[Topper’s Interview] S.Chitharanjan (Rank-574/CSE-2015) Sharing Anthropology Notes for future players, Secundarabad, Asst. Commandant in ITBP,Earlier ACIO

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. Mains answer-writing?
18. Mains Optional Subject
19. Download Anthropology notes
20. Before the interview
21. During the interview
22. CSE-2015 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

Q.	Details
Name	S. Chitharanjan
Rank in CSE-2015	574
Roll No.	155540
Age	26
Total attempts in CSE (including this one)	03
Optional Subject	Anthropology
Schooling Medium	English
College medium	English
Medium chosen for Mains answers	English
Medium chosen for Interview	English
Home town/city	Secunderabad
Work-experience if any	Worked as an Assistant Central Intelligence Officer (ACIO) from 2012 to Jan 2016 Right now working as an Assistant Commandant, ITBP.
Details of other competitive exams, including success/failures	Cleared ACIO-II exam (Intelligence Bureau) in 2012 Cleared CAPF 2013 (AIR# 239)
Details of coaching, mock tests, postal material for any competitive exam (if used)	I didn’t  get an opportunity to take coaching for Anthropology or General Studies as I have been working (took coaching for Geography and Public Administration in 2010 and they didn’t help me as they are no more my optional)
Service preferences (Top-5)	IPS>IAS>IFS>IRS(IT)>IRS(C)
state cadre preference (Top-5)	Telangana> Andhra Pradesh>Karnataka>Tamil nadu>Maharasthra

Education

% in class 10	90.3
% in class 12	88
Graduation course and %	72.03
Name of college, city, passing out year	Sri  Ramachandra College of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai Passing out year – 2010
Post-graduation	MBA in Human resource management, Osmania University, Hyderabad. Passing out year – 2012
Any other professional courses	Basic and Advanced Mountaineering Courses
Hobbies & Extracurricular achievements	Rock Climbing, Numismatics Mountaineering Scaled Mt. Phulang and Mt. Brumkhangse in North Sikkim in two different mountaineering expeditions.

Introduction

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

I have always been an above average last bench student throughout my academics. Because of few personal experiences which I have faced in my college days drove me to pursue some profession which is powerful enough to fight injustice. So I shifted from pharmacy to academics/ profession involving more of studying people and their behavior (Human resources and Intelligence Bureau) and simultaneously started preparing for Civil Services. In August 2012, I joined as an ACIO-II in Intelligence Bureau and I cleared CAPF, 2013 and joined ITBP as an Assistant Commandant in 2016.
My father is a Metropolitan Sessions Judge in Hyderabad, my mother is a Home maker and my younger sister is an Advocate.  I’m native of Warangal and we settled in Secunderabad, Telangana.

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 (e.g. I continue making notes no matter what I’m reading, I just read multiple times but don’t maintain notes, I make mindmaps on computer …or xyz style)

• There is a lot of material available in the market/internet. One should know what to study and what not to.  Collect the online material and save them in different folders accordingly for future reference.
• I avoided reading bulky books and preferred reading more of concise versions of books which are available @iasabhiyan.com and xaam.in.
• I used to read articles from mrunal.org instead of swimming in ocean of newspapers. I didn’t waste time making notes from newspapers because they are already prepared by many online sites like insightsonindia, iasbaba and I took printouts of important ones and categorically filed them for further revision.
• I STRONGLY RECOMMEND LISTENING TO ALL INDIA RADIO NEWS ANALYSIS and make notes of it.
• One thing for sure is we are preparing our PhD thesis, all we want is 10-15 points on every topic with conceptual clarity. But there are some standard books like Laxmikanth, Spectrum , GC. Leong which u can’t afford to skip them. My formula is read more from many sources for Prelims (because of uncertainty of questions) and Write more for Mains from limited reliable sources.

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?
Target based study is key to my success. I used to design a study plan for every 15 days and it also includes what to study every hour in a day, so that I don’t waste facebooking and whatsapping. I used to study for an hour then take 5 mins gap and again switch over to another subject so that I don’t get bored with one subject, staring at a single page. After lunch, one hour sleep to refresh my mood. I used to make sure that my day ends happily with a documentary or a thrilling TV serial (definitely not desiwala).
Once in a fortnight, a day off (chill out with friends and family) and once in 60 days I used to plan an adventure trip with friends for3- 5days.

