‘If your task is once begun, never leave it till it’s done. Be the labor great or small, do it well or not at all’-Civilsdaily
About Ravi Kumar Sihag– His UPSC journey and hobbies
| Name | Ravi Kumar Sihag |
| Age | 30 |
| Resident | Ganganagar, Rajasthan |
| Exam | UPSC 2021 |
| All India Rank | 18 |
| Attempts | 4th |
| Optional Subject | Hindi Literature |
| Hobbies | – |
2. Family and Education
| Father | Ram Kumar Sihag. He is a farmer. |
| Mother | Housewife |
| Elder Brother | — |
| Elder sister | Married |
Ravi Kumar hails from Ganganagar in Rajasthan and has a family of five consisting of his parents, his elder brother, and elder sister.
Ravi’s Educational Background:
- Early schooling from New hope school, Shri Vijay Nagar. After that, he passed the 12th standard from the same school
- He completed his graduation.
- He was also selected in Indian Defence Accounts Services (Rajasthan)
3. UPSC Strategy
He started his preparation in 2016 and in 2018 he secured all India rank 337. In his 2nd attempt in 2019, he secured all India rank 317. In 2020, he couldn’t even clear prelims.
These 3 years’ experience and consistency helped him to formulate a better strategy.
- For prelims he practiced 10 years of PYQs along with test series.
- For mains he regularly gave some effort to make answer structure better.
- He started UPSC preparation 4 years ago by studying NCERTs.
- Since current affairs are possibly the most significant part of the IAS exam he backed his preparation with day-to-day newspaper readings to give sufficient focus to the happenings nationally and internationally.
- he joined a few online mock test series for Prelims and mains.
- He was meticulous about study materials. he consolidated his study materials and revised them as many times as he could.
- Be patient and stay focused all the time.
- Always tried to improve his performance.
- made his notes.
- From the very starting, he carried his preparation under senior teachers and mentors.
He didn’t follow any super different strategy of planning. he executed the same strategy differently.
4. Ravi’s Notes & Booklist
Polity:
- M. Laxmikant
Indian Economy:
- Nitin Singhania
- Ramesh Singh
Modern Indian History:
- Indian struggles for Independence by Bipin Chandra
- NCERTs class VI to XII (Old version)
Art & Culture:
- Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
- NCERTs of class XI and XII
Ancient India:
- RS Sharma
Ethics:
- Ethics and integrity by Subba Rao and PN Rao Chaudhary
Geography:
- Certificate Physical and human geography by GC Leong
- Indian Geography by Majid Hussain
- NCERTs Class IX to Class XII
- Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar
- ETC.
5. Motivation and inspiration
Even being a part of a farmer family, Ravi proved what a dedicated and confident person can do in life. Ravi didn’t lose hope or give up in front of many challenges. Before starting UPSC preparation in 2016 he had to manage money for his elder sister’s marriage. Zeal for UPSC was in his blood, and that’s why even after getting posted in IDAS(P), he didn’t stop pursuing IAS.
His main aim to crack UPSC was to serve his society better he showed his gratitude to his teachers and mentors who were the real torch bearer all along the crooked path of UPSC.
