'Never give up': Visually impaired youth ranks 20th in UPSC
Ravi Raj, a 27-year-old from Bihar's Nawada district, just made headlines by grabbing the 20th rank in UPSC CSE 2025.
Visually impaired since childhood, he cracked the exam on his fifth try, with huge support from his mom, Vibha Sinha, who read textbooks aloud and helped with notes.
Raj's story is all about not giving up
Raj's story is all about not giving up. He cleared the BPSC exam (year not specified in the source) but turned down a government job to chase his IAS dream.
Even after three failed UPSC attempts and reaching rank 182 in his fourth attempt (year not specified in the source; likely CSE 2024 if externally confirmed), he kept going until he broke into the top 20.
First in family to clear civil services
Raj studied eight to 10 hours daily at home and leaned on YouTube lectures (shout-out to Khan Sir) for tough topics.
He's the first in his family to clear civil services—proving that hard work (and a little help from family) can take you far, no matter what challenges you face.