Meet the champ of the year – Kanishak Kataria UPSC Topper – 2018
UPSC isn’t the cup of tea that anyone gets. It costs high, in terms of hard work and dedication. While every year more than 10 lac aspirants appear for the exam, only a few manage to clear the exam. One such scholar is Kanishak Kataria who has topped the civil services exam conducted by the UPSC. So, what is it that makes Kanishak different from others? What is it that made him stand out?
Here is all the information about Kanishak Kataria, UPSC Topper 2018that every aspirant would like to know:
Kanishak Kataria’s Background
Born and bought up in Jaipur, 26 years old, Kanishak is a son of an IAS Officer. He did his schooling in Kota, Rajasthan and then he appeared for Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). He topped the JEE and pursued Computer Science engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay.
Kanishak has always planned his career path in advance, therefore he started preparing for JEE, right from class 9th.
During the course of his engineering, he has also interned with Microsoft India.
Kanishak Kataria’s Strategy for UPSC preparation
Before appearing for the UPSC exam, he has worked with Samsung as a software developer in Korea and later joined a Bangalore-based start-up as a data scientist. He left both his high paying jobs to focus on what he calls ‘sustainable happiness’.
In an interview with Kanishak Kataria stated “I was happy with my profile and salary in Korea, but that is not the only motivation for me. I cannot sustain the materialistic happiness as I wanted to do something where I could make an impact and be satisfied with what I do,” he said while adding, “I had seen my father and uncle how concern they were for the benefit of people. I realized if I am able to improve the life of a needy, I would consider myself successful.”
Kanishak had planned to attempt for the UPSC exam only twice, if he couldn’t clear, he would have gone back to his engineering career. But fortunately, Kanishak cleared this tough exam in his very FIRST ATTEMPT
Kataria had an engineering background and hence had to start preparing for the UPSC CSE exam from scratch.
He began by reading NCERTs of school. These books provided a foundation for every subject.
For geography, he also referred to the internet, in addition to the NCERT books.
For history, also he needed to the spectrum book, that gives a concise version of all the events,
Besides, NCERT books, he also read a polity by Lakshmikant.
Mock tests
He appeared for lots of mock tests, before appearing for the exam. According to him, Mock tests give you a clear idea about the exam pattern and you can also build up your speed to finish the exam on time.
Kanishak Kataria’s Notes
Kanishak prepared notes and started to study mains only when he came to it. If you would like to refer to the notes prepared by him, click here (https://www.visionias.net/2019/04/upsc-topper-kanishk-kataria-notes-pdf.html)
Kanishak Kataria Optional Subject
Being from the engineering background Kanishak chose Mathematics as his optional subject
Kanishak Kataria Marks
- Essay Paper – 133/250
- General Studies Paper 1 – 98/250
- General Studies Paper 2 – 117/250
- General Studies Paper 3 – 117/250
- General Studies Paper 4 – 116/250
- Optional 1 (Mathematics) – 170/250
- Optional 2 (Mathematics) – 191/250
Written Total – 942/1750
Personality Test – 179/275
Kanishak scored All India Rank 1by scoring 55.36 percent marks. He scored total marks of 1121 out of 2025.
Summary
Some facts about Kanishak Kataria
UPSC Rank: AIR 1, CSE 2018
Attempt: First
Kanishak Kataria’s Optional Subject: Mathematics
Education: Computer Science Engineering – IIT, Mumbai
Work Experience: Samsung and QPLUM
Kanishak Kataria’s Age: 26 Years old
Institute for IAS Preparation: Unacademy and Self-study through online test series and study material available on the Internet.
Future Plans: He only hopes to fulfill people’s expectations and work for the betterment of the country.