The journey of Uday Krishna Reddy is nothing short of a miracle. With sheer grit and determination, he cracked the civil services this year and is about to become an IPS officer.
Take us through your journey?
I hail from a small village called Ullapalem in Singarayakonda mandal of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh. I lost my mother when I was 5 years old and my father when I was 18. My grandmother took care of me and my brother. She sold vegetables for a living.
My father was a lorry driver and was away most of the time. All through I studied in government schools at Ullepalem. After my Grade X, I did a vocational course to be a medical lab technician. My father had health issues and I had seen him suffer. I had aspirations of becoming a doctor but my father told me that even if I got an admission into a Government Medical College, it would have been difficult to bear the expenses.
The turning point came when I came across a magazine Prathidhwatha Darpan in which there were articles on civil services which I began to read and that kindled a desire in me to crack the Civil Services Examination. While pursuing my Bachelor’s degree, in the first year itself, I spent a lot of time in libraries and took part in extracurricular activities – Sports, NCC, NSS and debate competitions. I did fairly well in table tennis and bagged silver medals and two gold medals at the university level.
My father passed away when I was in degree second year. I was 19 years old then. I needed money to survive, so after coming across a notification, I cleared the exam and joined as a constable. But my goal was on cracking the civil services as one can attempt it even at an early age of 21.
I came to Hyderabad and in my very first attempt, I cleared prelims and mains. I also went to the interview, but unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to the final list; I missed the cut off by nine marks.
In 2020, I was severely impacted by Covid but recovered and started preparing for civil services in 2021. I couldn’t even clear the prelims. So, it was a major setback. In 2022 also, I failed in CSAT at the preliminary stage itself.
Now that you cleared the UPSC. What is the reaction of your colleagues in the police department?
They are surprised and happy. Some of my batch mates regret not taking my path. Incidentally, I was the youngest in my batch. Few of my colleagues were very talented individuals, and they were holding degrees of B.Tech, M.Tech, and even LLB. I worked in the police department for five years.
Tell us about the preparation. Was this your first attempt?
No. It wasn’t my first attempt. Only in my fourth attempt, I got an All India Rank of 780. In the fifth attempt, that is the recent one, I got an All India Rank of 350.
Which service will you be joining?
I was with the Indian Railway Management Service on achieving the All India Rank of 780 and thereafter had taken earned leave to write the next attempt of CS examination. Since I have now cleared with All India Rank of 350 I will be joining the Indian Police Service.
How many hours did you study, and for general knowledge, which books and newspapers do you recommend?
I did not follow any uniform time or hours of preparation. In the first two years, I acquired conceptual clarity and factual correctness.
I’m thankful to my cousin who supported me during that phase. Once I got conceptual clarity, I started reading for about 6-8 hours on a regular basis. I also took off on Sunday and started going to the gym and practised running for physical fitness.
Two months before the prelims, I put in 12 hours of study. Many toppers suggested I read NCERT books. It is advisable to pick one standard book rather than read many.
I had made notes out of NCERTs and standard books for Geography; now the entire Geography learning material was in one notebook. I did the same for History, Political Science and Economics. I considered them as my Bible, Quran and Bhagavad Gita. I revised them repeatedly and attempted the mock tests and PYQs as well.
I read newspapers ‘The Hindu’ in English and ‘Eenadu’ and ‘Saakshi’ in Telugu to update my knowledge on current affairs. I also read ‘The Indian Express’ regularly. I consider them as UPSC essentials.