In the narrow corridors of a government school in Delhi, Rishika balanced chalk and textbooks by day—and UPSC preparation by night. Earlier this year, she was posted for 24-hour election duty just 20 days before the Civil Services Preliminary Examination. She began her shift at 4 a.m. and returned home past midnight. There was no exemption. No special provision.
But there was resolve.
Earlier this month, the 28-year-old teacher achieved what thousands dream of: she cleared the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) Civil Services Examination 2024, securing All India Rank 217. Her success, underpinned by discipline and quiet determination, has now become a story of endurance—of balancing duty and ambition within the everyday life of a public school educator.
A Full-Time Teacher With a Full-Time Dream
Rishika began her preparation in 2020, setting a routine that revolved around school hours. “I couldn’t afford long study stretches,” she said. “So I focused on 3.5 to 4 hours of focused study each evening, and made full use of Sundays.” She studied around classes, corrected homework between revision sessions, and snatched moments of quiet reading during commutes.
Unlike many aspirants who take year-long breaks or expensive coaching, Rishika stayed in her role as a teacher throughout the process. “The classroom kept me grounded. Teaching children reminded me why I wanted to join the civil services in the first place,” she said.
This was her third attempt. The first two ended before the mains. But she refused to step away.
Election Duty, COVID Waves, and Quiet Persistence
Rishika’s final leg of preparation came under particularly strenuous circumstances. Apart from her professional responsibilities, she was posted for election duty right before the preliminary exam—an assignment that demanded round-the-clock vigilance and disrupted her tightly packed study calendar.
Earlier in her career, she had also been part of Delhi’s frontline education staff during COVID-19 response measures, including ration distribution and parent outreach—leaving little time for traditional preparation.
“I never had long holidays or complete silence. So I created structure where I could,” she said. “The key was consistency, not volume.”
