[Topper’s Interview] Gaurav Gupta (CSE-2013/AIR-117): IIT Kanpur, History Optional, Technopreneur

1. Candidate Profile
2. Education
3. Introduction
4. Electronic Vs Paper material
5. Tempo and style
6. Struggle of a Senior player
7. Working professional
8. Prelims (CSAT) General studies
9. Prelims (CSAT) Aptitude
10. Prelim accuracy
11. Mains: Compulsory language paper
12. Mains: Essay
13. General Studies (Mains) paper 1
14. General studies (Mains) paper 2
15. General studies (Mains) Paper 3
16. General Studies 4: Ethics, Integrity, aptitude
17. GS4 Ethics case study answers in Mains 2013
18. Mains answer-writing?
19. Mains Optional Subject – HISTORY
20. Before the interview
21. During the interview
22. CSE-2013 Marksheet
23. Career Backup
24. Views on UPSC reforms
25. Insecurity about profile
26. Wisdom
27. Credit: Friends/family
28. BOGUS Marketing Propaganda

Candidate Profile

Name	GAURAV GUPTA
Rank in CSE-2013	117
Roll No.	153451
Age	28 Year 10 months
Total attempts in CSE	2
Optional Subject	History
Medium chosen for Mains answers	English
Schooling medium	Hindi/English
College medium	English
Home town/city	Kanpur
Work-experience if any	5.5 year
Details of other competitive exams, including success/failures	NA
Details of coaching, mock tests, postal material for any competitive exam (if used)	Prof BRA Rao Institute at Bangalore for GS Vision IAS Test series (For GS Paper-II and III)
service preference #1, 2 and 3	IAS, IFS, IRS
state cadre preference (top3)	UP, MP, UK

Education

% in class 10	79
% in class 12	82
Schooling (Medium)	Hindi/English
Graduation course and %	7.4
Name of college, city, passing out year	IIT Kanpur, Electrical Engineering, 2006
Post-graduation	NA
Any other professional courses	NA
Hobbies & Extra curricular	TRAVELING, PHOTOGRAPHY AND HINDI POEM WRITING

Introduction

Q. Tell us something about yourself, your family, when and why did you enter in this field of competitive exams?

I have been born and brought up in Kanpur and then completed Engineering also from IIT Kanpur. After that I along with my friends started company – Aurora Integrated Systems developing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and shifted to Bangalore in 2007. During the job I had opportunity to interact and watch closely government (both civil and military domain) and got inspired to do more and contribute bigger towards nation. I felt by being in public sector I can contribute more. Challenges faced as entrepreneur inspired to get into the system. The job profile of administrative services also attracted me. So finally decided to take up civil services examination in 2012 and till that time our start-up was also stabilized and could be taken further by my friends. I was well supported by my wife in my decision. My parents live in Kanpur while younger brother is also graduate from IITK.

Electronic Vs Paper material

Q. In recent times, there is spur in electronic material- blogs, sites, pdfs, RSS-feeds. Many aspirants feel bogged down by this information overload. So, how much do you rely on electronic material and how much on the paper material (Books, newspapers)? If possible narrate a typical day in your studylife. What is your style of preparation

• I personally believe in notes making so that I can revise them at the end moment
• I had a great friend circle with whom we used to debate/discuss/frame questions/write answers in a given time frame/discuss the answers etc – this “cooperative learning” helped me a lot
• I heavily depended on electronic material/internet but one has to make sure that one is not reading the same thing/issue/topic from multiple sources. One really has to make sure that once you have fixed that you will read some topic from this source (after evaluating its efficacy) just stick to it and don’t get distracted to alternate material available from different source unless it is offering something very different.
• I used to dedicate days to various GS papers and optional so that I can distribute equitable days to each subject. And I had fixed the sites/magazines/books I will refer and then I only relied on them.
• For anything which was not covered in above fixed sources (based on syllabus), I will research it separately using internet search and make note of it.

Tempo and style

Q. People know what books and syllabus points are to be prepared. But most of them lack consistency in their preparation. So, how do you keep study momentum going on? How do you fight against the mood swings and distractions?

