When asked about her success mantra, she candidly replied, "Hardwork is the key to success"
Tina completed her graduation from Lady Shri Ram College of Delhi University. On this, her father, who is a serving IES officer, told India Today, "I have always been proud of her. She has been student of the year during her graduation. And now the topper."
The political science student credited her success to hard work and dedication. Similarly, Athar Aamir Ul Shafi Khan, who hails from Jammu & Kashmir stood second, followed by Jasmeet Singh Sandhu.
Tina Dabi, who topped the civil services cracking the list in the first go, the Delhi girl said, "I did believe that I would make it to the list but becoming rank one that was something beyond my dream."
One interesting thing about 2015’s UPSC result is that all three candidates, who topped the civil services, belong to the difference religious background. Tina belongs to a Hindu family. The second rank holder Aamir Ul Shafi Khan is from a Muslim family and the third rank holder Jasmeet Singh Sandhu is from Punjab and belongs to a Sikh family.
Here's a list of top 5 rank holders:
Vivek Chauhan started thinking about civil service only when he was 25, after he had married. At that time in 2008, there were only 4 attempts for
a general category candidate and he also had familial responsibilities to take care of. He gave a half-hearted attempt in 2010 which resulted in the loss
of a precious attempt. Meanwhile, he got his brother and sister married off. In 2011, he thought it was time to give wings to his own dreams and goals.
The Chauhan’s story is truly inspiring since it proves that a middle class boy with no formal education (he only had correspondence courses) can clear the civil services exam with continued effort and relentless pursuit of his goal. He credits his never-say-die attitude and perseverance along with his parent's blessings for his astounding success.
Poonam Dalal says she is slightly different from many others yet at the same time very similar to a lot of us. She has her ancestral roots in Chhara village in Jhajjar District, Haryana. But she was born and brought up in Delhi.
Poonam started her career as a primary teacher in a government school in Delhi. Along with the job she did her graduation as an external student from Delhi University.
After completing her graduation, she appeared for different Bank PO Exams and SSC Graduate Level Exam and cleared all of them.
SBI PO exam, SBI Associates PO, Union Bank Of India PO, SSC Graduate Level 2005 etc. are some of them.
She finally chose SBI PO. She regrets that there was nobody to guide me about UPSC Exam. She recalls, had there been somebody at that time to guide her about Indian administrative service exam, you would have been reading this interview much earlier!
She also shares the fact that at that stage she used to be very under-confident about her chances at CS Examination. She says, “I am sharing these thoughts so that all of those who are somehow feeling the same as I had once been, can come out of it and not repeat the mistake which I did”.
Sakshi: My essay marks in my first attempt were very low. Only 23/200. So despite getting decent marks in everything else (including interview) I could not make it to the final list. I had written on "PPP : Whether a Failure in India". Frankly, I am still not sure why I was marked so poorly.
In this attempt I wrote on Colonial Mentality and made my position on the topic very evident in the beginning itself so that there was no confusion regarding my stand. But even now I have scored just 80/250 – so I cannot really advise on essay writing.
Other changes made were answer writing; revision and re-revision. You will never really finish the syllabus so don’t wait till the end to start your revision. Do it every week. If you flip through your notes regularly they will get ingrained and your memory recall in a situation of 25 to 10 questions will be much greater.
Interviewer: UPSC should be conducted online like IBPS and CAT exam to shorten the
duration of the exam. Your views.
Sakshi: This may not be a good option for students who are in remote areas, or where internet connection is poor. Several times CAT aspirants have faced difficulties with the test being conducted again in particular centers. The numbers UPSC is dealing with is much greater than CAT. These issues might in fact slow down the process. However, maybe UPSC can begin experimentation on a pilot basis and then apply it to the exam.