You must have heard almost every topper of the UPSC CSE talking about the need for a dedicated and focused approach towards preparing for the most challenging and prestigious exam. What do you make out of the two words—dedication and focus—often repeated? Where do the two qualities in your preparation come from? How can one achieve the essentially required focus and dedication while preparing for competitive examinations?
For a clue, I am often reminded of the mythological story of Arjun, one of the Pandavas, from “Mahabharat”. When Dronacharya, his guru, placed a wooden toy bird on a tree’s branch as a target and asked all his disciples what they were seeing, all of them replied that they were seeing the toy bird, the tree, leaves and fruits hanging from it, the forest nearby, and the grass beneath the tree. Arjun was the only one who said, “I can only see the bird’s eye where I have to shoot, and I am not able to see anything else.” When you are dedicated and focused, you do not see anything else other than the target you have before you.
In modern times, I find the highly inspiring story of Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Ederle, the first woman in the world to swim across the English Channel back in 1926, a perfect and instructional example of how one can achieve seemingly impossible feats by the sheer power of focus and dedication. Born to German immigrant parents in a neighbourhood island of New York City in 1905, Trudy was a sickly, sad, lonely child after battling a severe case of measles in early childhood. However, she refused to let her illness define her life and learnt the art of swimming after finding her life’s calling in water. “I am happiest when I am in the waves,” she once said. Trudy’s aquatic ambitions faced a relentless tide of opposition and sexism in a society that often relegated women to the sidelines. Her path to glory was paved with a series of daunting obstacles.
However, Trudy remained determined and focused, her eyes firmly fixed on the horizon. She won three medals at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris as part of the US swimming team. Then, another big day came on August 6, 1926, when Trudy successfully swam across the 21-mile treacherous stretch of the English Channel and became the first-ever woman to do so, securing a glorious place in the annals of sports history. She completed the challenging swim in a record 14:34 hours, two hours less than the best time achieved by the five male swimmers before her. Trudy’s historic swim captured the imagination of the world. She was greeted with a parade on a scale never seen before or since when she returned to New York. The city celebrated her as the “Queen of the Waves”. a trailblazing icon who had defied the odds and served as a powerful testament to the transformative power of focus and dedication.
Here is a quote from Gertrude ‘Trudy’ Ederle, which shows the depth of her dedication and focus towards her cause: “To me, the sea is like a person—like a child I have known for a long time. It sounds crazy, I know, but when I swim in the sea, I talk to it. I never feel alone when I am out there.” Also, “When I am in the water, I am not in this world.” So, dedication and focus mean that you always have an organic relationship with your studies, to the extent that you never feel alone when you are into it. When you are deep into your preparations, you are not in this world. Recently, 21 years after she died in 2003, the mesmerising saga of Trudy Ederle has been captured on screen in the film ‘Young Woman and the Sea’, based on an eponymous book.
When you are truly focused and dedicated to something, everything falls into place automatically. This focus and dedication come most naturally when you are in love with someone or something. You see nothing but the object of your love. Similarly, when you have a heartfelt and genuine love towards your studies in preparation for a competitive examination, you do not need any nudge from anyone. You keep away from all distractions on your own. Nobody has to ask you to shun social media and concentrate on your studies. You find an inner self-discipline guiding you toward resisting your urges and sticking to your plans. You have a clear focus on your goals, both short- and long-term ones. Solutions to day-to-day problems come easier to you. You feel an aura of confidence around you, with success just a matter of time.
As you begin the genuinely dedicated and focused journey towards your goals, I wish you all the best in all your endeavours.