In his sixth and final attempt, Harkeerat Singh Randhawa achieved All India Rank 10 in the Civil Services Examination 2021. It took him ten years to pass the UPSC test. His journey, which required a lot of effort, perseverance, patience, and consistency, is undoubtedly an inspiration for those who lament their occasional failures. No one can even begin to comprehend how he felt during this ten-year journey, during which he failed this most difficult exam five times before finally succeeding. There is much to be learned from him.
Harkeerat Singh Randhawa UPSC Topper Biography
Harkeerat Singh Randhawa was born in the Punjabi city of Kapurthala. His mother is a scientist, while his father is a retired government employee. His parents are also his biggest inspiration, and when he was 17 years old, he had a desire of joining the Indian Foreign Service. He attended Sanskriti School in Delhi for his formal education before transferring to St. Stephen’s College to pursue a degree in history with honors. After that, he began preparing for the Civil Services Examination. He took the test for the first time in 2012, however he was unable to pass the preliminary exam.
He failed the Prelims again on his second try. He then succeeded in passing the Prelims on his third and fourth tries, but was unable to advance to the Mains test. Harkeerat Singh Randhawa had History as an option for the UPSC Civil Services Exam up until this point. He then switched his choice to PSIR (Political Science and International Relations), but on his fifth attempt, he once more failed the Prelims test. This time, Harkeerat’s failure caused him to consider what he was doing incorrectly. He came to the conclusion that whatever tactics he was using, they were all those of others.
Harkeerat has now made the decision to stay with the approach that works for him rather than trying to imitate what other toppers are saying. This time, he made no notes and did not do a practice exam or interview. He concentrated only on reading, comprehending, and increasing his level of awareness in accordance with the Civil Services Examination syllabus. Finally, on his sixth and last try in the UPSC CSE 2021, he was successful in receiving an AIR 10.
At the age of 32, he realized the dream he had had since he was 17 years old—becoming an IFS officer. Hats off to his perseverance and dedication; he tried from 2012 to the following 10 years and succeeded. After completing his training, he will very soon start working as an IFS officer, demonstrating that if you put in the necessary effort, any dream is achievable.
Harkeerat Singh Randhawa UPSC educational background
Randhawa is a graduate of Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s. After completing in 2012, he made his first attempt at the UPSC. However, he was unsuccessful, and he also fared poorly on the preliminary exam. He made five tries in a row, all of which were unsuccessful. But despite this, he persisted, and in his final attempt, he succeeded by getting involved in his life.
IFS Harkeerat Singh Randhawa Optional
Harkeerat Singh Randhawa chose history as an elective when he first began studying since he had completed his graduate work in the subject and believed it would be a better fit for him. However, after failing in his first four attempts, he realized that something needed to change, so he chose the Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) optional, and on his sixth attempt, he achieved an All India Rank 10 with the same PSIR optional.
UPSC Topper Harkeerat Singh Randhawa Marksheet
IFS Harkeerat Singh Randhawa received 1026 out of a possible 2025 points, which included 195 points in the interview and 831 points in the Civil Services (Main) written exam.
Harkeerat Singh Randhawa UPSC Booklist
- Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth
- Ancient History by RS Sharma
- Indian Economy by Nitin Singhania
- India’s Struggle for Independence by Bipan Chandra
- Certificate Physical and Human Geography by GC Leong
- Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
- Lexicon for Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude
- Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar
- NCERT Books of Class IX, X, XI, XII
Every candidate should read these books in order to prepare for the Civil Services Examination, according to IFS Harkeerat Singh Randhawa, who has also made reference to them. Answer writing is a crucial skill for passing the UPSC exam, which is regarded as one of the most difficult competitive exams, in addition to these books, magazines, current affairs, and other study materials.
UPSC Topper Harkeerat Singh Randhawa
He claimed that when a dream comes from within, your heart and soul scream for it, keeping you awake. The quantity of failures therefore becomes completely irrelevant. You will want to keep making an effort to fulfill it. In the end, it was the passion of his ambition that brought success—and success in a big manner, with a Top 10 ranking after six tries! He claims that he used to pause and consider how far he had come after each try (a total of six). He learned something from each failure that he applied to his subsequent endeavors. But despite failure after failure, it was his goal that kept him moving forward and upward till he reached the highest point (cracked CSE with AIR 10) and there was no more height to climb. He had reached the top of India’s Mount Everest of competitive tests!
Being deeply rooted in his origins and hence extremely modest, he never forgets to express his gratitude to God and his parents in particular for supporting him throughout the difficult climb to the top and enabling him to reach such heights. Harkeerat adds that it is important to be emotionally stable both before and during exam times. That aids in achieving harmony among the various facets of life. He passionately believes that you do not fail until you quit up, hence he is completely against giving up at any moment.
