Girl to Know

Ayushi Sudan secured 65th rank in Civil Services Examination 2016 result of which came out around two weeks ago. Not just that, if considering all three girls selected from the state, she stood first among all, while being at third position among all the 21 candidates selected from the state. Isn’t that a reason enough for us to want to know, who Ayushi is and what makes her tick. So, We The Woman reached out to the girl when she returned home after her victorious result.

Ayushi is evidently ambitious and fierce girl that need not be stated as the outcome of her efforts and endeavours says it all. Ayushi basically belongs to small village close to border, near Sunderbani in Rajouri district, known as Bhajwal. From there she started her journey as student from Christ School, Nowshera but after completing class 1st, moved to Jammu with her family. Here she got enrolled in KC Public School, Jammu where she completed rest of her schooling. Post school, she chose to pursue Physics Hons. from St. Stephens College, Delhi University. Thereafter, she pursued her Masters in Physics from Delhi University again. Up till her post graduation, the girl who wanted to pursue a career in Research found her calling in Civil Services after she finished that degree in 2014, reason being her inherent inclination towards ‘Administration’ right from the beginning.

Ayushi’s story make for an interesting read as she gave us valuable insights about her journey in an exclusive interview. Here are the excerpts from the conversation that followed.

Why did you want to join Civil Services? Was it always a target or did some particular incident propel you towards this direction?
I wanted to join Civil Services because I wanted to play an integral role in the socio-economic development of our country. Our country is ascending up the world order, which is reflected by its high growth rate, huge demographic dividend, improving development parameters and such other measures. But it is plagued with wide ranging problems, be it gender inequality or poor human development parameters and so on. Some of these issues invoke my conscience and I felt a sort of moral duty to play some role, however small, in addressing the same. So, there wasn’t a particular incident that propelled me in this direction. A lot of things added up to the moment I made my decision.

When did you start preparing for it? Was it your first attempt at exam? What was your strategy?
I started my preparation after completing my post graduation. No, I succeeded in my second attempt. Since the strategy to succeed in such exam is subjective and complex I will be posting my strategy on insightsonindia.com within a week or two. I am also planning to blog an elaborate strategy in a month.

Any hardships you had to face to achieve the success? How does it feel?
The hardships I faced were similar to anyone who is preparing for the exam, namely the long studying hours, uncertainty of success, lack of a social life(at least in my case) etc. At times, I felt low and depressed as well. But I had a strong support system in my parents and brother, who constantly motivated me to strive further. Now, that I have attained a rank in the list, there is a sense of relief and achievement.

Did you take any coaching/tuitions? Any suggestions to the aspiring youth of state in this regard?
I did take coaching from Delhi. But I believe that no coaching can be exhaustive for this exam. It may give you some sense of direction, but still you will have to figure out a billion things on your own.
My suggestions to the aspiring youth of the state:
1. Make liberal use of internet, be it for note making on evernote or Mrunal Videos or answer writing on insightsonindia or just Wikipedia. That is definitely the most powerful source at hand.
2. The key to clearing this exam is patience and perseverance. At times, one may feel dejected, but one must maintain a clear vision of the goal ahead.
3. Revision is crucial in this exam and in fact any exam.

Now that you are into the field and with your rank so good that it is almost certain that you will get the cadre of your choice , what are the main areas you will be focusing on as a civil servant?
The issues I am especially keen about are rural development, women empowerment, education and among a couple of others, so they will most likely remain my focus areas as a civil servant. If I get J&K as my cadre, I would like to focus on infrastructure development which is crucial for tourism in state, law and order in the state as well as waste management, which is quite neglected.

What are your other interests? How do you unwind yourself at the end of the day?
My other interests are yoga, reading books, watching movies, etc. In order to unwind, one thing I have been practicing is pouring my heart out to my parents or my brother. This helped a lot in relieving stress that I would accumulate throughout the day. Other than that, I would just surf the net and watch videos on YouTube.

What is your ideology that you follow in life? What has been the motivation throughout the journey that kept you pushing forward?
I believe that at the end of the day, all of us strive for happiness. For me, happiness meant being content with what I do. This job, along with all of that, also offers a stable career and prestige as bonus. The real motivation was to find a job where I would have an opportunity to bring a positive change in our society and our country and I believe that this is what kept pushing me forward.

Speaking about women of J&K in field of civil services, where do you see things going in this direction, in our state?
I think more and more women are now coming forward in this field. Women like Ruveda Salam and Sehrish Asgar are an inspiration to all of us, especially the aspirant women. This year as well, few of us have made it to the list and I am positive that this trend will be carried on and amplify in the future as well.

What is an empowered woman to you?
An empowered woman to me is one who can have similar kind of choices and life expectations as her male counterparts; someone who has the will and the means to confront the challenges that confront her. An empowered woman is the one who has a voice as well as has skills and education to become self-reliant. Thus empowerment itself will have multiple dimensions – political, social, and economic.

Any message to the women out there?
Follow your dreams and work hard relentlessly to realise them. It is possible that a woman may, in particular, face certain infirmities, unknown to the other gender. It is here where your passion, patience, inner strength will come into play. If you ever fail, try again and try harder.

Updated On 6/15/2017 12:56:01 PM