Lessons from Ira Singhal: The UPSC Topper in 2015

Originally written on 7th Aug,15

Photo via Times of India

I am fortunate to have watched the interview of Ira Singhal on the show “Prime Time” by Mr. Ravish Kumar of NDTV. I have not seen someone so positive and upbeat about life for quite some time. For those who don’t know her, I will try to provide an apt biography. She is the topper of UPSC this year. She is differently able and it felt so good to listen to her. I thank her for radiating positive vibes which I can feel and which motivated me to write about it. I have got the following insight from her interview and am presenting the same point-wise as I believe that it will help many people on this planet.

1.    I found her very optimistic about life. She never looked as a victim of the circumstances even when she faced tremendous struggle as a person with special needs.

2.    Despite getting a rank in UPSC and getting selected in Indian Revenue Service (IRS), she was denied a posting as they felt that she was not physically fit for it. But, she took her fight to the Central Administrative Tribunal and got a favorable ruling.

3.    She is an avid reader. No, she is not a stereotyped topper. She reads a lot of novels and watches TV series of US/UK. According to her, one should study smartly by understanding and analyzing stuffs rather than being glued to books all the time.

4.    She wants to serve people and that’s why she wanted to be an IAS officer. Mr. Ravish Kumar asked whether she wanted to prove something through UPSC. I thought she would say something like she wanted to show people that her physical condition didn’t came in way of her dream or something like that. I was pleasantly surprised when she told that she had nothing to prove. She wanted to be IAS officer as this will give her a bigger opportunity to serve people.

5.    She is crystal clear about what she wants in life. I am happy to be able to get a chance to see her speak. I had read few articles about her as she topped this year’s UPSC result. But, those articles were far from giving me a picture about this lady.

6.    I am touched by her way of living. I felt she has transformed herself into someone who is so much engrossed in learning, knowing and exploring what is around her that she has no time to bother about her physical condition or anything else.

7.    I have realized that disability is the inability to identify ability. She made me realize how disable I am when I was feeling sad for her physical condition. We worry about getting in a good school and then we have to get into a good college. After that we need a plum job and god forbid if something is not happening as per our wish then we feel as if the whole world has come to a standstill.

8.    Despite topping one of the toughest competition exams in the world, she told it was just another exam. She told that an exam cannot decide who you are. Life is more that an exam. Great thoughts! At least, what I had learned by the hard way from my failure to clear IITJEE is reciprocated by this brilliant lady.

9.    She got 99.7 percentile in CAT. She told that Maths is tough or easy depending on your perception. It’s all in mind. She felt that a better teacher can make Maths easier and fun.

10. She knows various languages like English, Hindi, German, Spanish and many more that she told in her interview. It is the positive attitude that we can take from her. She is definitely an inspiration for me and many from my generation who often bother about petty things.

At the end, I thank my favorite anchor Mr. Ravish Kumar to go to her house and let us see and understand who she is. Like her, you are also an inspiration and have reached to great height in journalism by sheer hard work and passion. I really enjoy watching Prime Time. Thanks for bringing out the positive things that are happening in and around us.

Edit:- I am not yet finished and hence have posted another post " My tribute to Ira Singhal: UPSC Topper- 2015" . She is a wonderful lady who has definitely inspired me and whenever I would want to take a short cut , I will be reminded of her. I want my blog readers to watch her interview by Mr. Ravish Kumar, host of the show Prime Time on NDTV 

PS- If you are a student or are looking for a job. I feel you should have a look at Career Advice & Guidance Forum

Edit2- Watch the Interview of Ira Singhal with Ravish Kumar