• Consistency is very important and fortunately I have been consistent since my school days and don’t believe in eleventh hour study and rush.
• I used to make weekly targets (topic vise), and daily routine of study hours and tried to achieve those (but flexible in terms of what to study depending on the mood)
• I also had revision targets before 1-1.5 month of Mains and 15 days before prelims.
• All this helped me motivated and stick to my schedule and maintaining the consistency.
• Regular (weekly) meeting with serious candidate friends kept my motivation and spirit of competition. Also support of my wife who always helped me to maintain the motivation level.

Struggle of a Senior player

After 1-2 failures in any competitive exam, a phase of mental saturation comes. The person knows the booklist, he knows what is necessary to succeed. But it doesn’t yield result. The armchair ‘experts’ would point out UPSC is ‘testing’ emotional intelligence of the candidate or UPSC wants to break the backs of senior players, daily conspiracy theories on orkut involving DP Agrawal….…Not to mention all the emotional struggle-against those irritating neighbor and relatives ..My question are two:

Q1. How did you survive through this mental prison and what’re your words of wisdom to other senior players? If any specific inspirational incident(s), please share.

Yes, Even I was not fully free of this issue. Before the result I was feeling that this is it and I will not give any further attempt if unsuccessful. But at this juncture it is important to talk to your well wishers, family and friends to remove such doubts. Also before result I was once again became ready to fight one more time after watching “geeta-pravachan” in Mahabharata TV serial. So one may watch such motivational TV serial, stories, read biography of great people who became successful after being unsuccessful etc to get motivated again.

Q2. What went wrong in your previous attempt? What changes did you make in this current attempt?

I did not have enough writing practice and could not revise properly due to shortage of time (it being first attempt) also I could not make notes for some part of the syllabus – so I focused on these aspects and tried to plug all the loopholes in the syllabus and made sure that I have read all topics at least from one reference source.

Working professional

If you’re a working professional, share some tips on how to manage studies with job

I worked only till Prelims of first attempt, after that I found that I should prepare full time as I was not able to do justice with my company. But it is personal call and if one feels that he can do justice to job and work in an efficient manner then one may manage the studies with job. However it demand great mental, physical and emotional toughness, I feel so.

Prelims (CSAT) General studies

Topic	strategy/booklist/comment
History Ancient	My optional, previous year questions
History Medieval	My optional, previous year questions
History Modern (Freedom Struggle)	My optional (Bipin Chandra, Spectrum and self-made notes), previous year questions
Culture society	NCERT sociology book, My optional, Spectrum Culture, CCRT India website
Polity (theory + current)	DD Basu, Coaching Notes, Political Science (NCERT), previous year questions
Economy (theory + current)	NCERT Books (11th and 12th), previous year questions, Economic Survey of India (latest)
Science (theory + current)	NCERT material till class 10th and selective part of 11th and 12th books (like biotechnology, genetics, pollution, environmental topics etc), coaching notes for biology
Environment (theory + current)	NCERT Science, NCERT Geography and GS coverage based on News Paper, magazine and internet
geography physical	NCERT Books + previous year GS Mains questions related to geography
geography India	NCERT Books + previous year GS Mains questions related to geography
geography world	NCERT Books + previous year GS Mains questions related to geography
other national/international current affairs	News Paper and magazine (Chronicle, sometimes Frontline)
Schemes, Policy & Filler Stuff	News Paper and magazine (Chronicle), India Year Book, self-made notes based on Newspaper reading, website such as Mrunal/GK Study

Q. Any observation / comments / tips about GS prelim 2013 paper?

• Reading News paper ‘smartly’ (read from MCQ point of view, analyze previous year question paper, refer to Mrunal)
• Reading questions carefully and options carefully. Use elimination strategy and take calculated risk
• Don’t leave core subjects (History, Geography, Economics, and Polity) and cover them fully, for which you can answer with confidence

Prelims (CSAT) Aptitude

Topic	strategy / booklist
Maths	Selective practice from TMH book
reasoning	Selective practice from TMH book
comprehension	Selective practice from TMH book
Decision Making	Selective practice from TMH book

Q. Any observation / comments / tips about GS Aptitude 2013 paper.

Don’t ignore it.

Prelim accuracy

Q1. Did you attend any ‘mock tests’? Do you think they’re necessary for success?

Yes I did mock tests (for paper-I) conducted by my coaching, they are essential to know your speed, weak points and improving analytical skills. But research carefully before opting any mock test as some are not aligned with the syllabus and style and may de-motivate you by asking waste questions based on facts. Now UPSC is focusing more on analytical based questions. I don’t have any positive experience about any mock test series except my coaching institute so no comment about this.

