Srushti Jayanta Deshmukh is an IAS officer from the 2018 batch and a perfect example of beauty with a brain. She secured the 5th rank in All Indian Rank of IAS Examination and 1st in the women's category at a very young age of 23. More than eight lakh candidates appeared for the 2018 IAS exam from the whole country, and seats were very minimal, just 750. Almost 182 women passed the exam, and Srushti Jayanta Deshmukh was first among them. Her journey is remarkable, and she is an inspiration for others who aspire to become IAS officers, especially women.

The IAS exam, officially known as Civil Services Examination, is one of the toughest exams in the world. The UPSC conducts it (Union Public Service Commission). Following her fifth-place finish in AIR, Srushti quickly rose to fame online and went viral. Her marks were phenomenal, and her strategies were brilliant because she could clear the toughest examination.

She has accepted her parents, family, grandmothers, teachers, mentors and close friends to help her pass this exam.

Early Life and Education

Srushti Jayanta Deshmukh was born on 28 March 1995 in Kasturba (Madhya Pradesh). Her father's name is Jayanta Deshmukh. He is an engineer in Government Private Sector, i.e. in BHEL in Bhopal. Her mother's name is Sunita Deshmukh, and she is a teacher at Pre-Primary School. Atharva Deshmukh is her brother, who is very young and doing his schooling.
 

Srushti has been a top-performing child since her school days. She went to Carmel Convent School and secured an 8 CGPA in the class X board exam and 93.4 per cent in her Class XII board exam. She then was admitted to Laxmi Narayan College of Technology, affiliated with Rajiv Gandhi Technological University RGPV, Bhopal, where she pursued Chemical Engineering from 2014 to 2018. Her marks clearly state that she had been a hard-working student since childhood. However, she regularly practices yoga and meditation in addition to her love of singing.

Srushti's main objective wasn't the UPSC. Her initial goal was to be accepted into an IIT college. Srushti participated in a variety of extracurricular and co-curricular activities while she was in high school and college. In addition to her academic studies, she actively participated in debates, Scouts and Guides, and many other cultural activities. She is certified with an NCC A.

While pursuing her engineering degree, she began her UPSC exam preparation. The other option she had was engineering. If she could not join the IAS, she would step back and continue with engineering.

Marriage

After clearing the UPSC exam, Srushti married Dr Nagarjuna B. Gowda. Nagarjuna is also an IAS. The couple met at the LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration) and it is said that from this place only their love story started.

Srushti Jayanta Deshmukh
Srushti's first posting of 2019 batch IAS officer was in Dindori, Madhya Pradesh as Assistant Collector. Later she was transferred to the post of sub-divisional officer in Gadarwara of Narsinghpur district of Madhya Pradesh.

Arjan Gowda's full name is Dr. Nagarjuna B. Gowda. He is originally from a village in Karnataka. Nagarjuna B Gowda was born on 9 May 1992 in a normal family of Karnataka. Nagarjuna was also interested in sports during his school days. He also shared a photo on his social media platform, in which he won silver in the national junior level competition. Nagarjuna completed his MBBS degree in the year 2016. In the year 2018, he became an IAS officer by securing 418th rank.

Arjan Gowda was able to win the heart of very beautiful IAS Srishti Jayant Deshmukh. Both of them are residents of different states, but due to marriage, the posting of both has also been done in the same cadre.

IAS Srishti Jayant Deshmukh herself gave the information about their engagement. She shared a picture where both were sharing same screen and wrote a beautiful loving caption and tagged Arjan Gowda's inst handle. She also mentioned 'engaged' hash tag on that post. She posted this after her engagement in August in 2021.

Mark Sheet

Srushti Deshmukh received 1068 out of a possible 2025 points. She came in fifth place overall. Srushti chose the optional sociology paper because the UPSC did not offer the undergraduate subject she studied, i.e. chemical engineering, as an optional. Deshmukh selected sociology as an elective subject because she was comfortable with it, and UPSC did not recommend chemical engineering as a major.

 Study Strategy

Consistency and the Test series, according to Srushti, were her two key success strategies.

Srushti was very consistent and she believes that, one of the main key to pass any exam is consistency. She even believes that without proper planning and consistency no one can achieve such difficult goals like becoming IAS or cracking any other UPSC examination. Studying one day for twelve hours and resting the other day won't help anyone crack IAS examination, rather studying for only five to six hours daily would put much more affect on any aspirants and this can also help to become consistent.

Srushti believed that exams are important because without appearing for test you cannot know how much capable you are. Everyone tries their best, gives their one hundred percent, still some scores ninety while some scores eighty percent and some remains in average. So taking regular test would help you know where you stand after studying. She had registered for various online test series which helped her lot by improvising her weak spot.

Srushti strongly believes that there will always be someone as intelligent as you when you are preparing for any kind of government exams. So to overcome your competitor you always need to be a step ahead and this can be easily achieved by taking online tests. Her primary source of study material was the internet. Internet is a huge help because it eliminates the need for specialized coaching in Delhi or at any other institute. They were not reliant on her.

As its primary study materials, Srushti Jayanta Deshmukh primarily used social science books from class VI to XII by NCERT and other standard books on each subject. She turned off all of her social media accounts to avoid interruptions.

For daily updates and general knowledge, Srushti often read English-language newspapers like The Hindu and The Indian Express. She mainly consulted PIB and Rajya Sabha T.V. online.

Srushti used to trick her mind when her semester exams came near. During her semester examination, she only focused on engineering with a proper plan which she used to design a month ago her semester examination. She took the test, made the proper notes, and noted key points, but her main attention was always on the Civil Service. The secret is to prioritize your life, i.e. your goals and trick your mind. You can balance things, no matter how challenging they may be, once you know your inner calling.

Srushti had unbelievable family support. She gives her credit for success, especially to her family. Her family never asked why she gave her Civil Services Examination, and she had full independence from her mother's side. She was never told to cook rather. She was given the freedom to pursue her studies.

Srushti doesn't faced any kind of toxic challenges and she believes that the struggle for IAS examination is same for all. Some are doctors while some are engineers but the journey for all the aspirants is same. All of them push through the same limit. No matter what profession you follow, you won't get any super exciting advantage because UPSC makes the platform equal for all.

Srushti wants to work towards improving society by focusing on women empowerment and education in India. She has wanted to work for the IAS since she was young. She believed she needed to be a part of the nation's administrative structure. She wants to help those young girls who are forced for marriages at a very small age. She wants to educate them so that they can become self dependent and could lead a better life according to their wish.

Srushti even believes that people reading about her will be motivated that to achieve goals one should not always need to go to IIT or any top colleges. With proper hard work and utilizing given opportunity one can easily achieve his/her goals with right amount of effort and consistency.

 IAS Booklist

As we know, books play an important role, and having a stack of books doesn't mean you will succeed. However, if you are a skilled aspirant, then books are a must. Here are a few books prescribed by Srushti that helped her clear her Civil Services.

Preliminary Examination

• NCERT Class 6 to 12 Social Studies
• History of Rajiv Ahir Spectrum
•  Geography by GC Leong
•  CSAT previous year's question papers

Main:

• For General Studies I, do the same as for Prelims
• For General Studies II, Follow Politics by M Laxmikant, DD Basu
• For General Studies III, Follow the Lexicon for Key Words by R Rajagopalan
• For Optional Paper 2, B.K. Nagla and UPSC Pathshala online material

Magazines or Newspapers

• Scheme by Kurukshetra Patrika
• The Hindu, Indian Express, Livemint etc.