‘Chosen family’: Two roommates who cleared UPSC together, now rooting for friend

Twenty-seven-year-old Akhil hails from Irinjalakuda, Thrissur and 26-yera-old Sreekumar is from Balussery, Kozhikode. While Akhil earned an All India Rank (AIR) of 66, Sreekumar bagged AIR 192.

The two met four years ago and during their conversations realised that both of them were preparing for UPSC. It is then that they decided to discuss their preparation strategies. “It was the failure that united us as we were both not able to clear prelims at that time,” Akhil said. “So, at that point of time we met and we knew that our problems were similar in terms of preparations and general things that we were facing in life.”

Akhil and Sreekumar, then, decided to rent an apartment together so that they could syncronise their exam preparation. After a few months, in 2020, the duo appeared for the UPSC exam once again and cleared the prelims with high marks.

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However, the two had to head back to their homes after the pandemic hit the country. They could not clear the exam the Prelims that year. Even though, “we used to organise weekly catch-up calls through online mediums such as Zoom to discuss how much we had prepared and tried our best to ensure we syncronise our preparations, but it wasn’t that successful,” Sreekumar explained.

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In 2021, they once again attempted to clear the exam. “It was a very sad phase in our lives as we were not able to clear the exams, and we had almost given up. However, we knew we had some gaps especially in terms of Mains, and we decided to come together and attempt the exam once again,” Akhil reminisced.

The two rented a flat in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and started preparing for the exam. They appeared for prelims and cleared it. “In Mains, we made a very concerted effort… and that ultimately helped us in securing a rank,” Akhil said.

Talking about their choice of service preferences, Akhil said, “We might not be able to come up with a collective plan in terms of service delivery but we have common principles. We need to ensure that whoever comes into the government office that we are in-charge of returns with dignity. That will be the primary principle that we will keep in mind because this preparation journey has taught us certain values and principles, and that we will try to uphold in each part of our journey.”

The preferred choice of service for Sreekumar is foreign service, but since he will not be allocated IFS this year, he will attempt the exam again next year. “Above all those things and irrespective of the services that are allocated to us, I believe that the impact of the work that we do in civil service is really great, so having a smile or putting a smile on someone’s face is really important,” Sreekumar said, adding that he has spent 13 years of his life in the Middle East and he hopes to make a change in the lives of other migrant labourers.

Akhil and Sreekumar’s third roommate, Ajay, could not clear the prelims this time. “He is also trying for his next attempt and we are positively hoping that he also makes it to the list sooner or later,” Sreekumar said with a smile on his face, adding that they do plan to continue staying together to help Ajay.

“We are successful this year and Ajay played a huge role in it. He was very disciplined, woke us up on time, and ensured we reached our examination halls on time. It might be a small help, presumably, but it made a very big difference to us in our preparation phase. So, I think it is now our moral responsibility on our part to ensure that the one who was there for us, also clears his examination very soon,” Sreekumar added.

Advice for aspirants

On being asked if they have any advice for other UPSC aspirants, Ajay said we we should consider the exam “as a marathon, and not a sprint”. He advised aspirants to keep this in mind and build mental strength even if the preparation phase becomes too long. The duo also said that even though there will be failures, it is important to “fail gracefully, accept mistakes and learn from those mistakes”.