India, Nov. 7 -- A UPSC aspirant has spoken with disarming honesty about the emotional weight of spending her early twenties in isolation while preparing for the civil services exam. In a video that has now gone viral, she said the silence that followed the end of her attempts left her feeling disconnected from her own identity.

The clip was shared on Instagram by Manvi Srivastava and quickly gained traction online.

In her caption, Srivastava wrote, "They say UPSC changes you. They never said it leaves nothing untouched. I gave my 20s to it. Locked myself away. Sacrificed birthdays, people, smiles. And when it finally ended. I did not even know who I was anymore. Somewhere between chasing UPSC and losing sleep, I lost myself too."

Her ...