Turnaround Story of Natasha – 4 Prelims Failure, One Massive Success!

Its been ten years we have been running the Forum.

I remember the first Thank you message I got from Harsh about nearly a decade ago, when he secured Rank 43 in his first attempt.

Almost half a decade ago, it was Forum Member Yo_Yo_Choti_Singh who said – Sir you should set up an offline center in ORN. You will be saving a lot of people’s attempts. ( And life ! ).

Having a passion for writing, setting up an academy was the last thing I wanted to do.

I still remember when Prajit, tired after his 3 attempts – walked in our first offline Center.

I recall asking him – Will you do mentorship for 2-3 months  if you get selected this year?

And he promised – “I will do anything you ask me, if you just get me an Interview call.”

In those days getting an interview call and name in the list was easier than today. You make sure you address the question and have a good presentation. You make it to the list with a good rank

Prajit got 81 rank, and I extracted my pound of flesh by making him sit and do mentorship for the 3 months before he left for LBSNAA foundation and joined the IAS. I sometimes think, we extracted more from him, that what he probably ever got from us.

The competition grew and while presentation was the queen, content remained the king. We realised at some point that the people coming to us were mostly people with 2-3 Mains and lower services selection and the expectation they had from us was to get top marks in Mains so that they could get into top 50 or top 100.

We slogged like crazy at the cost of health, relationships and what not. Always trying to be ahead of the apex recruitment agency called UPSC.

When we first started SFG, I wanted a Rank 1 from SFG. And in 2022, both Rank 1 and Rank 4 were religious followers of SFG. I knew that SFG could enable some smart kid to clear the Prelims. Then he / she would give us the apex rank.

That dream remains fulfilled today.

Here is a screenshot

Over the years, we got the opportunity to turn around a lot of stories. Right from that girl in orange T shirt to that friends friend who quit his job hoping to become an IAS ( and they became IAS with home cadre ) to my own classmates from my Masters Program at TISS, who came and joined Forum, and cleared IAS in the 1st attempt.

But in the decade gone by, there was one case in particular, of a shy, timid, little girl, who left a permanent mark in our memory.

And she was crimson. On the Forum.

With four failed attempts at Prelims, we almost thought she was a lost cause.

Most people when they enter their 4th or 5th attempt, they play a losing game.

They invest less energy, less money and less time in the preparation. They make an exit plan.

They take no courses because – 4 attempts mein prelims bhi nahi hua toh ab kya hi hoga! Its a waste of parents money – both staying in ORN and doing any coaching.

When I first met crimson, the good thing was she had come from a word of mouth publicity ( do give us that if you think we deserve it ). So she would trust what Forum would ask her to do.

When I asked her to do SFG, she was at the top. At the apex ranks – mostly . ( You dont have to score at the top always, but you have to show up no matter what ) .

I saw her grow from through the months, clearing her first prelims. I think we at Forum were the first people she called when she cleared the Prelims, or the Mains or the Interview.

( This year forum community’s own Rahul, Rank 10 was the first person to call me after the result, though ).

Whenever she called, her voice was shaky.

As if she could not believe she had made it.

When the Prelims was over, I asked her to somehow manage two classes – CA with my collegue Dipin Sir and my own Ethics+ classes. It wasnt easy for her. But through the years, I have come to believe that success in UPSC – like in most walks of life – is in showing up.

Everyday.

No matter how you feel.

And show up she did. Every single day. Sitting in the front row. ( The 5 people sitting around her have also cleared the Prelims this year – including Sid and the natkhat balak – I know you are reading this ).

We had a great time. And I think we had a brilliant class. out of the 70 odd people who took the course, 20 people turned up in the class, and we have 17 people in the final list – including the very chirpy Smriti who has a Rank 4 this year.

( Don’t be too impressed by the selection ratio. Ethics classes are ONLY taken by the most serious folks, people who have clarity about what they want, so selections in such modules are likely to be better that other courses )

When the Interview call came, crimson was nervous as hell.

It was probably her life’s first interview.

And we had the first mock, my heart sank. The preparation could be improved with time, but 4 years of failure is not easy to get rid of overnight.

I said – Natasha, the board has no business with your attempts. But they will mind not having a strong preparation. I am afraid we will have to sit 2-3 times – once every week.

The one thing that gave me hope with respect to her selection was she always showed up.

We asked her to take mocks at other coachings and come back again.  And again. And again.

This while the next years SFG was going on, and to hedge or secure the next attempt, she was riding on two boats – the Interview preparation on one hand and the Prelims 7AM SFG on another.

And when finally, the results came in May, I got a call

“Sir, one Ishita has got Rank 1 – she is our student, but Natasha ka bhi ho gaya hai.”

The problem with having empathy is that when you meet some people, you almost live their life. It rubs on to you. Their pain becomes yours.

With a sigh of relief, I came to the Center. And it reminded me 6 years back, when Minal and Varnit, wearing shorts were the first people to see us at the center within the hour of results coming.

This is Natasha’s story.

But this is also our story.

We have more than 650+ students from non-Interview programs in the final list including Rank 1,2,3,4,5 , but as a founder – who has built forum with a certain vision and philosophy – no result gave me more joy than hers!

Watch it below. The 20 minutes are worth it!