Labs where he was part of a team that developed four patents, including mobile wallets. He has also been part of Young India Fellowship where he won full scholarship of Rs 12 lac and completed one-year programme in leadership and liberal arts from the University of Pennsylvania. He has also written for various media including AIR.
Ayush did his early schooling at St Aloysius School, Urwa, which he says gave a perfect start to his education. Due to frequent transfers of his parents, he ended up studying in 12 schools across the state. He completed his engineering from Manipal Institute of Technology in 2010 and worked with TCS before joining SBI as a probbationary officer. He has also worked as intern for National Rural Livelihoods Mission at Karnur in Andhra Pradesh and Rae Bareilly in UP where I worked on mobilising self-help groups and helping women in rural areas to become entrepreneurs.
Interestingly, four generations of Ayush's family, including Ayush, have been into civil services in a row. Apart from his IPS father, his great grandfather (ICS during British rule) and grandfather (IAS) too had been civil servants, making the family perhaps the only one to achieve this rare feat. His father A M Prasad is currently the ADGP in Karnataka state intelligence department, while his mother Dr Amita Prasad, is the joint secretary in the ministry of water resources, government of India, and heads the clean Ganga mission. His younger sister Anusha is pursuing law at Christ University, Bengaluru.
Asked if he always wanted to take up civil services given the long list of officers in his family, Ayush said, "I was a research engineer and wanted to create new technologies, but when I worked with poor rural women in Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh I realized that there a lot of social problems in this country and I felt my life would have a greater meaning if I worked with such people rather than trying to create technologies. I believe civil service has wide impact on people's lives, because the way our country is organized, public institutions play a very important role and my main aim is to somehow reduce poverty in this country."
His message for aspiring UPSC candidates is simple: "Work hard, work systematically, work smartly, and not make a big deal out of it as it is similar to university exams which anybody takes. I believe I am a very ordinary student and if I can make it anybody in this country can. And in case they are not able to make it, they should remember that there are thousands of other options today. They should not feel disheartened."
Ayush has been associated with daijiworld since 2007. Incisive and informative, Ayush's articles in daijiworld over the years have been much appreciated by readers around the globe. "I am happy that I am going from analyzing news to becoming a news myself," he added in a lighter tone.
Daijiworld wishes Ayush all the best in his endeavours.
Ayush Prasad's Articles on Daijiworld: