Deepak Khairha is a Financial Advisor at Jabalpur in the West Central Railways, with a background in engineering and the Indian Railway Accounts Service. Born and raised in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, he was deeply moved by the tragic stories of student suicides in Kota, especially those preparing for entrance exams. Drawing from his own experiences of setbacks and challenges, Deepak wrote You Can Surely Win: How to Score High to offer students practical strategies for academic success while maintaining mental well-being. His mission is to guide students and their parents towards resilience, hope, and a brighter future.
The Literature Times: What inspired you to write ‘You Can Surely Win: How to Score High’?
Deepak Khairha: When I was posted in Kota in January 2021 I used to read in newspaper every fortnight about the suicide cases of students those who were studying in coaching classes. it disturbed me for the whole day. So I started thinking about writing a book on that so that the depression from the minds of students and finally the suicide thoughts into their mind can be eliminated.
I have guided students in my book why to terminate the life which is the most precious gift by the God. Keep away from such things.
The Literature Times: Your book addresses the alarming rise in student suicides, particularly among those preparing for entrance exams. How did this issue personally affect you?
Deepak Khairha: My daughter in 2019 and my son in 2021 studied from Kota. My daughter attended the physical classes during her stay in hostel but my son did the online classes from my residence in railway colony. During the last four year I studied about the hostel life, pressure of study of coaching class and other things. I have seen all these things personally during my Kota posting or otherwise. I was deeply involved in day to day happening in the lives of students, so the purpose was that the student should keep themselves away from these depressions and suicidal tendencies. After reading my book they will be encouraged to study more and score high. There are many tricks tips and strategies so that there will not be any depression in the minds of students.
The Literature Times: What are some of the key strategies or tips you believe every student should adopt to reduce stress and improve their exam performance?
Deepak Khairha: In this book I have given various strategies so that by adopting these strategies the students can increase their scores. The main strategies are how to increase your stamina of study, how to crack the exam by adopting best method and ignoring some questions which are non relevant or rarest of rare questions. generally students are entangled in only one percent questions and they waste most of the time in this one percent questions and they ignore the 99% questions which are generally easier to tackle. in this book I have given the tricks how to make the study a fun rather than a burden. The students should compete with themselves and to improve further so that they will never feel depression in their lives.
The Literature Times: In your book, you emphasize the importance of mental well-being during exam preparation. How can students balance academic pressure and mental health effectively?
Deepak Khairha: It is generally seen that the suicidal thought into the mind comes from the depression and depression which in turns arises due to anxiety and anxiety comes because of insecurity about future and poor score in exam and due to parental pressure and other pressures. All these things can be eliminated if the score of any student is good. In this book I have mentioned that we have to compete with ourself instead of succumbing to the pressure of society or of parents. After adopting these strategies the mind will be relaxed and the student can concentrate 100% on study only, the purpose of the book is just to give a relaxed mind to student instead of diverting to secondary things.
The Literature Times: You mention providing guidance for parents as well. What advice do you have for parents to help their children manage the pressures of exams?
Deepak Khairha: Generally the parents invest into the study of children in anticipation of good returns as an engineer or doctor or as an officer after graduation. Hence from day one they think about returns on investment. This type of tendency should be eliminated from the society that we are expecting a rate of return for the investment on our wards, rather it is a normal expense like fridge TV car etc. we don’t expect anything except comfort from these items so the thinking process of parents should be changed so that students will not study under the pressure.
Second is that the parents should not compare their wards with their successful colleagues As due to that they will study under heavy pressure and the parent should never discuss the expenses on study in front of the wards otherwise they will study under tremendous pressure. If their son or daughter is appearing in civil services examination then the parents should not force them for marriage etc. let them have a free hand for their study once they are selected then there will be hundreds of marriage proposals for them.
The Literature Times: You’ve had your own journey of facing setbacks and challenges. Can you share how these personal experiences influenced your writing and approach to helping students?
Deepak Khairha: In this book I have quoted nearly my 20 failures of life and I want to tell the students that these failure never discouraged me and i never felt depression rather these failures were working as a stepping stones for my next success. Today the students are very emotional so even a small failure depressed them forever and they think of finishing of their lives. So I mentioned that all my failures were not stumbling blocks rather they were stepping stone. Every failure we have to take positively and we have to learn a lesson and in next attempt we have to eliminate the mistakes which we have committed earlier.
The Literature Times: How does your book cater to such a wide range of audiences, from middle school students to civil services aspirants?
Deepak Khairha: The book covers mainly four type of audience. First is those who are in 9th to 12th, second those who are appearing in engineering medical or other entrance exams. Third those who are appearing in civil services or state Service Commission examination and the fourth and last one is the parents of all these three groups. Even there is also a 5th group of audience which is not direct audience rather they are indirect audience if their parents are able to tell the tricks to the students in class 6th to 8th. My book covers a wide range of audiences but the study tricks are same for a student’s of class 6th and a civil services aspirant. There is not much difference if we Guide a student of class 6th and a civil service aspirant.
The Literature Times: In your opinion, what role does time management play in academic success, and how can students improve this skill?
Deepak Khairha: In a day every person is having 24 hours and in a year everyone has 365 days then where the difference lies is. It is in the time management some can study for 6 hours some can study for 12 hours this difference matters in the result of any exam. In this book I have given that some students are utilizing the summer or winter vacation for study but some are wasting their time of these vacations so by giving some tips and tricks you can utilize the day’s 24 hours in the best optimum way. The Best Trick is to schedule the next day during the night so that you are clear what to do the next day; by various techniques I have mentioned that how we can increase our study stamina from the present 6 hours to 12 hours a day.
The Literature Times: You’ve worked in Kota, a city known for its intense academic culture. How do you think we can change the mindset around competitive exams to reduce student suicides?
Deepak Khairha: As you know that when I was posted in Kota as a financial advisor in railways I started writing this book. The main purpose was to eliminate the suicides cases from India in general and from Kota in particular. My book is for the social purpose only so that the depression and suicidal thoughts will be a thing of past. The depression arises because of the pressure from parents, society and study of coaching classes if we control this depression then the suicidal thoughts will not come into the mind of students, by reading this book the students will score high and they will be far away from the depression. Once they read this book they will realise that life is much bigger than the success in life. It is not one exam which decides their future rather life is much much bigger than these small exams.
The Literature Times: Looking ahead, what is your ultimate hope for the readers of your book, and what do you want them to take away from it as they prepare for their future?
Deepak Khairha: The final purpose of this book is that to keep the students away from depression and suicidal tendencies by reading this book they will be far away from depression and they will feel the study more like a fun rather than a burden. I am sure in the next test after reading this book their score will improve and gradually it will keep on improving in due course I am 100% sure that those who read this book and implement the tricks in their lives will be more successful than the other candidates. After reading this book the parents will also take a lesson that what to discuss in front of their wards. My ultimate purpose is that the suicidal cases in India would be nil in the next few years and no student shall face such phase of depression in their life.