Q2. Approximate no. of attempted answers vs. correct answers. in CSAT-2013

	attempted Q.	Final Marks
GS	~70/100	110
aptitude	~61/80	132.7

Mains: Compulsory language paper

Compulsory language paper	Your preparation strategy / booklist?
English paper	Online resources (various)
your regional language	Very selective parts from General Hindi by Upkaar

Q2.other observations / tips / comments on the length / difficulty level of compulsory language papers in CSE-2013

• This time they have changed the pattern. Now paper is more lengthy (2 essays, 2 précis writing) so maintain the speed from the beginning. I was totally fine with Hindi so not much preparation, just read some Hindi essays before the exam.
• Try some grammar based questions from a book for general Hindi (I bought a book on General Hindi by Upkaar publications) and took some online tests (freely available on various websites – just search for those ex. “test for article usage”, “test for direct-indirect conversion”) on various aspects of English grammar (refer to previous year question paper) asked in question paper. 1-2 hour per 2-3 days before 1 month of examination would be sufficient.

Mains: Essay

Q1. How did you prepare for the essay paper?

No specific preparation. Just tried writing essay two-three times. My strategy was to plan my essay well in first half-an-hour with a good structure. I always present my essay in blocks with heading and sub-headings. I am more inclined to write about socio-economic issues and fact based topics (related to economy, public administration related, development related issues). And compiled a list of economic parameters (GDP, population, poverty, growth, malnutrition etc) so that I remember them and use them in my essay.

Q2. Which among the following essay did you write? What key points did you include in it?

1. Be the change you want to see in others (Gandhi)
2. Is the Colonial mentality hindering India’s Success?
3. GDP (Gross Domestic Product) along with GDH (Gross Domestic Happiness) would be the right indices for judging the wellbeing of a country
4. Science and technology is the panacea for the growth and security of the nation.

I wrote on topic #3 and covered these aspects (as far as I remember) –

• Introduction showing contrast between GDP and Human development parameters by giving examples of contrasting feature of India’s socio-economic profile
• Why GDP alone not sufficient? – listed some reasons like distribution problem, inequality, environment degradation, poverty – examples of different countries (Occupy movement, Arab Spring, India etc)
• Definition of GHI and meaning of happiness – Bhutan example
• How to measure GHI – subjective definition – no set criteria
• Criteria to define GHI – 4 Pillars: Inclusiveness, sustainability, equitable, and environmental friendly
• Conclusion by linking GHI with age-old conventions of our ancient civilization

General Studies (Mains) paper 1

By default NEWSPAPER and Internet (selective searching of specific topic) was an important input for all the topics and sub-topics so I have not mentioned separately everywhere.

Other websites I used to refer regularly-

• Mrunal
• GK Today
• IDSA
• EPW
• The Economic Times

Topic	How did you prepare?
culture	Spectrum Culture book CCRT India website, A Cultural History of India – Bhasim
Indian history	My Optional – Upinder Singh (Ancient), Salma Ahmed Farooqui (Medieval) and Bipin Chandra (Modern India) + Coaching Notes + Self Made Notes
world history	World history notes by Prof BRA Rao
post-independence India	Class 12th – Politics in India post-independence, India After Gandhi
Indian society	Class 12th – Indian Society, Class 12th – Social Change and Development in India, Class – 11th – Introducing Sociology and Class 11th – Understanding Society (all NCERT)
role of women, poverty etc.	Covered in sociology NCERT books mentioned above. http://wcd.nic.in/publication/AR201213_english.pdf
globalization on Indian society	Covered in sociology NCERT books mentioned above
communalism, regionalism, secularism	Covered in sociology NCERT books mentioned above + Political science Class 11th NCERT
world geo physical	NCERT Geography books + previous year papers
resource distribution	NCERT Economics books as above
factors for industrial location	NCERT Geography books as above
earthquake tsunami etc	NCERT Geography books as above
impact on flora-fauna	NCERT Geography books as above

General studies (Mains) paper 2

Topic	How Did You Prepare?
Indian Constitution, devolution, dispute redressal etc.	DD Basu, For dispute resolution made notes from internet
comparing Constitution with world	DD Basu/Laxmikant
parliament, state Legislatures	DD Basu/Laxmikant
executive-judiciary	DD Basu/Laxmikant
ministries departments	DD Basu/Laxmikant, 15th ARC Report – State and district administration
pressure group, informal asso.	DD Basu/Laxmikant
Representation of people’s act	Election Commission website FAQ + original text of the RPA Act
various bodies: Constitutional, statutory..	DD Basu/Laxmikant, Internet
NGO, SHG etc	DD Basu/Laxmikant, Internet, ARC Report on Social Capital
welfare schemes, bodies	Indian Economic Survey
social sector, health, edu, HRD	Economic Survey, Science books NCERT
governance, transparency, accountability	ARC report on RTI, Ethics and Citizen Centric Administration
e-governance	ARC report on e-governance
role of civil service	Mohit Bhattacharya (Horizon of Public Admins) relevant chapter
India & neighbors	Mainly newspaper and India’s Foreign Policy by Rajiv Sikri, IDSA
bilateral/global grouping	Internet, IDSA
effect of foreign country policies on Indian interest	IDSA, Internet
diaspora	Read special coverage on Chronicle on Indian diaspora
international bodies- structure mandate	Internet

General studies (Mains) Paper 3

Topic	How Did You Prepare?
Indian economy, resource mobilization	Indian Economic Survey
inclusive growth	Indian Economic Survey
budgeting	Indian Economic Survey
major crops, irrigation	Coaching material + NCERT geography books
agro produce – storage, marketing	Coaching material + NCERT geography books
e-technology for famers	Coaching material + NCERT geography books
farm subsidies, MSP	Coaching material + NCERT geography books
PDS, buffer, food security	Coaching material + NCERT geography books + Indian Economy book NCERT
technology mission	Regular coverage of Newspaper
animal rearing economics	Coaching material + NCERT geography books
food processing	Coaching material (else Ministry of Food processing website)
land reforms	“Indian Economy” book NCERT
liberalization	“Indian Economy” book NCERT
infra	Planning commission approach paper – chapter on Energy and Infrastructure
investment models	Mrunal
science-tech day to day life	Regular coverage
Indian achievements in sci-tech	News coverage
awareness in IT, space, biotech, nano, IPR	NCERT book – biology book (has chapters on biotechnology)
environmental impact assessment	NCERT book – biology book (has chapters on pollution, environment), Internet search
Disaster Management	ARC report on Disaster Management
non state actors, internal security	ARC report on Public Order, Internal Security and Home ministry report on Border Management
internal security – role of media, social networking site	ARC report on Public Order, Internal Security
cyber security	A report on cyber security by IDSA
money laundering	Internet research
border  Management	Home ministry report on Border Management
organized crime, terrorism	ARC Report on Internal security and FAQ questions on it
security agencies- structure mandate	Internet (made note on CBI, IB, and other intelligence agencies)

General Studies 4: Ethics, Integrity, aptitude

Topic	How Did You Prepare?
ethics and interface, family, society and all the hathodaa topics	Coaching material and IGNOU material
attitude, moral influence etc.	IGNOU material on attitude
civil service: integrity, impartiality, tolerance to weak etc	Relevant chapter (Administrative Ethics) in New horizons of Pub Adm : Mohit Bhattacharya
emotional intelligence, its use in governance	Online sources (there are websites which have summary of EI based on famous book of Daniel Goleman)
moral thinkers of India and world	How many thinkers did you prepare? – Thinkers on Ethics IGNOU material. Mainly I prepared – Gandhi, Vivekananda, Buddha, Arvind Ghosh, Bhagvat Geeta, Lokmanya Tilak among Indians and Kant, Mill, Aristotle, John Rawls, Bentham among western thinkers
ethics in pub.ad, accountability, laws, rules etc.	ARC report on ethics, RTI
corporate governance	Notes from Wikipedia and some other online sources
probity in governance, work culture	ARC report on ethics, RTI
citizen charter, ethics code, work culture etc.	Generally covered in other material
challenges of corruption	IGNOU chapter on Ethics in administration
case studies on above topics	Mrunal case studies http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/focusareas/cases.cfm

GS4 Ethics case study answers in Mains 2013

Q. in GS4 ethics papers, please give a sketchy overview of your case study answers:

case	your approach/ keypoints
1: RTI: To hide or not to hide	My argument was that he should present information as it is without any change or modification as it may lead to legal action. I also said that he should recluse himself as there is conflict of interest.
2: Engineer: Bogus flyover vs deadline	Quality is more important than deadline as low quality will affect lives of people and may be disastrous. So no compromise on that.
3: Child Labourers in Sivakasi	Child labour is a social problem and should be dealt with strictly and legally. If not interfered we are playing with future of these innocent children. Also finding out way to give some employment
4: Nepotism in Job recruitment	Take decision without fear as if proposal is good then it will be through. However it should not also be rejected just because I have been called up. It should be based on merit.
5: Leaking information	No disclosure as it will be not fair, criminal act and against spirit of fair competition. Complaint to appropriate authority.
6: Narrate one incident in your life when you were faced with such crisis of conscience and how you resolved the same.	Based on personal experience while working in  my start-up

Mains answer-writing?

Q. How was your experience with the ‘fixed space’ answer sheet?

In first paper it took time to adapt to it and had to fight with tendency of filling space. After one hour it was clear that it does not matter.  Answers should be brief, to the point, should cover all parts of the question, and should cover all broad aspects with very brief examples.

Q. Did you write answers in bullet points or in paragraphs? Some players (who cleared mains and got interview call letter) were claiming that they wrote entire paper in bullet points, so it doesn’t matter….whether examiner is asking ‘examine, comment, discuss or xyz’….simply write in bullets and points.

It depended on the question. However I tried my best to answer in points and bullets as it saves time and takes less words to convey the message. But where critical analysis and conclusion was needed there I wrote in paragraph. As in my first paper I was stuck to paragraph based style so could not attempt 40 marks even if I knew the answers well. So in next two papers I tried to write in points (there can be sentences in individual points.) and thus covered more questions so even if strike rate gone down, I could have more per centage of marks and till third paper I could find a balance thus both the parameters improved.

My Final strategy in Paper 2 and 3: First attempt those questions which you know well, then attempt other, don’t attempt where you are in doubt and try to write in points/sub-headings, try to have a conclusion etc

Q. Did you follow the “introduction-body-conclusion” format? because some mains-qualified candidates claim they simply wrote the points they could recall within the time, instead of bothering with proper introduction and conclusion.

I followed this in my optional. In GS papers I did not have this structure as such but yes I generally started with an introductory line and tried to conclude in as many questions I can (about 40-50%) with 1-2 line conclusion – especially which had comment/analyze/critically analyze phrases and which asked “your opinion”.

Q. In GS papers, Since UPSC came with those 100 and 200 words questions. What was your approach in the exam (I wrote all, I only focused on the questions where I could answer perfectly, I just not to high quality points to reach the word limit etc.)

After seeing my marks I can comment that –

• Maximise attempts even if you may compromise with content
• First choose questions where you know answers and write them fast but don’t fluff them.
• Then answer those which you partially and write them in points
• Most answers should be done within 150 words, some may stretch to 200 words and some can be finished in 100 words successfully if written objectively
• 220 marks can be attempted successfully if a person has good writing practice and 50% of questions are already prepared by him/her in some manner or the other (of course with paining hand !!!)

Q. How many marks worth questions did you skip/couldn’t finish in the GS papers?

	Marks	Attempted	Total	Strike-rate	Absolute per-cent
Essay	98	250	250	39%	39%
GS-1	67	190	250	35%	27%
GS-2	73	220	250	33%	29%
GS-3	87	230	250	38%	35%
GS-4	95	250	250	38%	38%
Total GS	322
GS + Essay	420
HIS-1	114	225	250	51%	46%
HIS-2	125	250	250	50%	50%
HIS Total	239
INT	179	275	275	65%	65%
				Cut-offs	Diff with Cut-off
Written	659			564	+95
Written + Interview	838	2025		775	+63

Q5. Did you use highlighters / sketchpens in your answers?

NO, I underlines important parts using the same pen

Q6. Did you draw any diagram in any paper? (e.g. in GS1 Geography)

No

Q7. If yes, Did you draw diagrams with pencil or pen?

NA

Q8. Did you use ruler to draw the lines in diagram? Or did you just make it by hand?

NA

Q9. You wrote the answer in blue pen or black pen?

Blue pen

Mains Optional Subject – HISTORY

Q1. First the essential book/resource list and strategy.

My Base books –

1. Upinder Singh (Ancient and Early Medieval India) (VERY GOOD BOOK)
2. Salma Ahmed Farooqui (Comprehensive History of Medieval India)
3. Old NCERT Medieval India book
4. Bipin Chandra (Modern India) + Coaching Notes
5. Word History – Coaching Notes (HAD GOOD NOTES SO DID NOT REFER TO BOOK)

Q2. How much of internet-research / current affairs is necessary for this optional? OR can one simply rely on the books and be done with this subject?

Not much. I used internet to plug the gaps (topics mentioned in syllabus but not found good in the books)

Q3. How many months did it take to finish the core optional syllabus?

4 Months along with Public Administration (Two readings)

Q4. How many days/ weeks before the exam, you started answer writing practice?

For second (this) attempt I started about 2.5 months before with my fellow friends.

Q5. Do you maintain self-notes for revision of optional? In which format- electronic or paper?

Yes (paper)

Q6. Your observation about the difficultly level of 2013 mains vs previous papers. And what precautions / rectifications are necessary in the future strategy for given optional subject?

• History First paper was interesting, the questions required deep understanding and the ability to frame the answer by combining various parts which are scattered here and there in the books. So reading analytically is must.
• Map practice is must and I did a lot map practice and hence was able to attempt 80% of the places and I think got right 65% -70% correct.
• Try to focus on what has been asked – this mistake I have realized that I did else could have gotten better marks, don’t go beating around the bush.
• Good introduction and conclusion is a must

Q7.How much did you skip OR couldn’t answer properly, in the optional paper?

Mentioned above

Before the interview

Q1. How did you prepare for the interview? Particularly college graduation subjects related questions?

I referred two newspapers – The Hindu and Economic Times. I also read latest magazines which were out before one week of interview. I used to watch TV debates in NDTV/Times Now and RSTV. (but no benefit as I was asked only one current affairs question  — It happens but don’t make any assumptions !)

I prepared notes on my profile and bio-data and tried to do research in such a manner that I can speak for 2-3 min about anything mentioned in my bio-data with expected counter questions. (Kanpur – history of Kanpur, key persons, current economic condition etc). Think as interviewer and collect information but it should not mean that you copy entire Wikipedia!

Q2. Did you attend any mock interviews by coaching classes? How were they similar / different than official interview? Do you believe it is necessary to attend such mock interviews?

Yes, I attended 2 mock interview sessions by Kerala Samahjam at Bangalore which were very well organized. I was also trained by 8 interview sessions by Kalpana Rao (from BRA Rao Institute) and this prepared me comprehensively and this prepared me for all kind of questions in a very good manner. I am very grateful to her for such a helping hand and guidance.

Then I also undertook mock interview at Delhi. Most interviews were similar however depending on type of board they focused in different aspects prominently so this helped me plugging those weaknesses. (For example in one interview I was asked many history questions so I revised modern history, a bit of ancient history (important parts) before the actual interview but here my guess was wrong – as I was asked history questions but from ‘world history’ — so it was a lesson. One should try to revise his optional completely especially if he has time. In my case it was excusable as my interview was on first day itself! J In one interview I was asked too much about my hobbies so I prepared about that well then again I was not asked anything on that  but who knows ! )

All these mock interviews has helped in realizing –

• One does not everything so don’t be ashamed about it
• Never bluff
• Think and then speak (longer for new questions, 1-2 seconds for questions asked directly on your profile)
• Listen carefully and let interviewer complete his question
• Avoid “takiyakalams” (but very hard to implement !) like Basically/I think/etc
• Controlling hand movements (but not too much, some movement is required) and what should be body language, eye contact

Q3. What did you wear? Some experts say coat is must, some say tie is must, and some say black shoes must. What attire did you pick up?

I wore white shirt and a tie with black trouser and black shoes. It is a personal choice. Whatever one may wear one should be confident about it and prepared to answer anything about it. (like why? What brand? Made of what  just in case!) As everyone wears tie so you may feel odd if you don’t, but many people don’t wear coat so its alright.

Q4. Where did you stay for the interview? (Hotel / friend’s home …) and what books/material did you bring for the ‘revision before interview’?

I stayed with my younger brother and later at a guest house where I was getting good home like food – which was a good thing. I carried with me my history notes, Newspaper notes and interview related notes (research done based on my profile).

During the interview

Q1. Who was the chairman of you interview board?

Rajni Razdan

Q2. How long was the interview?

About 25 min

Q3. Why do you want to join civil service? Why don’t you continue in your graduation field? Social service can be done from private sector too.  [Since I don’t know whether they ask you this question or not. But if they had asked- what will be your reply?]

I was asked this question as I was coming from entrepreneurial background. It was the most expected question and I had clear answer in my mind which was true so I didn’t have any hard time regarding this and my response came naturally.

I answered, “I had inclination towards civil services but as I was confronted the challenge of starting company I got involved in that. However during the journey as a part of my responsibilities I got chance to interact with civil servants and saw their challenging job from closer which excited me. I also felt that being in private sector one may not contribute to nation and society up to the extent which is possible in public sector. So after stabilizing the company I decided to take the plunge.” For counter questions other aspects of the answer was – I was attracted to diverse job profile offered by civil services and as I handled various aspects in my start-up like administration/finance/HR/hiring/product development I liked dynamic job profile.

This answer should be from the heart then there should no issues. Your natural response should be structured in a logical manner.

Q4. Please narrate your entire interview- what questions did they ask and what did you reply and other pleasant or uncomfortable experiences during the interview.

Summary: Most of the interview was on my profile and optional. My starting was not good (could not answer/not properly answer initial fact based history questions but later I could answer expected questions on my profile and soon after Chairman’s hard hit I could regather my confidence and could answer calmly.)

RR/Chairperson

1) tell me about Habsburg dynasty? (Some answer but interrupted in between as it was going nowhere, I was kind of shocked and perplexed about what to answer and how to answer)

2) What was the relation between Habsburg dynasty and Napolean? Don’t know – she said if you don’t know this then you have not read history but I answered “I don’t know” staring at her eyes! As I am not supposed to know everything!

3) How first world war started? — tell me specific incident which triggered first world war – fortunately told it right.

m1

1) You are engineer, then u started ur company, then why u want to come to civil services? (answered well)

2) Being an engineer why u still want to be in civil services? (Answered well)

3) Can analytical ability help in solving human centric problems? Being engineer how one can solve human related problems. (I said I have experience of solving human centric problems also giving examples from my job experience)

m2

1) History position going down, Why history as optional? (Told plainly that after 5.5 years of techno-managerial work I wanted to take any humanity subject which I can study on my own. And it was my natural choice based on interest and have been reading history books even while working)

2) Are u aware of any journal of history? (No)

3) Are you aware of Britannica history journal? (Yes, I have read it online.)

m3

1) How can history as optional help in administration? Why history as optional being engineer? (Answered well – understanding socio-economic-political history is essential to understand the issues and then solve them. It is a scientific subject as it is based on evidence/historical records and many scientific techniques are being used now to uncover secrets of history.

2) Coming from Avionics background why we are not able to find MH370 aircraft? (Technological limitations explained of various communication systems of an aircraft)

m4

1) You are from Kanpur, what do you know about Ursala Hospital? (Very simple answer, I think something else was expected like history but I didn’t answer that)

2) Do you know about auto-biography of Babur, what did he say about India in it? (Knew very little, told two observations)

(The next two questions I answered with great passion and energy)

3) Your salary was 75,000 pm but now you will earn much less, so why you are taking such decision? economic rational (In public sector your contingencies are well protected. Your health and post-retirement life is well maintained while in private you have to take care of all that. In civil services you get various other perks which are as good as in private sector. Good lifestyle.)

4) How would you cope up in hierarchy in bureaucracy? (I answered this with great passion saying that if one has conviction he will find a way!)

Q5. Was your interview on the expected lines of what you had prepared or did they ask you totally unexpected questions?  Was it a stress interview, did they ask any uncomfortable questions? If yes, how did you handle it?

Yes, 70% was on expected lines. Judging from the beginning it was stress interview as the kind of comment passed on by the Chairman!

Q6. Any side details about technicalities like “make sure you bring xyz document or do xyz thing, or you’ll face problem”?

No

Q7. Any word of wisdom / observations about medical checkup?

If you wear specs …Please bring your prescription about eye power from any eye Doctor.

CSE-2013 Marksheet

	Marks	Attempted	Total
Essay	98	250	250
GS-1	67	190	250
GS-2	73	220	250
GS-3	87	230	250
GS-4	95	250	250
Total GS	322
GS + Essay	420
HISTORY-1	114	225	250
HISTORY-2	125	250	250
HISTORY Total	239
INTERVIEW	179	275	275
Written	659
Written+Interview	838	2025

Career Backup

Q1. If you were not selected, what was your career backup plan?

I have 5.5 years of experience so could have found job and anyway joined after Mains

Views on UPSC reforms

What are your views on following issues?

Q. Optional subjects should be removed altogether. The present stalemate is helping no-one, except coaching-owners, book publishers and the candidate whose optional subject gets favorable treatment under given year’s scaling formula.

Yes optional subjects should be done away with but present structure does test physical (writing) strength more rather than knowledge. Questions should be more difficult but less and evaluation reforms should also be there and transparency should be there in evaluation.

Q. Despite what UPSC has done in recent years, it has failed to curb the nuisance of Delhi’s coaching factories. In fact it’s increased under the new syllabus in 2013. Let’s face it, most candidates who gave Mains-2013 have relied on (authentic OR Xeroxed) coaching notes because there was hardly any time left to prepare so many topics in such short time. This system work against an individual preparing from far-away area, without any financial resources, high-speed internet or contacts in Delhi.

Yes, but I feel coaching is a personal choice. Many join just to be in an environment, get inspiration from good teacher and to get good network. I also joined for the same reason. But if someone want he/she may prepare without coaching if one has good friend circle.

Q. Half-merger of IFoS with CSE is a bad move because it has raised the cutoffs for players who’re solely dedicated to IFoS only (and not to IAS/IPS). Adding salt to the wounds, many who had applied for both jobs, cleared the prelims- they did not even bother to appear in all the papers of Mains-IFoS. (RTI revealed this).

Yes, this is not good move. There should be higher individual cut-off for Paper-I and no need to combine the two prelims and target audience is different. In fact there should be separate exam for IPS so that only those get the IPS who are really passionate about and not just accidental entries.

Q. UPSC should disclose official prelim answerkey and cutoffs, immediately after prelim is over, instead of postponing it till interview phase is over.

Yes

Q. UPSC should be conducted online like IBPS and CAT exam to shorten the duration of exam.

Mains should not be done online as then it will depend on typing speed!

Insecurity about profile

Q. Many candidates prepare sincerely but constantly live under fear about ‘profile insecurity’. I’m not from a big college, I’m not from English medium, and I don’t have work-experience. What if they ask some stressful questions in the interview about this? Did you suffer from such insecurities? What is your message to these candidates?

NA. My message – I feel it is advantage rather than disadvantage as then you have chance to surprise them with your knowledge, personality and confidence so your interview will finish on high note.

Wisdom

Q. Through this struggle and success, what have your learned? What is the wisdom of life and competition? What is Your message to the new aspirants?

My blog entry on my feelings and emotions giving credit to all who have inspired and motivated me.

http://abhipraay.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/before-the-result-and-afterthought/
Q. Many hardworking candidates have failed in Mains/Interview of CSE-2013. They’re feeling cynical, hopeless and depressed- what is your message to them?

Try to find weaknesses in your plan and preparation and also evaluate yourself truthfully. Plug the gaps and practice If marks indicate that you are on right track (close to cut-offs) and could not succeed due to just bad luck like  bad marks in 1-2 papers then prepare more and you will certainly succeed. If I can succeed then you can also succeed.

Credit: Friends/family

Q. Behind every topper are many people who stood by during those uncertain times when he/she was merely an ‘aspirant’. Would you like to tell the world, who were those people in your case? Any specific incidence that you would like to share with the readers?

My blog entry on my feelings and emotions giving credit to all who have inspired and motivated me.

http://abhipraay.wordpress.com/2014/06/17/before-the-result-and-afterthought/

BOGUS Marketing Propaganda

Q. You are well aware of the sacred rule – the last question must be about self-marketing. So, Did you use Mrunal.org for your preparation and if yes, how did it help you?  And you can even reply “No”. I’ll still publish your answer without tempering, unlike those competitive magazines.

Yes and that’s why I am here. It’s a great initiative and I am fan of Mrunal (his witty style), his notes helped me a lot. Also the initiative of completion of notes making is also very good.

Mrunal : thank you Mr.Gupta, we wish you the best for service and cadre allocation. Keep in touch.