Bhopal: Urvashi Sengar, a resident of Gwalior, had to cross many obstacles before she could finally crack the UPSC examinations. Her father had to sell their land in order to pay the fees of Urvashi’s classes. Despite her efforts, she could not clear the preliminary examinations in her first two attempts. The emotional burden of her failures was a lot to bear, but Urvashi did not give up and achieved her dream in the year 2020. 

Managing finances

There wasn’t a quite environment at her home in Bhopal for studying so she moved to Delhi and lived at her relatives’ house. She did not want to be a bother to anyone and decided to rent a place of her own. Financial conditions were restrictive, so she took up a job to pay the rent of the room. 

Urvashi had been studying through self-study and realized that it wasn’t enough to receive proper guidance; she wanted to enrol in a coaching centre and when she expressed her desire to her father, he immediately sold his land and paid the fees of the coaching centre. 

Preparation since 2016

Urvashi’s family background was not such that she could ask anybody for guidance. She was the first-generation member of her family to dream of becoming a civil servant. In the year 2016 when she was still busy with her graduation studies, she started preparing herself for the exams.

She completed her schooling from Saraswati Shishu Mandir School in Badalgarh. She did her bachelors in BSc from KRG Girls College in 2015, and her post-graduation in MSc Geography. 

Her educational prowess can be judged from the fact she also qualified for NET in Geography and cleared the UPPSC exam to become an SDM. Most of her preparation was done at home, as the lack of money did not allow her to attend coaching centres.

Urvashi was also an NCC cadet in her university. 

Inspiration to prepare for the civil services exam

Urvashi had been a bright student and always stayed in contact with her teachers who motivated her to pursue her dreams of becoming a civil servant. Her teacher Mrs Laxmi from her NCC group, instilled a sense of positive hope and confidence in her.

She shares that there were other factors that contributed to her dedication for her ambitions. On the orders of the DM P Narhari, ramps were installed in her school for children with disabilities. She learned about the influence people in positions have. The efforts of the DM inspired her and made her believe that she could also be the force that can bring a change in this world.

These experiences led her to pursue one of the most difficult examinations. And with her consistent effort, she cleared the exams in the year 2020 in her third attempt and made her parents proud.