Saumya Sharma suffered hearing impairment when she was just 16. But she did not lose hope, continued her studies and worked hard. And this Delhi woman still secured the ninth rank in the UPSC Civil Services exam in her very first attempt.

During her final year of law studies at the National Law School in Delhi, Saumya first thought of attempting the Civil Services exam. By the time she decided to write the 2017 UPSC exam, there was just four months left for the exam. But her hard work during those four months ensured that the 23-year-old emerged victorious in the exam.

But even on the day of the UPSC exam, Saumya had high fever of 103 degrees. She could not even get up due to fatigue and had to be given drips before she could be taken to the exam hall. Still, she secured the all-India rank 9. Also, she was the topper among those who wrote the exam in Delhi.

When asked how she secured such a big victory after overcoming so many difficulties at a young age, Saumya says that not just hard work but ‘smart work’ is also needed. It is compulsory to read a lot. But Saumya says her success mantra is that she practised a lot of writing.

While preparing for interviews, she listened to recorded files of former toppers. UPSC aspirants follow different techniques for writing exams and preparing for interviews. After carefully studying those, Saumya developed her own technique.

Saumya did not attend any coaching classes. But she attempted several model question papers. All these are factors that helped Saumya succeed.

Saumya is the daughter of doctor-couple Ashok Sharma and Leena Sharma. During her childhood, Saumya's dream was to follow her parents' path and become a neurologist. But probably because of her hearing loss, she took legal studies and then finally decided to pursue Civil Services. Saumya studied for up to 17 hours a day to clear the hugely competitive UPSC exam in her first attempt. Her hearing aid was the only external support she had. All the remaining positive factors were forged by Saumya through her hard work.

Saumya Sharma's shining victory is yet another reminder of the life lesson that there is no limit for hard work.