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........

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