Struggle of a Senior player

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.
. I believe in Law of Attraction– you always get want you want, sincerely want. All you have to do is ask, sincerely ask.
As we all know Energy neither can neither be created nor destroyed but only transformed from one form to another… all you have to do is put your energy into what you want to be. The higher you aim, higher energy it demands. Believe in flow of energy, the energy you spent will never go waste.

Q2. What went wrong in your previous attempt? What changes did you make in this current attempt?
My first attempt in 2011 turned out to be a disaster because of poor optional selection (Geography and Public Administration).later I got selected as an ACIO-II and I took two years gap to focus more on my profession. Again in 2014 I couldn’t even clear prelims because of my poor performance in CSAT paper II. In 2015, making CSAT paper qualifying made things easier for me. In 2015 attempt I shifted to Anthropology from Geography. Being from  science background made things easier for me in Anthropology and I didn’t even take any coaching for it. I prepared my own notes from various sources covering 90% of syllabus. It took 4 months to prepare my own notes and revised it regularly with recent updates (I will share my notes soon on this forum).
I dedicated 2 hours daily for writing practice for both GS, optional and Essay. I answered day to day questions from Secure 2015 of Insightsonindia.com and compared them with others who posted their answers in the above platform.

Working professional

If you’re a working professional, share some tips on how to manage studies with job
Simple answer- I took leave before my Mains examination. Once you are sure about your prelims result you can risk taking EOL. Utilise your after work hours smartly focusing more on conventional topics.

Prelims (CSAT) General studies

Topic	strategy/booklist/comment
History Ancient	TN NCERT
History Medieval	TN NCERT
History Modern (Freedom Struggle)	Spectrum, NCERT compilations, Indian Freedom struggle by Bipin Chandra (not compulsory)
Culture and society	GK Today material, CCRT notes, NCERT compilations
Polity (theory + current)	Laxmikanth, NCERT
Economy (theory + current)	Mrunal articles, Key concepts of Economy (Sankar IAS material), NCERT compilations
Science (theory + current)	NCERT Compilations
Environment (theory + current)	Shankar IAS material, GK today material
geography physical	NCERT, GC Leong, GK today material
geography India	NCERT , GK  Today material
geography world	NCERT, GK  Today material
other national/international current affairs	Gathered final current affairs compilation material from xaam.in 15 days before prelims.
Schemes, Policy & Filler Stuff	Online sources.

Q. Any observation / comments / tips about GS prelim 2015 paper?
There are no/few questions from Culture, Environment and all of a sudden more questions from Current affairs. Because of uncertainty of questions from different topics, I suggest focusing on all topics equally and don’t prioritise. UPSC is too unpredictable so don’t take chances. For Prelims read topics from more than one source to strengthen your elimination strategy and to increase your probability while risking answering 50:50 questions.

Q. Now that Aptitude paper has become qualifying, obvious more attention needs to be paid on the GS paper so apart from the books that you already have gone through, what else would you have tried for CSE-2016 (if you were going to appear)?

Prelims (CSAT) Aptitude

Topic	strategy / booklist
Maths	RS Agarwal
reasoning	RS Agarwal
comprehension	–
Decision Making	–

Q. Any observation / comments / tips about GS Aptitude 2015 paper.
I’m not right person to suggest because I scored only 81/ 200.. Just enough to qualify…

Prelim accuracy

Q1. Did you attend any ‘mock tests’? do you think they’re necessary for success?
I didn’t attend any mock tests but I solved daily 50 questions of previous year question papers and from other sources available in the market. I think they will help you in time management and analysis your elimination strategies.
Q2. Approximate no. of attempted answers vs. correct answers. in CSAT-2015

	attempted Q.	correct (Expected)	Official score
GS	80	69	126
aptitude	41	Don’t remember	81.1

Mains: Compulsory language paper

Compulsory language paper	Your preparation strategy / booklist?
English paper	NIL
your regional language	Wrote daily a passage two months before Mains from local newspaper

Q. other observations / tips / comments on the length / difficulty level of compulsory language papers in CSE-2015
Don’t neglect Regional language paper, especially candidates from English medium.

Mains: Essay

Q1. How did you prepare for the essay paper?
I started preparing for essay sincerely from about a month before the mains. I picked up topics from civilserviceindia and did brainstorming over a paper, whatever comes in my mind regarding that topic and categorized it into historical, economic, social and cultural aspects. Same time I wrote down pros, cons and solutions, if possible case studies. Now on the other side of paper I made a rectangle with ten boxes (each box represent a paper) in it and organized the brain stormed points in it (see below).

