Instagram posts hailing 25-year-old Neha Byadwal are viral on social media. You may mistake her for a novice actress who recently stepped into the glitz world of Bollywood, but no. Neha cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in 2022 with an All India Rank (AIR) 569 and is now posted in Gujarat as an IAS officer. ‘Beauty with brains, ’ as many quoted on social media, Neha’s success was not sheer luck. In fact, luck never came close to her as she relied largely on a disciplined and dedicated study pattern for three long years. This also saw her parting ways with her mobile phone.

Neha Byadwal was born in Rajasthan and raised in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Long before success, it was the sour taste of failure that made Neha develop a thick skin. Neha failed in her class 5 examinations but was not bogged down by taunts and jibes from relatives or friends.

She was soon enrolled in an English-medium school where the management fined students for speaking the local language. She learned it the hard way and improved her language with every passing day. It was her decision to follow the footsteps of her father, a civil servant, that fixated her to take the civil service examination.

Neha unsuccessfully attempted the exams three times but was never in low spirits, thanks to her bouts with failure at a very early age. Neha knew that success wouldn’t reach her unless she imbibe a rigorous study pattern. Indeed, a sacrifice.

She started preparing for the exams 17-18 hours a day and never touched her phone for a long three years. After returning from work, her father would help her with maths to history.

Neha’s story is now doing the rounds almost three years after she cracked what is dubbed the toughest examination in the world. Perseverance, grit and the ability to handle failures with a smile worked well for Neha. For the millions of Civil service aspirants out there, Neha’s efforts and work ethic seem to have done the trick for her. However, her cheerful indifference to failure to remain happy in life is worth emulating.