A thirty years old Software Engineer, Mrs. Shubhra Saxena is the Topper in the Civil Services/UPSC Examinations 2008.

Urged by the zeal to serve the country’s rural population, who are deprived of even basic facilities such as education and drinking water, she quit her well-paid IT Job four years back (not recently when there has been lay offs in the IT field) and prepared for the UPSC examinations.

Mrs. Saxena attributes her feat to her "loving" parents and husband, saying they "were very much supportive when I expressed my desire to appear for civil services." Born in Uttar Pradesh's Bareli, Mrs.Saxena had most of her education in Jharkhand, including IIT-Rourkee, as her father was an Engineer with Coal India.

Mrs.Saxena said she worked for an average of eight hours a day and 10-12 hours during examinations.

"I always had faith in myself and so I won. Once a person understands the concept it is very easy to crack the exam. And more important is the ability to believe in yourself," Mrs. Saxena says.
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