Introduction with an anecdote or a story.	Body-1 Explaining the theme of the essay include historical perspective	Body-2 Case study Examples Description	Problems With examples	Analyse the problem in socio cultural context
Analyse the problem Current	Solutions	Solutions	A Success story	Conclusion Don’t add anything new here. It should be a summary of your essay.

I do suggest writing at least 6 complete essays (within 10 days of mains) and give it to other aspirants to evaluate it. Focus more on presenting decent introduction and conclusion. Add some  historical examples to keep your  essay interesting.

Q2. Which two essays did you write and What key points did you include in it?
Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever devil.
I gave introduction mentioning Alexander, his respect towards cultural values imbibed by Aristotle during his education. Gave historical examples like Hilter’s unethical experiments on humans, mentioned problems in Bureaucracy, Corruption in Civil Services, nuclear experimentation, developing chemical/ biological weapons, confession of Oppenheimer after his Project Manhattan and radicalization of educated youth into ISIS by a PhD holder Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi. Also gave solutions like reforms in Education, role of family and society in molding children into better citizens.
Technology cannot replace manpower.
Started essay  introduction with the development of early civilizations mentioning Cultural evolution. Gave historical examples like Luddites against machines, IBM computer defeating Chess Grandmaster, pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence. Finally on Cyber issues, humans role in innovation, risk handling, decision making in crucial situations.

General Studies (Mains) paper 1

Topic	How did you prepare?
Culture	GK Today, NCERT books (not compilations)
Indian history	Spectrum, GK today material
world history	NCERT , Wizard World History
post-independence India	NCERT( Politics in India since Independence)- more than sufficient
Indian society	I skipped it (I’m a part of from past 26 years)
role of women, poverty etc.	Covered in current affairs
globalization on Indian society	I skipped it
communalism, regionalism, secularism	I skipped it
world geo physical	11th and 12th NCERT
resource distribution	Mrunal.org )- more than sufficient
factors for industrial location	Mrunal.org )- more than sufficient
earthquake tsunami etc	GC.Leong
impact on flora-fauna	Prepared my own notes from Current events

General studies (Mains) paper 2

Topic	How Did You Prepare?
Indian Constitution, devolution, dispute redressal etc.	Laxmikanth
comparing Constitution with world	Vision ias material
parliament, state Legislatures	Laxmikanth
executive-judiciary	Laxmikanth
ministries departments	India Yearbook  compilation
pressure group, informal asso.	Vision ias material
Representation of people’s act	Vision ias material
various bodies: Constitutional, statutory..	Laxmikanth
NGO, SHG etc	Vision ias material
welfare schemes, bodies	Online sources like xaam.in
social sector, health, edu, HRD	Indian Express, Yojana
governance, transparency, accountability	Vision Ias material
e-governance	Yojana issue
role of civil service	Vision ias material
India & neighbors	Prepared my own notes from Radio
bilateral/global grouping	Prepared my own notes from Radio
effect of foreign country policies on Indian interest	Current Affairs, Radio, IDSA website
Diaspora	Prepared my own notes from Radio
international bodies- structure mandate	Vision Ias material

General studies (Mains) Paper 3

Topic	How Did You Prepare?
Indian economy, resource mobilization	Mrunal  Youtube videos and articles
inclusive growth	Vision Ias material
Budgeting	Laxmikanth
major crops, irrigation	Vision Ias material
agro produce – storage, marketing	Vision Ias material
e-technology for famers	Case studies from kurukshetra
farm subsidies, MSP	Vision Ias material
PDS, buffer, food security	Vision Ias material + Yojana issue
technology mission	Vision Ias material
animal rearing economics	Vision Ias material
food processing	Make in India website+ Vision Ias material
land reforms	NCERT
Liberalization	I skipped it
Infra	Make in India website
investment models	Vision Ias material
science-tech day to day life	Xaam.in (s&t link)
Indian achievements in sci-tech	All India Radio+ Xaam.in (s&t link)
awareness in IT, space, biotech, nano, IPR	Xaam.in (s&t link)
environmental impact assessment	Ministry of Environment website+ Shankar Ias notes
Disaster Management	Yojana+ Vision Ias material
non state actors, internal security	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events
internal security – role of media, social networking site	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events
cyber security	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events
money laundering	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events
border  Management	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events
organized crime, terrorism	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events
security agencies- structure mandate	Vajiram Yellow book+ Current events

