Wasting years to clear a civil service’s exam. Worth it? — The Blind Human Race

December 2, 2020

The title says civil services but here I’m talking about a general misconception that has been going on in our society, that success is directly proportional to the amount of study. For me the very definition of success that we know of is wrong.

Since civil service exams offer people the temptation to keep applying for tens of years, I thought it’d be a great example to help us understand the value of our time and life.

Civil services. Oooooooooooh! Sounds fancy, right? Our society has made it such that if you get a government job, especially like an IAS, IPS….. you will have achieved the epitome of success a common man can have. The next thing you know every kid around the corner wants to become a civil servant, which is a good thing. But the problem is they don’t do it because they want to serve the people but the perks that come with it.

We all know that these jobs come with various benefits. The most attractive thing about it is that you can keep applying year after year for almost a decade and then even not get selected. Haha.

Now the question arrives, is it worth wasting so many years of your life to land one of these jobs or any job for that matter? Let’s take this shot and find out.

First, let’s get a brief idea about these jobs and the benefits that come with it. Then we’ll move on to our main concern, is this all worth it or not.

A little about Civil Services

The candidate must be of 21 years to 32 years of age (for the General category candidate). Prescribed age limits vary with respect to caste reservations. For Other Backward Castes (OBC) the upper age limit is 35 years.

Yes, reservation is everywhere. Can’t be helped. Well, that’s for another day to talk about.

Perks offered?

• Residence
• Transport
• Security

These were just some of the many perks they enjoy. I hope now you have a brief idea of how civil servants get more than enough benefits. Although I doubt if they should be getting such facilities. Well, not in our hands so we’ll just move on.

Society’s mindset

We have made an environment or rather I should say a culture, especially in our Indian society, that your life is defined by your success and your success is defined by studies. Take out all the customary jobs such as engineers and doctors, we are still left with Civil services. Now, there are only two reasons why a student attempts the Civil services exam.

Why civil services

(1) He / She genuinely wants to work for the society and the community. To contribute in the best way possible to the nation. Or

(2) He / She has a graduate degree but no job to show for it. So, instinctively going for civil services seeing the benefits that come with it.

A young boy and his dreams — no, not civil service but life

I think the best possible way to reach out to people is by telling them about a journey. Here I’ll take my friend’s life as an example and hope to make some sense. lol. Let’s see.

So here is Francis, sitting in my class at school wondering what amazing things he could do when he grows up. Maybe I can become a pilot, open a shop, become a businessman, open a bakery, or become an artist…… thinks Francis. Then what happened? He took PCM in 11th grade and then the inevitable ‘engineering’.

The thing he didn’t care about that time was TIME itself. He did not give a single thought to what he might want or like to do. Rather he did what was laid down for him. By whom? The society of course. Not until later, he realized that he has wasted 4 years doing something he didn’t even wanna do. Anyway, he made peace with it and decided to move on.

This stage of life, where Francis found himself stuck in is where 90% of the students find themselves. This fact alone tells us so much about our society and its ways. Now, the obvious choice. Civil Services. As I mentioned earlier there are only 2 reasons someone pursues civil services and Francis and most students like him did because of the second one.

At this stage in life Francis only wanted an escape from reality. A different version of the life. And Indian parents offer this escape as ‘Preparation for civil services’. “PSC Karega humara beta”.

In this blind rat race, Francis was totally ghosted to the concept of life and time. He forgot what the actual purpose of life is? Is it just studying and studying? Failing again and again? Just following the traditional path laid down by society?

What is life?

For me, life is a collection of moments. The moments we live each second, every minute. We laugh, we cry, work, or have fun….. All these things add up and form the beautiful spectacle of life. I might sound a little philosophical. Some might argue that what I’m saying is applicable to careers other than the civil services as well.

Well, you’re half right.

When I’m talking about life I am taking the whole concept of not realizing it’s worth with it. And since we waste such an important span of our lives trying to do something we didn’t wanna do in the first place, might as well talk about it, no?

Value of your time

Now I am gonna be talking about something very fundamental, at the same time very general prospect of our lives, Time. Why am I talking about time here? Since you are willing to spend so much time on landing these jobs I thought might as well learn the importance of the time spent.

Now, the question is ‘is all this worth it?’.

Absolutely not.

We say “time is money’. Is it though? I’d say it’s far more important than money. Why? For one, money is materialistic time is not. Secondly, money bends at our will, on the other hand, time just keeps moving on.

This priceless commodity we call ‘time’ doesn’t wait for anybody. If you ever sat under the night sky and thought what purpose did humans have on this Earth, you’re not the first. I did too. I came to the conclusion that it’s not for us to comprehend the purpose we are put on this planet, but what we can do is justify our worth by living each precious moment that is given to us. By ‘living’ here I mean treasuring each moment as it is our last.

So many things to do in our lives

Traditional norms and culture have made us so vulnerable that we are not even willing to follow our own paths just to avoid listening to little criticism.

There is so much more to life than just being successful. The definition of success we are told is not the right one. Money, big house, car, luxury living….. all these things don’t define success. For me what truly defines success is the fact that I’m able to wake up happy each day or not.

Where is the child who wanted to become a barber, wanted to become an artist, become a teacher, join the army, or become an adventurer? We all killed that child inside us a long time ago in pursuit of paths that lead to the traditional definition of success.

I’m not sure if I’m making sense to you or not. But I’m pretty sure I was able to get the point across. The value of our time and our lives. Just being stuck on a door that’s not gonna open is not worth it.

Explore. Break the traditions. Break the monopoly. Try to find happiness because that is what defines true success, not your wealth, status quo, etc.

The reason I took the example of civil services because it offers us to apply for tens of years and people get stuck there if they fail continuously. I’m not saying don’t go for civil services or any other job. If that’s what you want, give your best. Try a few times and if you fail, just move on. Don’t get stuck there. Know that you only have limited time on Earth, might as well spend it living life instead of running the blind human race.