A Wrong Injection Took Away His Eyesight But Not Hope, This Visually Challenged Man Cleared Civil Service Exam
IAS is one of Indias toughest exam to crack every year around 5 lakh people sit for it and only 900 make it through. When a visually impaired candidate not only sits but makes it through its something that needs to be celebrated from the rooftops. This is the story of Satender Singh one such inspiring candidate. Satender opened up on his preparations college life and how a tragic incident made him lose his eyesight.
IAS is one of India's toughest exam to crack, every year around 5 lakh people sit for it and only 900 make it through. It's even given rise to an entire sub-culture/factory in Western UP and Bihar built around getting people into IAS. Which is why when a visually impaired candidate not only sits but makes it through, it's something that needs to be celebrated from the rooftops.
This is the story of Satender Singh, one such inspiring candidate.
Born in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha city, Satender was raised in a joint family but he moved to Delhi early on due to unforeseen circumstances that still haunts him.
Facebook/Satender's (2nd from right) friends congratulating him
In an exclusive conversation with Indiatimes, Satender opened up on his preparations, college life and how a tragic incident made him lose his eyesight.
Wrong injection and everything was gone!
The gift of eyesight is something everyone cherishes but when tragedy strikes, the world falls apart and turns dark. Shedding light on how he lost his eyesight, Satender said, "When I was one-and-half years old, I was in hospital due to pneumonia. I was given a wrong injection there which damaged my optic nerves because of which I lost my eyesight. My world fell apart after that incident and it was difficult for me to come to terms with that".
St. Stephen's College made a huge difference
Coming from a Hindi medium government school, Satender never thought he would be able to get into one of the country's prestigious St' Stephen's College. Pursuing BA Prog. from 2009 to 2012, Satender calls his college life as a life-changing experience. "When I came here, I was from a government school. I did not know how to speak English well enough and my friends said it will be difficult for me to adjust in such an elite environment. Everything was very alien", he said.
Owing his success to college, he said, "College embraced me with open arms and transformed me for good and I owe a great deal of gratitude to college. English, attitude, positivity, academics and understanding comes from the college. College makes you something else."
Preparations for UPSC?
Using a screen reading software, Satender was always able to read properly. Everything was same for him, be it the books and newspapers. The software allows him to navigate and read just like everyone does.
However, his preparations did come with its own share of problems. "The exam is such that you know you have face struggles. Moments when you know you are frustrated. Keep your head down and keep going. I encountered problems getting the materials", he said.
Perception of people has to change
Satender feels that people still have perceptions of those who are visually-challenged. "Attitude problems are there. Perception of people has to change in relation to me. I have to make the people to change their perception towards me", he said.
Why Civil Service?
Satender wanted to embrace challenges because of which he chose the services. "I chose services because there's a diversity of challenges that we will face. This keeps you going. Fulfilling job. Somebody got their due because of you, will give you utmost happiness in comparison to corporate jobs", he added.
Satender did his MA in International Relations from JNU. He also did MPhil and got enrolled in PhD. He cleared the UPSC exams in his third attempt.
Such stories make you believe that there's no alternative to hard work despite the odds and Satender is definitely an epitome of this.
Ending this with Satender's take on life.
"Whatever adversity you go through, make sure you have faith in yourself. If you are composed, there will be results, that will surprise you. Life is a miracle."