Every year, there are around 8 lakh candidates who appear for the UPSC examination with the dream to become an IAS officer to bring in the necessary changes. But among those candidates, there are only a few who stand out to become an IAS officer. Such candidates pass every hurdle that crosses their path to clear the UPSC examination. One such IAS officer is Navneet Mittal. His journey has been not so easy like other candidates. He went through a lot but as he was resilient, he fought all odds to make his dream real. In this wiki article, we will learn more about the inspiring journey of Navneet Mittal along with his strategy that made him become what he is today. So, let’s begin!
Delhi Boy Navneet Mittal’s Biography
Navneet Mittal belongs to Delhi and his age is 26. He completed his schooling at St Martin’s Diocesan School and after that, moving along with the group, he started preparing for IIT JEE. He got into IIT Jodhpur to pursue computer science. After completing his graduation from IIT Jodhpur, he got into a small job but the UPSC examination was the only thing that was in his mind all the time.
He wasn’t sure about when and from where to start the preparation to crack the hard nut. But with his father’s support and advice, he left his job and started his preparation in 2017. Soon after he started his preparation, there was a piece of tragic news that was waiting for him.
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Tragic Turn in Navneet Mittal’s Life
In his first attempt only he had to face a tragedy that was difficult for him to overcome. He lost his support system, who compelled him to resign from his job and work towards achieving his dream. He lost his father who was his pillar of strength. He was the one who gave Navneet the direction to prepare and take the path of clearing the UPSC examination.
IAS Navneet had no choice but to keep moving ahead. He didn’t have the option to express his feeling and had to continue as the UPSC examination waits for no one.
Navneet’s dream of becoming an IAS officer was the dream of his father so he was adamant to become a successful IAS officer. It took four months for him to get back in place with all his mind and heart at the same place.
Resilient Navneet Mittal
Going through such a difficult phase at such a crucial time when he was preparing for the UPSC examination is unimaginable but Navneet was resilient enough to face the hardships and grow much stronger than all the challenges.
He got more focused on doing smart work to cover the time he lost. He made a plan for completing his optional subject preparation till December and January and decided to focus solely on the prelims examination after that. Once he completed his optional theory concepts he left everything and started with the standard books which he read earlier for the static portion.
He started giving mock tests 2 months before prelims and made sure that he attempted mock tests daily and do a proper assessment of the same. For general knowledge, he read newspapers on a daily basis, but after the tragedy, to fill the gap he picked up magazines to get all the information in one place.
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How Navneet Prepared for Mains Examination?
As Navneet was from an engineering background, he had solved the CSAT paper earlier in his education journey, hence, he specifically did not prepare for the CSAT but just referred to the previous year’s question paper. For mains, again he focused on giving mock tests and assessing his own papers while identifying the mistakes. He improved the mistakes and gave other mock tests.
One mistake that Naveen still regrets is that he never practised essay writing in his preparation days. His first essay writing was in the mains exam only which resulted in poor marks.
For the interview round he gave five to six mock tests along with it he kept himself updated with the current affairs. He then prepared DAF in great detail by evaluating the questions that can be asked.
Result Time for Navneet
When it was time to see the result, he was really worried. He ranked 318 and was placed in DANICS. He started his preparation for the second attempt with the same strong strategy. But this time there was much polishing in his work where he blended hard work with smart work.
This time it was comparatively easy for him as he had a plan in his mind and a schedule on paper to follow. In his second attempt, he made sure to read the newspaper daily. He practised essay writing which he did not do earlier. He practised four to five essays before the examination which yielded a great result.
In his second attempt, he ranked 69. He was given the West Bengal Cadre and his current posting is in the same place.
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Booklist Navneet Referred To
Below are the topics and the books that IAS Navneet referred to while preparing for the examination. The booklist will help you to get the conceptual knowledge from the right source.
| Topic | Book |
| History medieval | 11th Standard NCERT book |
| History Modern (Freedom Struggle) | Spectrum |
| Culture | Nitin Singhania |
| History Ancient | 11th Standard NCERT |
| Economy (Static & Current Affairs) | Sriram IAS notes and Vajiram Notes |
| Polity (Static & Current Affairs) | Laxmikant |
| Environment (Statis & current affairs) | Shankar IAS |
| Geography (Physical & Indian & World | 11th and 12th standard NCERT plus Vajiram Class notes |
| Science (Static +current Affairs) | Current Affairs only |
Learnings to Gain from Navneet’s Journey
Every IAS officer has his/ her own story, they have gone through different hardships but in the end, they have emerged as a hero because they stood strong in their battle. They were focused and adamant to become an IAS officer. There are few learnings that can help you stay motivated and bring direction to your IAS preparation.
#Be focused:- Until and unless you are focused, you will not be able to prepare in the right direction that will fetch you good result.
#Have a strategy:- Navneet had his own strategy and he followed that strategy in his first attempt and in his second attempt, he made modifications to that according to the need.
#Learn from mistakes:- We all make mistakes but we also need to learn from the mistakes. Navneet made mistakes in his first attempt but in the second attempt, he made sure not to repeat the same things again.
#Overcome the barrier:- There are the different struggles of different people, what remains the same is that, all of them had the power to overcome those and come out strong.
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Conclusion
Hopefully, this article gave you enough reasons to stick to your plans and motivated you enough to keep going strong with your preparation. But along with reading inspiring biographies, you also need the right strategy and direction to achieve your goal and for that, UPSC Pathshala is the best platform to choose as there, you not only get the right resources but you also get an expert personal mentor who will always be there to guide you. So what are you waiting for? Book your free demo class today and see how you can get benefitted from it.
His journey was so inspiring and amazing to read! He inspired us all to work even harder for our exams that we all are preparing for. I loved it. His journey made us realize that no matter how many times you fail in life, all you have to do is to never give up. He motivated us all to work hard with dedication and to never give up ever in life.