General Studies 4: Ethics, Integrity, aptitude

Topic	How Did You Prepare?
ethics and interface, family, society and all the hathodaa topics	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
attitude, moral influence etc.	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
civil service: integrity, impartiality, tolerance to weak etc	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
emotional intelligence, its use in governance	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
moral thinkers of India and world	How many thinkers did you prepare? Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
ethics in pub.ad, accountability, laws, rules etc.	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
corporate governance	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
probity in governance, work culture	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
citizen charter, ethics code, work culture etc.	Vision ias material
challenges of corruption	Mrunal videos, articles+ Lexicon
case studies on above topics	GS score case studies

I followed a three step strategy for General studies.
First, I read all the basic information from the above sources, getting a conceptual clarity.
Second, I maintained four different notes for four GS papers. Every day I used to answer questions from http://www.insightsonindia.com/secure2015 . Simultaneously I noted down the important points in concerned GS notes for further revision.
Third, I listened to All India Radio News analysis for different viewpoints and maintained a separate notes.
The above strategy made things easy for my GS preparation , saving time and enabled me to focus more on my optional.
Q. Many candidates found Mains-2015 Ethics paper very peculiar and “out of the book”. What are your observations and tips for future aspirants regarding preparation of this paper?
After finishing my Ethics paper, I was very confident that I wil score minimum 110+. But it turned out to be a disaster. May be my approach was wrong. So I can’t comment or guide on Ethics paper. I still don’t understand where I went wrong… may be I lacked flamboyance in my presentation.
One thing for sure, start your Ethics paper preparation with Mrunal articles..  they will definitely help you.

Mains answer-writing?

Please tell us how many marks worth attempt did you give? along with comments if any, in the following cells:

Paper	Best attempted	Average quality	namesake answer	Total attempt
GS1				250
GS2				230
GS3				250
GS4				220
Opt-P1				230
Opt-P2				230

Q. 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.) Because the UPSC aspirant Community is divided over what counts as a ‘good’ paper. Some experts claim you should attempt all- even if it involves “making up” an answer with filler lines, some claim attempt only those questions you know perfectly. Where do you stand on this? [Based on your experience and of your seniors/buddies]
I suggest answering (not attempt) all questions. Incase if a question is Greek and Latin to you, better skip it. If you write irrelevant answers, it will impact the evaluation of consequent answers. I also heard that there is negative marking for writing irrelevant answers. But if you have an idea about an answer at least two or three points, do manage time and answer those questions.
Q. How was your experience with the ‘fixed space’ answer sheet?
Sufficient enough to answer.

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 depends upon the question and paper you are answering. In all the GS papers except Ethics (GS4) I answered in bullet points. Bullet points make things easy for evaluator. Make him comfortable so that he can give you bonus marks if he is impressed. At the same time you can’t expect one to answer a case study in bullet points.
In Anthropology Paper 1, I answered most of the questions in flow chart model and bullet points. But in Paper 2, I wrote in small paragraphs because of the nature of the questions which require more analytical presentation.
While answering questions like critically evaluate , I gave introduction, both pros and cons and a conclusion whereas for questions like analyse and comment I emphasized more on providing my views and supporting examples.

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.
Yes, I did follow the Intro- Body-Conclusion format for most of the questions. I gave a small introduction in 40 words. The rest in bullet points, finally a two sentence conclusion.

Q5. Did you use highlighters / sketchpens in your answers?
No. Only single colour
Q6. Did you draw any diagram in any paper? (e.g. in GS1 Geography)
Only in Anthropology, Paper 1.

Q7. If yes, Did you draw diagrams with pencil or pen?
With a pen.
Q8. Did you use ruler to draw the lines in diagram? Or did you just make it by hand?
No time Sirji.. I did it by hand.

Q9. You wrote the answer in blue pen or black pen?
Blue pen (Reynolds racer gel/ pilot v7)
Reynolds racer gel is waterproof whereas pilot v7 is not.

Mains Optional Subject

Q. What’s your optional subject and why did you chose it and not something else?
Anthropology is my optional (scored 240/500). In my previous attempts in chose Geography but because of poor scoring and vast syllabus I shifted to Anthropology.
Pros: More scientific, interesting, more suitable for science grads, direct questions, good track record in previous year’s scores.
Cons: Poor material availability requires more up gradation from current events.
So to mitigate the cons I compiled my own notes from various sources and gave spaces in between so that I can write down updates in blanks.

