27-year-old’s emotional story sparks nationwide empathy, reigniting debate on exam pressure and lack of support systems for civil service aspirants
New Delhi, July 8, 2025
A tearful post to the website by a 27-year-old UPSC aspirant struck a chord with readers all across India and highlighted the mental, emotional and financial toll experienced by thousands of aspirants for civil service exams. In a now-viral post to the website Reddit, the anonymous poster – who wrote about his recent experience of burnout and being unemployed, described how he had left a toxic job in the IT recruitment sector, where he was doing night shifts, faced impossible KPIs, and existed in a constant state of micromanagement.
Now experiencing unemployment and financial instability, the author explained the overwhelming pressure of UPSC preparation. He explained that it’s hard to concentrate on things when “life is hard, when life feels like it’s falling apart.” The author is still committed to the civil services.
His post received an overwhelming amount of engagement. Several Redditors commented with their own personal stories of feeling the same time crunch preparing for exams while working full time. Other Redditors provided emotional support, opinions on the best ways to study, and suggestions for career options and pathways.
The controversy has also ignited a greater conversation about the unseen crisis of poor mental health and economic instability that India’s youth, particularly UPSC aspirants, face while studying for a very competitive examination with a success rate of < 1%. Aspirants often spend years of their lives preparing for these exams often without safety nets or institutional support and the overwhelming emotional distress of failed attempts.
This moment of viral focus has not just elevated a individual in pain, but also highlighted a systemic problem: the lack of safety nets in the high-pressure, high-stakes system for those pursuing dreams.
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