The aspirant's struggle

Two things that vividly capture the true test of hardship one undergoes in one's pursuit are the struggler and the settings that bear witness to one's struggle. The latter could be a workplace, a library, roads, a building, a few people or any or all of these, contingent upon the pursuit. There is hardly a third one. Even when one exists, it rarely captures the true essence of lived experience. The same holds for those labouring towards civil service along their way to CSA, Walton. If Room 99 of Ibne Sina Hostel of LUMHS Jamshoro, the Sadiq Mansion hostel and the shadowy lanes of Kacha Lawrence of Lahore bore witness to this writer's pursuits as an aspirant, the Patiala House, Jinnah and Dar-us-Salam Library, among others, do the same for most aspirants in Lahore. The stress. The sleepless nights. The empty pockets. Doubts. Criticism. Transient friendships. And inclement weather.

Though the distance between the worlds of struggle and CSA might be less than a dozen kilometres, for a few, it takes years to make it, and for the rest, it's a world apart. For many reasons and with the faults not always in the aspirants' stars. Notwithstanding educational flaws and unpredictability, aspirants - as I have been one and have seen and observed - spend thousands of rupees and often make irretrievable sacrifices of career and dreams. Yet, it all too often comes to naught. Granted, not all may succeed in competitive exams, owing to their very nature. Those who succeed owe very little, if any, of their success to coaching systems. But coaching academies often take full credit for their success and use it to lure more admissions. A demo class, for instance, suffices for the credit.

Most success stories displayed as organic feats are largely "enlightened scams" facilitated by successful aspirants who, exploited by the same academies, trade their souls for a few bucks and publicity. They, driven by vanity and narcissism, lend themselves to exploitation in two ways. First, the successful aspirants join the system, thereby aiding in the exploitation. Second, the same public servants meant to serve the masses often treat the public as their servants during their postings.

Had there been a little, if any, integrity left, the academies would have also put their true record on display - an exhaustive list of those whose years and dreams they helped successfully fail. The sincerity of coaching academies is reflected in the CSS pass rate, which has remained under 3% for years. Such a dismal result does not emerge from nowhere; it takes the academy's "tireless" efforts to produce it.

First, the academies buy CSPs who struck luck, parade them as Hercules and Übermensch, and tend to dictate their success as the only gold standard for aspirants to emulate. Second, instead of appreciating and refining the aspirants' unique creative writing potential, they insist on their own orthodox patterns of writing. Third, they prioritise financial interests above all, operating on the conviction that they can always buy CSPs rather than produce them. Fourth, they often under-mark promising aspirants and over-mark weaker ones - keeping confidence low and dependence high.

Fifth, once registered, aspirants rarely receive the promised time and attention let alone sincere guidance. Last but not least, they invite so-called prominent figures in a bid to hoodwink the aspirants. Though aspirants may have deficiencies, it is for their corrections that they join coaching. Unless academies and mentors prioritise aspirants' success over profits, the passing ratio will remain abysmal. The FPSC needs to introduce greater objectivity in its assessment so that candidates with empathy and critical abilities can succeed.

I have received numerous requests for writing guidance from aspiring writers and CSS/PMS candidates over time. While I strive to respond individually, I would pen a few pieces on writing in this esteemed space for wider reach. The articles aim to sharpen critical thinking, objectivity and expression while reducing over-reliance on the coaching system that deals a blow to creative faculties.