For most of us, college graduation exams are easy compared to the UPSC exams. UPSC exams are usually known as one of the hardest exams in India and rightly so because cracking it is not easy. Every year, millions of IAS aspirants take the exams in hopes of clearing them. But in reality, most of them fail to do so, and the ones who do usually are not happy with their ranks. So, they take the exams again. On the other hand, students clear their graduation exams easily without much effort. But in the case of Gaurav Agarwal, things are a little bit different. Agarwal cleared UPSC exams but failed to pass his graduation exams. Let’s take a look at Gaurav Agarwal and know more about him.
Gaurav Agarwal – Education
Gaurav Agarwal might seem like another one of the engineering students. He cleared one of the toughest exams in India – the IIT JEE in 2001 at the age of 16 and secured AIR of 45 in it. He then took admission to IIT Kanpur and chose Computer Science engineering as his main subject. During his time in IIT Kanpur, he used to fail in many subjects. He also used to avoid going home for vacations so that he can get enough time to clear his backlog. Agarwal also paid regular visit to his professors to seek leniency. In his last semester of his B.Tech, he failed another subject that got his degree held back for one semester. This is where he failed his graduation exams and this is where his journey of resilience starts.
But after clearing his IIT Kanpur Graduation exams he gave the MBA exam at the age of 21. And in the exam, Agarwal got 99.94 in CAT in the year 2008. After getting admission to one of the most prestigious and biggest MBA Colleges in India, Agarwal cleared it and got a gold medal for his academic excellence.
After completing his education he got into the corporate field where he worked for 40 months as an Investment Banker in Citigroup.
Gaurav Agarwal’s UPSC Story
After working in a well paid corporate field for over 3 years he left his job to work as a civil servant and serve the people of India. For that, he had to clear one of the toughest exams in India – the UPSC exams. When everyone in his family was preparing for his wedding, Agarwal was busy with his books and preparations. Marriage is an important part of anyone’s life, but during his marriage preparation, Agarwal was busy making strategies and books. His interview for the UPSC was four days before his marriage.
Agarwal’s UPSC ranking is nothing sort of miraculous. No one could have predicted that the person who was a failure during his graduation years would clear his UPSC exams. And Agarwal not only clears his exams but secured AIR 1. Gaurav Agarwal passed his UPSC exams in the year 2013 and also became the first person from Jaipur to get the first rank in the UPSC Exams.
Gaurav Agarwal’s Life and Work as an IAS
Currently, Gaurav Agarwal works as the CEO Zila Parishad in Karauli Rajasthan. Agarwal has worked on different technological projects, big and small that would help to improve the life of the poor and needy people. As a technology enthusiast, he has a great love for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. And he is constantly trying to find ways to improve the lives of the Indian farmers with the correct use of technology. Agarwal still follows finance, commerce and the markets. And as a tech lover, Agarwal is always trying to find new ways to utilize AI in public areas to help people.
In one of the technological projects of Agarwal, he used machine learning for agricultural extension. He also developed chatbots for farmers and agriculture with the name of Agri Chatbots. Like any other chatbot, Agri Chatbots uses machine learning to help the farmers. But Gaurav Agarwal has used the cheap internet and smartphone to reach millions of farmers across the Indian subcontinent. Other than that, Agarwal had also made a business analysis for the farmers to provide them with real-time alerts. He used the Kisan Call Centers and used his previous technology and finance knowledge to fulfil his project. Thanks to his contribution and dedication to the project, the farmers of India got meaningful real-time alerts about agriculture.
Gaurav Agarwal – Personal Projects
Other than being a civil servant and working for the people and the government of India, Gaurav Agarwal has also some personal projects going on. He has made a platform through which he aims to help the UPSC aspirants to get their notes online. So that they can study what he used to study and crack the exams. Gaurav Agarwal is also a blogger since 2013. He started his blogging journey as “Khelo India” where he provides the UPSC preparation tips, strategies, and notes for the UPSC Mains. His study notes and blogging platform are famous with the UPSC aspirants.
The story of Gaurav Agarwal is nothing other than fascinating and filled with ups and downs like everyone else’s. But one thing is for sure that he has proved that through hard work you can turn your failures into your successes. A failure doesn’t have to define you, what you do after you fail is what separates you from the others. According to Gaurav Agarwal, success and failure are part of life. When one fails, he shouldn’t let it dishearten them. A failure should be taken as lessons and experiences and should be used to improve oneself rather than bring you down.
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