Techie, who couldn't crack UPSC, shares nostalgic pic of pens she used during preparation. Post goes viral

Cracking the UPSC examination and joining the Civil Service remains a pipe dream for the youth of India. Recently, an engineer shared a throwback picture of more than a hundred pens she used in her UPSC journey. Dropping the picture on X, Aditi Jaiswal wrote, “Just used pens for over 2 years of UPSC preparation!”

The picture went viral on X, gaining more than 26K likes and 1.2 million views. It also triggered others to share screenshots of books and pens they used to prepare for various competitive entrance examinations.

Just used pens for over 2 years of upsc preparation.#upscaspirant pic.twitter.com/Y7vsnrNFDG

— Aditi Jaiswal (@jaiswal_adt) April 15, 2025

One user shared their pen collection and wrote, “My used pen collection approximately 3 years (2015-2018) Cleared prelims for SSC CGL, CHSL, RRB NTPC and some more exams. Finally selected in railway level 1 but after 2 years I resigned and joined as a revenue inspector under the state PSC.”

Retweeting the post, one user wrote, “Pens have been my constant companions during over 2 years of UPSC preparation. They have witnessed every moment of hard work and dedication. Grateful for their silent support throughout this journey.”

Another got nostalgic and reminisced about when Rs 1 pens were prevalent in the market. Another bemoaned how the youth give their formative years to preparing for such exams. “India's youth are spending their most energetic years chasing UPSC dreams with a <1% success rate—while China is busy building industries, tech giants, and innovation hubs…” Read the comment.

Another commended Aditi for choosing her battles and bowing out after her attempts at cracking the examination proved to be unsuccessful. “People need success stories, but nobody wants to listen to a failure story, as it begins at the moment you stop trying; until you stop, you are still in the battle…” wrote the X user, to which Aditi responded, “I am glad I left at the right time…”

Yes but I am glad I left at the right time

— Aditi Jaiswal (@jaiswal_adt) April 15, 2025

Aditi is currently a software engineer at an IT consulting firm in Gurugram, Haryana.