Ishite Kishore now wants to serve the country by joining the Indian Administrative Services.
Ishita Kishore, a Delhi University graduate who topped the civil services examination this year, says that she did not expect this result and was feeling on top of the world.
"It was not expected that I will come number 1 but now I am feeling on top of the world," Ms Kishore says in an exclusive chat with NDTV.
This was the third attempt for Ishita Kishore, who says that she felt bad after not clearing the prelims stage twice, but worked on her mistakes. The Economics graduate from Delhi's Shri Ram College of Commerce now wants to "serve the country by joining the Indian Administrative Services (IAS)".
"After my failed attempts, I reminded myself why I started in the first place. I wanted to serve my country, and my family played a huge role during my low points. Both my immediate and extended family constantly expressed their belief in me and encouraged me to keep going," she said in a tweet.
To those who did not clear the exam, Ms Kishore's advice was to keep themselves motivated and to keep trying.
The UPSC examination is conducted every year in three stages - preliminary, main, and interview - to select officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS), and other services.
Garima Lohia, Uma Harathi N, and Smriti Mishra secured the second, third, and fourth ranks respectively in the examination, the results of which were declared on Tuesday.
This is the second year in a row that women candidates got the top three ranks in the prestigious exam.