I have almost grown up along this very forum. From a 22 year old writing mains in his first attempt to having exhausted 5 attempts without an interview call is no cause to look at this journey with any nostalgia. This whole journey has been punctuated by so many failures ( including 2 PCS Interviews ) that I even thought lesser attempts ( 4 attempts of pre 2014 era ) would have been much better to atleast give people like me a chance to forcibly exit this cycle and save some productive youthful years. But then this process was never a burden for me on the contrary the Mains Season is almost like a festival .. many people here could relate with it I guess 😅 . So the thought came and went.
So what is my takeaway from this process - a few constitutional principles ? Some basic economic concepts ? Insights into the history and geography of India ? I don't think think so , because the very purpose of this learning was to crack an exam and that did not happen. However we emphasize the great role of this syllabus it is not something which shapes or builds our personality or even make us a better person for that matter. But but but .. the amount of reading definitely helps you navigate any conversation any where out there and it sharpens the learning curve .. learning new stuff is fun and easy .. for me I have dived into another 2 optionals for my upcoming state forest service Main exams to maybe break the streak of failure finally 🤞
However an exam should be taken like an exam and nothing more. I made the mistake of taking it way too seriously as a kid and associating so many other stuff with the outcome and now I am a prisoner of my own desires.
Although advices emanate from struggle and a failure story becomes a struggle chiefly from a winners hindsight still I will say something - If you think you can do something better with your time rather than investing so much in this journey it's better to switch now however if you don't think there's anything better to do than to prepare for this exam irrespective of the outcome .. you my friend will definitely win this journey.
सिर्फ हंगामा खड़ा करना मेरा मकसद नहीं,
मेरी कोशिश है कि ये सूरत बदलनी चाहिए।
मेरे सीने में नहीं तो तेरे सीने में सही,
हो कहीं भी आग, लेकिन आग जलनी चाहिए।
