Many of us have seen the portrayal of UPSC exam in Bollywood movies at least once in our life, whether it is an older film like Nil Battey Sannata or the more recent 12^th fail. Bollywood has repeatedly shown the raw struggle behind this exam and rightfully so. 

The UPSC or the Union Public Service Commission exam is the India government’s primary and most prestigious recruitment exam for elite government jobs. It is regarded as one of the toughest exams in India but the dream of millions of underprivileged students.

It is one of the toughest exams in the world because along with hard syllabus, the inhuman struggle the candidates go through is also something to be considered. 

Every year lakhs of aspirants sit for this exam coming from all kinds of social and economical background. The syllabus is vast including history, economics, science, geography and much more. Much like our own BCS exams. The structure of this exam relies heavily on rote learning but the demand is much more than mere memorisation. Candidates not only have to have integrate knowledge across all disciplines but also stay up do date with current affairs, writing skills.

The UPSC exam has three major stages. The Preliminary stage, Main examination and the Personality test. Each stage is progressively harder and must be cleared separately. The entire process stretches across a year. Meaning, students invest not just effort but also their valuable time. What makes this exam more difficult is that the number of attempts allowed is limited. Most aspirants take between 2 to 5 years before they finally succeed. In hopes of cracking the exam, students take attempts after attempts, investing more and more of their youth years.

Across Delhi’s old Rajinder Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar and other UPSC hubs, thousands of students live in extremely poor conditions. Their reality is tiny shared rooms, irregular meals, constant work to support family and themselves and what not. Unlike in China or south Korea, where such exam candidates receive national, educational and parental support, UPSC aspirants walk this path all by themselves.

The psychical hardships are not the only thing the UPSC aspirants have to worry about. There is also rising frustration among the students about the inefficiencies, unpredictable exam patterns and administrative issues. Recently major protests in New Delhi’s streets highlighted the fragile condition of this prestigious exam system according to a report by The Wire. 

Despite these constant problems like poverty and uncertainty, millions of young Indians keep on trying. Srivasta said to an interview with the BBC, “Joining the private sector might be easy enough but moving up requires cultural capital. On the other hand, getting into the civil service is itself cultural capital”. Their one true belief is that this one exam will not only change their life but also their entire family’s life for forever. 

National exams like this, no matter which country it is, always carry a special kind of value. They are the possibility of transforming a student’s entire life. These exams are not only an academic hurdle but a symbol of hope. This is why despite the hardships, students carry through. They endure everything and push forward clinging to only one dream. 

The dream of a better life.