Q. If a new player wants to pick this subject, would you advice for it or against it? (e.g. every senior player in Public Administration seems to be advising against pub.ad)
Until and unless you have no hatred towards Life sciences/biology/diagrams, you can happily pick this subject (Anthropology). I strongly recommend this subject for aspirants from Life science graduates.

Q. First the essential book/resource list. (Also mention which one is the “Base book” for covering the theory? + Whatever comments you’ve for a particular book e.g. “my seniors said read xyz book but I found that ABC book was better”.  “xyz topic not given properly in this book, so prepare from xyz website or book…” OR and so on.)
For Physical Anthropology I suggest Telugu academy books which are prepared only for the purpose of UPSC.
For rest of the syllabus I suggest Brain Tree material (3 volumes).
Maintain a separate notes for Tribal issues from current events , recent anthropological excavations and their discoveries.
If you are a new comer and you have plenty, I mean PLENTY of time then you can afford reading EMBER and EMBER for conceptual clarity in Anthropology or else you can skip it. I saying again, our main focus is to score decent marks in UPSC, not to become a PhD holder in Anthropology.

Q. 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?
I strongly recommend to do internet research for this optional, particularly for Paper 2 because of its dynamic nature. Even in Paper 1 (social Anthropology) one has to quote decent examples in contemporary context to have an advantage over other aspirants.
At the same time I don’t suggest to subscribe International Anthropological journals which are time consuming to read and to be frank they are UPSC syllabus ka aukaat se bahaar.
Just note down tribal issues, unrest, displacements, SC & ST statistics, case studies, archeological excavations etc., in a separate notes, this will suffice.
Q. How many months did it take to finish the core optional syllabus?
4 months (4 hours a day)
Q. How many days/ weeks before the exam, you started answer writing practice?
To be frank, for Anthropology I didn’t focus much on answer writing. As the answers were direct I focused more on quality of the content to be presented in the examination. Sometimes I picked up few questions and just framed outline of answers, how to begin, how to insert examples and presenting a conclusion.
Q. Do you maintain self-notes for revision of optional? In which format- electronic or paper?
Yes, I prepared my own notes for Anthropology in Paper format.   It saved my time as I don’t have to go through different bulky material every time during revision. One can’t draw diagrams and flow charts in electronic format, so I avoided it.

Download Anthropology notes

Here are my anthropology notes for the benefit of future aspirants. Total ~80MB PDF files worth 560 pages
mediafire.com/folder/9pccp7k3aex3k/OPT_Anthropology_AIR_574_CHITHARANJAN

Before the interview

Q1. How did you prepare for the interview? – for college grad, hobbies, place of origin, current affairs at national and international level?
We were a team of four (Kumar, Yashwanth, Varun and myself) while preparing for interview. We conducted our own mock interviews, preparing a list of possible questions from our DAF exchanged among us. Later, we used to discuss our short comings. As we all belong to same region we distributed the state, national and international topics to prepare and everyone used to present their own opinion. We had debate sessions among ourselves.
My hobbies are rock climbing and numismatics. I’m good at heoretical, practical aspects of Rock climbing and its technicalities (I also referred to some rock climbing hand books and watched Om prakash Sharma rock climbing videos). Whereas as Numismatics (coins collection), it’s a vast topic. Every time I attend a mock interview, they asked me a Brand new question on coins which I never heard of. So, starting from Lydian coins to recent Rs. 1000coin, I had to go through the coinage of different regimes. I even went to the extent of going around museums to study ancient and medieval coins. RBI website provides good info on Coinage in India. One having this hobby must go through various coinage acts passed by British and Republic India.
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 mock interviews at Hyderabad study circle. I didn’t find any difference between both of them. In fact I felt mock interviews more diverse. I do suggest one should attend mock interviews so that we can rectify basic mistakes we go unnoticed. They also help in pacifying ourselves during final interview.
Q3. 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 in a SBH bank Guest house (so that I don’t need to eat outside food and risking everything in last moment). I referred to the material which I had prepared based on my DAF and nothing more. I went through entire Hindu and Indian Express newspapers before interview. I suggest avoiding oily and junk foods (two days) before the interview.
Q4. Any words of wisdom about Medical checkup?
No comments.
Q5. Describe the formal-dress worn by you in interview.
Dark blue suit, white shirt, shiny blue coloured Windsor knotted tie and brown leather pointed shoes.

