In 1999, Rahul Sinha scored 52% in Class 10. He then appeared for the IIT entrance examination three times and failed to qualify on every attempt. An attempt at the IIM entrance examination also did not work out. He eventually took up an ordinary job, got married and started a family. Yet, two decades after his Class 10 result, Sinha had a very different result to celebrate.On February 2, 2019, he was selected as a Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) through the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). He was 34 when he began preparing for the examination, while managing a job and family responsibilities. Today, Sinha works as an SDM in Sheikhpura district of Bihar. He also creates videos for aspirants on his YouTube channel, @Rahul Sinha, and has more than 2 million followers on Instagram.His story, which he has shared through his social media videos, is spread across nearly 20 years of academic setbacks and career uncertainty.
“In my 10th grade, I scored only 52% marks”
Sinha has often spoken about the academic setbacks that shaped his early years. In an Instagram video shared last year, he said, “In my 10th grade, I scored only 52% marks. After that, I gave 3 attempts in IIT. In all 3 attempts, I did not qualify for IIT.” The IIT attempts were not his only unsuccessful examinations. After completing his BTech, Sinha also prepared for the IIM entrance examination but could not clear it.Looking back, he said the failures continued to affect how he viewed himself. “I feel that people from Bihar often do not recognise their own potential. I made the same mistake. For almost 10 years, I believed that a government job was not something an ordinary person could achieve. I thought that some people were specially born to clear such exams,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel @Rahul Sinha.
A school entrance exam changed how he saw himself
Sinha said one of the early incidents that affected his confidence came after his father’s transfer. He appeared for a school entrance examination but could not qualify. “I could not qualify for it. That affected my confidence, and that feeling continued for a long time,” he recalled in the video. He later completed his BTech from a private college. He still wanted to do something different, but did not know exactly what path to take. “At that time, many students were preparing for an MBA, so I thought I should prepare for it too. I started preparing for the IIM entrance exam, but I could not clear it,” he said.He then started working in an ordinary job. “But somewhere inside, the hurt from my childhood was still there. I wanted to prove myself,” he said.
“I had been given the label of being below average”
Sinha said that when results did not come, the pressure was not limited to the examinations themselves. Comments from relatives and society also became difficult to handle. He also recalled how his parents faced criticism when his attempts did not succeed. “When results were not coming, one of the most difficult things was dealing with the comments from relatives and society. Sometimes, your family has to face even more of those comments than you do. Your parents have to go through it,” he said.
His father sent him to Kota for IIT preparation
When Sinha was preparing for IIT, Kota had only recently begun emerging as a major coaching destination, according to him. He said his father decided to send him there. But Sinha did not qualify for IIT despite three attempts. He recalled that the failure also brought criticism for his parents. “When I could not clear the exam, people started saying, ‘Instead of doing this, you should have prepared him differently.’ My parents were also criticised for those decisions,” he said.
At 34, he decided to try for BPSC
Sinha also spoke about the role his wife played during the period when he was preparing for BPSC while managing financial and family responsibilities.
Sinha eventually got married in an arranged marriage and began living what he described as a normal life. He was working in Bangalore, earning a living and managing family responsibilities. But the desire to achieve something different remained. “I always felt that I had to do something. The only problem was that I did not know how,” he said.His first target became a government job. By then, he was 34. He said he realised that many examinations had an upper age limit of 32 for general-category candidates. He then came across BPSC. “Through BPSC, you can become an SDM or Deputy Collector, and the age limit was 37,” he said. That gave him a window to make another attempt.But this time, his circumstances were very different from those of a typical full-time aspirant. “At that time, I did not even know the syllabus properly. I was living in Bangalore and had a family to take care of. I was not a single bachelor who could leave everything and focus only on preparation. I had a family, and my baby was also about to be born. I had responsibilities,” he said.“It was an ‘if not now, then never’ situation for me,” he said.
He studied at night and revised at work
Sinha began by looking for guidance on YouTube and studying whenever he found time. “At the job I was doing, I had access to a computer. I used to read something on the computer whenever I got time. Then I was transferred to a place where I did not have computer access,” he said. Instead of stopping his preparation, he changed his study method. “Whatever I studied at night, I would revise during the day at my office,” he said. He connected this approach with a line by Bhagat Singh that he had once read: “You can tie my body, but you cannot tie my mind.” “I applied that idea to my life. I studied at night and recalled what I had studied throughout the day,” he said.
“Okay, I can do this”
The preparation eventually proved fruitful. He cleared the preliminary examination. Clearing the prelims gave Sinha the confidence that had been missing for years. “Then I qualified for the preliminary exam. That gave me happiness and motivation. I thought, ‘Okay, I can do this,’” he said. The next challenge was the mains examination, where answer writing played an important role. “I decided that I would write as many answers as possible. Sometimes I wrote answers for eight or nine hours a day,” he said.He cleared the mains. Then came the interview. “After that, I cleared the interview,” he said. But even as he moved closer to his goal, his financial situation was difficult. “The day my final result came, I had only a very small amount of money left in my bank account,” he recalled.
February 2, 2019: The result day
“In those 20 years, I faced many failures and setbacks, but I did not cry. That day, I cried for the first time,” he said.
On February 2, 2019, Sinha finally got the result he had been waiting for. “I got the SDM post for which I had worked so hard,” he said. The moment was particularly emotional because of how far he had travelled from his school years. “That was the first time I cried. In 1999, I had scored 52 per cent in Class 10. In 2019, I was selected as an SDM,” he said. “It was almost a 20-year journey. In those 20 years, I faced many failures and setbacks, but I did not cry. That day, I cried for the first time,” he said.
“My wife supported me greatly”
Sinha also spoke about the role his wife played during the period when he was preparing for BPSC while managing financial and family responsibilities. “Throughout this journey, my wife supported me greatly. When you are financially weak, the support of your wife becomes very important,” he said.In one of his Instagram videos, he summed up the message he wants aspirants to take from his own experience: “What is your previous record? What is not there in your life? What is there? It does not matter. Whenever you wake up, you will win.”
