Inspiring Biography of Srushti Jayant Deshmukh

Srushti Jayant Deshmukh is an IAS officer.

She secured a rank of 5 in Civil Services Exam 2018 in her very first attempt.

Introduction-

Srushti Jayant Deshmukh was born on 28 March 1996 into a middle class Marathi family.

She hails from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and grew up in Habibganj.

Srushti’s father, Jayant is an engineer and her mother works as a teacher.

Srushti has a younger brother.

Inspired to become an IAS-

As a child, Srushti somehow got to know about IAS and wanted to grow up to become an IAS officer.

During that time she was studying in a school and didn’t pursue her dream seriously.

Srushti started preparing for the Civil Services Exam only from her second year of college.

Education-

Srushti did her schooling from the Carmel Convent School, Bhopal.

She was a decent student and actively participated in many extra-curricular activities like athletics and NCC.

At that time, Srushti was an extrovert and had a very outgoing personality.

Dreams shatter-

In her 12^th standard, Srushti chose Science.

She prepared for the Joint Entrance Examination – Main (JEE Main) and attempted this exam in 2014 but failed.

Srushti scored 84 marks in JEE Main.

Her dream of joining prestigious engineering institutions like Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) or National Institutes of Technology (NITs) were shattered.

Srushti got very demotivated during that time.

Choosing Chemical Engineering-

Srushti joined a local engineering college, Lakshmi Narain College of Technology (LNCT), Bhopal to study Chemical Engineering.

In her second year of engineering, she pondered about her career and she remembered her childhood dream of becoming an IAS officer.

So, Srushti decided to work towards it and started researching about it.

She was also a part of the anti-ragging committee in her college.

Preparing for Civil Services Exam-

Srushti started preparing for the Civil Services Exam in her second year of engineering.

She couldn’t move to Delhi for the Civil Services Exam preparation because she was studying engineering in Bhopal and also her finances didn’t allow her.

So, Srushti decided to prepare for the exam in Bhopal itself.

First one-

No one in Srushti’s family previously attempted this exam, so she was on one’s own as there was no one in her family to guide her.

She started preparing daily for around five to six hours for the exam.

Srushti’s dream was to work on women empowerment and education after becoming a civil servant.

Classes and newspapers-

Srushti attended Khan Study Group in Bhopal for the foundation course.

She also started reading The Hindu and later The Indian Express newspapers.

Even in the middle of her engineering classes, Srushti used to prepare for the Civil Services Exam.

Later, she also did a Diploma in Women’s Empowerment and Development (DWED) from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

Great focus-

Previously Srushti was an extrovert and loved interacting with people but from the time she started preparing for the Civil Services Exam she completely focused only on the exam and mostly stopped interacting with her friends.

She decided to crack the Civil Services Exam in her first attempt only.

So, Srushti abstained from all the social media sites and WhatsApp.

Using internet wisely–

Even though Srushti stayed away from social media, she used the internet judiciously to prepare for the Civil Services Exam.

She used to Google the topics and make short notes out of it.

Srushti also watched many videos of the toppers of the Civil Services Exam to learn about their preparation strategies, books they referred to, etc.

Great support from family-

All her family members greatly supported her.

Srushti prepared for the Civil Services Exam mostly in her home.

Her mother inspired her to practice yoga and she used to also meditate and these practices helped her to relax.

Srushti used to listen to music and songs to get motivated.

Attempting the exam-

Srushti attentively prepared for the exam all through her college years.

She graduated in 2018 in B.E Chemical Engineering and in the same year, she attempted the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.

Later, Srushti attempted the Civil Services (Main) Examination in 2018.

She scored a final total of 1068 marks in Civil Services (Main) Examination and cleared the exam in her first attempt.

Srushti got a rank of 5 and was the UPSC women’s topper.

She took sociology as her discipline.

Current role-

Srushti belongs to the IAS 2019 MP Cadre.

On 22 July 2021, she was appointed as the SDO (Revenue) of Gadarwara, Narsinghpur.

Later, Srushti got posted as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of the Gadarwara.

In 2021, she got engaged to Dr. Nagarjun B Gowda, a fellow IAS officer.

Srushti is interested in poetry and spirituality and she is very popular on Instagram.

Her YouTube channel-

On October 2, 2014, Srushti started her YouTube channel by the name, SRUSHTI DESHMUKH.

In 2019, she posted a few videos on this channel related to the preparation for the Civil Services Exam.

Her preparation strategy-

Two pillars-

Srushti mainly focused on current affairs and answer writing.

She started her preparation with current affairs as it interested her the most.

Srushti also thoroughly practiced answer writing.

An integrated preparation-

Initially, Srushti simultaneously prepared for both the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination and Civil Services (Main) Examination.

She started with reading the NCERT books.

From the month of February, Srushti completely shifted her focus to the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination.

Books and websites she referred-

For polity Srushti read the Indian Polity by M. Laxmikanth.
For economy she referred to the INDIAN ECONOMY For Civil Services, Universities and Other Examinations by Ramesh Singh.
For modern Indian history Srushti read the A Brief History of Modern India book, Spectrum Books by Rajiv Ahir.
For ancient Indian history, she read the Class 11th Tamil Nadu text book.
For medieval Indian history, Srushti referred to the NCERT books.
For Indian Culture Part 1, she read the Indian Art and Culture for Civil Services and other Competitive Examinations by Nitin Singhania and she also referred to the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training (CCRT) website.
For geography, Srushti referred to the books of Goh Cheng Leong, NCERT and also maps and Atlas.
For science and technology, she referred newspapers and researched on the internet.
Srushti also thoroughly studied the government documents.
For world history and World War I and World War II she read the book of Norman Lewis.
Srushti referred to the PRS India website for polity and international relations.
She referred to the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India website for international relations.
For ethics, Srushti read the definitions from the Lexicon For Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude For Ias General Studies book and she also practiced several case studies.
For sociology, she read the Sociology – Themes And Perspectives by M.Haralambos, R.M. Heald.
For methodology, Srushti followed the HARALAMBOS & HOLBORN SOCIOLOGY:THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES book.
She also read the Indian Sociological Thought by Nagla B K.
Srushti referred to ePathshala website to learn sociology, psychology and political science.

Practice well-

Srushti practiced many previous years question papers of the Civil Services Exam.

She also attended many mock tests and evaluated her results.

Srushti prepared for the interview by practising answering the questions which she thought might be asked in the interview in front of a mirror.

She also took mock interviews in Delhi.

Time management-

Srushti used the SaveMyTime app to keep a track of her time and she used this to design her timetable.

Her inspirations-

Srushti is inspired by Swami Vivekananda and when she read Why I am an Atheist book by Bhagat Singh, she became a fan of him.

So, how are you inspired by the success story of Srushti Jayant Deshmukh?

Tell me in the comment section below.