When we think of UPSC preparation today, images of buzzing coaching hubs in Delhi, heaps of photocopied notes, and endless YouTube lectures come to mind. But wind the clock back half a century, to the 1970s, and you’ll discover a world where cracking the Civil Services Examination was an entirely different adventure. No internet. No coaching industry. No toppers’ strategy PDFs. Just grit, libraries, and sheer self-discipline.
The 1970s were years of political churn and global turbulence. India was still shaping its democracy after the 1971 war and the Emergency years. Across the world, the Cold War loomed, typewriters clicked in government offices, vinyl records played in homes, and knowledge moved at the speed of a library card. For young Indians aspiring to join the IAS, IPS, or IFS, the exam was as prestigious as it is today—but the journey to success looked remarkably different.
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1. The Library: The Original Coaching Center
Step into a public library in the 1970s and you would see rows of wooden desks occupied by aspirants bent over newspapers, government reports, and bulky reference books. The library was not just a reading space—it was the coaching institute of its time.
Books weren’t easy to buy, especially for students from middle-class or rural backgrounds. So aspirants shared, exchanged, and sometimes even hand-copied important chapters from friends’ books. Magazines like Yojana, Kurukshetra, Economic and Political Weekly, and Illustrated Weekly of India were treated like treasures. International magazines like Time and Newsweek, if one could get hold of them, were read cover to cover for global affairs.
Compare that to today’s aspirant who can Google “India’s foreign policy strategy” in two seconds—the 1970s student might spend an entire afternoon hunting for the right journal article.
2. The Power of the Newspaper and the Radio
The newspaper was king. The Hindu, The Statesman, and Times of India were must-reads for every aspirant. Serious candidates didn’t just “read” the paper—they clipped editorials, pasted them into personal notebooks, and built their own current affairs archives. Some even bound these cuttings into files, the 1970s equivalent of today’s “Vision IAS compilations.”
Radio also played an unsung role. All India Radio’s News Analysis programs were a daily ritual. Imagine young aspirants huddling around a transistor radio, scribbling notes as experts explained India’s stance on the Vietnam War, Indo-Soviet Treaty, or the 1974 Pokhran nuclear test. It was learning, auditory style.
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3. Self-Study: The Default Mode
In the 1970s, there were very few coaching institutes—Rau’s IAS in Delhi was one of the rare ones. Unlike today’s conveyor-belt coaching industry, most aspirants had no option but to rely on themselves.
Students often prepared alongside postgraduate studies or even jobs, balancing lectures by day and answer writing by night. University hostels doubled up as study circles where small groups of aspirants discussed topics ranging from the Green Revolution’s impact to the politics of Indira Gandhi. Peer discussions, rather than test series, sharpened their analytical skills.
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4. The Optional Subjects Obsession
The exam structure was also different. Two optional subjects carried enormous weight, often deciding one’s rank. As a result, aspirants typically chose subjects from their academic background—History, Political Science, or Public Administration.
Delhi University, JNU, Presidency College (Calcutta), and Allahabad University became intellectual nurseries. Professors, not professional coaches, were the “gurus” who guided students. In fact, many toppers of the time credited their teachers, not institutions, for their success.
5. Writing Practice: Ink, Paper, and Patience
Forget typing on a laptop—answer writing practice meant filling up thick notebooks with fountain pens. Candidates meticulously copied questions from previous UPSC papers and attempted answers within strict time limits.
Some even practiced with stopwatches, since there were no OMR sheets or online tests. The quality of handwriting mattered as much as content. “Write neatly, write briefly, and write wisely”—this mantra echoed in the corridors of every university library.
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6. Inspiration from Senior Aspirants and Officers
Without YouTube topper talks, inspiration came from face-to-face interactions. Meeting a civil servant—perhaps a district collector on fieldwork or a senior in the university who had cleared the exam—was a morale booster. Stories of officers working in tribal belts or handling drought relief spread by word of mouth, adding fuel to the dreams of the young.
7. Books that Shaped Minds
In today’s world, aspirants swear by Laxmikanth or Spectrum. In the 1970s, the bibles were different:
- Polity – D.D. Basu’s Introduction to the Constitution of India
- History – R.C. Majumdar, Bipan Chandra, and old NCERTs
- Economy – Planning Commission documents, government Five-Year Plans, and K.V. Rao’s writings
- International Relations – Ministry of External Affairs annual reports and foreign magazines
Many of these weren’t easily accessible, so rural aspirants often wrote to relatives in cities to mail them books—sometimes waiting weeks for a single volume to arrive.
8. Personality Test: Simplicity Over Showmanship
Mock interviews were rare. Instead, candidates relied on professors, friends, or senior officers to conduct informal question sessions.
The UPSC board of the 1970s valued clarity, sincerity, and awareness more than polished rehearsed answers. Stories abound of candidates impressing the board simply by being honest about their limitations while showing deep curiosity about India’s development challenges.
9. Life Beyond the Exam: Slow but Steady
The pace of life itself was slower. With no social media distractions, aspirants spent evenings reading novels, attending debates, or listening to Kishore Kumar on the radio. Preparation was deeply integrated into a lifestyle of intellectual curiosity, not a 12-hour study grind imposed by coaching institutes.
This didn’t mean it was easier—it meant that perseverance, discipline, and patience were the true currencies of success.
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10. The Larger World in the 1970s
It’s fascinating to place this preparation journey in the larger world context. While Indian aspirants pored over newspapers in Delhi or Allahabad:
- American students were protesting the Vietnam War on campuses.
- Young people in Europe were caught up in cultural revolutions, feminism, and student activism.
- In the Soviet Union, knowledge was state-controlled, unlike India’s democratic, free press.
- China was undergoing Mao’s Cultural Revolution, with no equivalent of open civil service exams.
In this way, India’s Civil Services exam of the 1970s reflected not just an educational challenge but also the country’s democratic ethos—a meritocratic gateway available to anyone with the courage to try.
Conclusion: A Journey of Scarcity, Discipline, and Hope
Preparing for Civil Services in the 1970s was a journey of scarcity—scarcity of books, coaching, and instant information. Yet it was also a journey of abundance—abundance of patience, seriousness, and intellectual hunger.
If today’s aspirant swims in an ocean of material, the 1970s aspirant survived with a trickle but learned to drink deeply. The exam may have changed in format, resources may have exploded, but the essence remains: a test not just of knowledge, but of character, discipline, and resilience.
And perhaps, that’s why the stories of those who cleared UPSC in the 1970s continue to inspire. They remind us that greatness is not always about having more—it is often about making the most of less.
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