During the interview

Q1. Who was the chairman of you interview board?
David syiemlieh
Q2. How long was the interview?
30-35 mins.
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?]
They didn’t ask me this question. I answered this question in the beginning.
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. (Earlier some toppers only tell me their question but not their answer. I would appreciate if you give both Question + your original answers)
Me: Good Afternoon Sir, Good afternoon mam (entered at 3.00 pm).
CHAIRMAN: Take ur seat.
Me: Thanq sir (while sitting I unbuttoned my coat).
CM: So u are working now?
Me: No sir, I used to work for Intelligence Bureau as an ACIO in SIKKIM. I resigned for it.
CM: Y?
Me: I got selected as Assistant Commandant in ITBP.
CM: Good then, u will get enjoy the beauty of Arunachal. So where exactly u stayed in Sikkim? What are your duties at the place of ur posting?  U like the place?
Tell me about the aborigines of Sikkim( Lepchas)? What are the provisions Sikkim government provide to them?
What are the reasons for immigration of nepali people into Sikkim and india?
Do u knw about Chumbi valley? Why its so important?
M 1(I think she is from North East ): What are the differences u noticed between Sikkim and Telangana?
Me: (took time) Mam, I would like to put it in two dimensions. One is the TRIBES OF SIKKIM are more well off compared to tribes of Telangana (explained with ref to socio economic factors) and they preserved their culture well.
Another dimension is people attitude, need based communities, may be becoz of impact of BUDDHISM.
M1: what is ur say about environment vs development debate? What do u suggest?
Me: my focus will be on Environmental sustainability and Sustainable development ( explained them in detail)
M1: As a district administrator, what are the key areas u will emphasise in development of tribals?
Me: (I mentioned health, education, land alienation, displacement and even rehab but she said that I missed something important).
M1: How successful is Swachh Bharath Mission in Sikkim?
Me: The concept of Swach bharath is highlighted recently, but in case of Sikkim, they are much ahead in hygiene and sanitation. Plastic ban is effectively imposed in entire state. I would like to share a small incident during my MOUNTAINEERING expedition where I noticed the porters picking up the plastic waste during the trek inspite of carrying 20kgs of weight on their back. Such is their respect towards environment ( the board members AWEd  ).
M2 (Sir with Sailor watch cap):  U are a pharmacy graduate, tell me about the problems faced by pharma industry in india?
Me: Answered with respect to lack of R&D, delays in Drug approval, Patent law issues but he was not satisfied.
M2: what about the issue of generic drugs issue in india?
Me: explained him about the issues associated like high pricing of branded drugs and becoz of this poor are affected worse and driving them back to poverty becoz of out of pocket expenditure ( I forgot to talk about Jan Aushadi Scheme). Again he was not satisfied.
M3: tell me about FRA ? hw successful it is?
Tell me about PESA?
(I donno whether M2 was pretending as if he didn’t lyke my answers or I was really not convincing)
M3 (Mr. Gentlemen in Suit): what is Numismatics? How did u get in touch with this hobby?
What metal the coins are made now?
How would u explain a layman about rupee value determination with respect to Dollar?
Me: explained about the fixed and floating rate system, dependency on import and exports and also about the currency basket.
M3: U missed an important aspect!
Me: I’m unable to recollect it sir!
M3: So u are a mountaineer? What are the techniques in mountaineering?
What all did u learn during mountaineering? (I mentioned GEOLOGY answering this question)
What are the types of rocks?
Which kind of rock will u choose for rock climbing (my hobby)?
Me: Xplained about pros and cons of sedimentary rocks and igneous rocks as former one flakes out while putting pitons whereas latter one is too hard to drive pitons in.
M4 (He nods his head if u give right answers and it was encouraging):
Is there any pay difference between ACIO and AC in ITBP?
Me: not much sir. AC is a Group A post.
CHAIRMAN (in between): Wat is ur first preference? Is it IAS or IPS?
Me: INDIAN POLICE SERVICE.
M4( back to strike): Did u hear about Eight thousanders? What are they?
Me: there are 14 such peaks and named most of them.
M4: what is the role of rope leader during an expedition?
How do they choose a rope reader?
M4: Tell about the tribes of A&N islands? U may not knw about all of them but tell about few?
Me: I listed out the tribes living there and spoke about particularly Jarawas, their race, population, their problems, SC judgement on NH passing through (thanks to NGC).
M4: who are Sentinelese? (He helped me answering the question by prompting in between)
CHAIRMAN (the Climax question): A sardarji is associated with Sentinelese, who is he?
Me: I donno sir.
M4: He is Baktwar singh
CHAIRMAN: Fine, ur interview is over, All the best of luck .
Me: (now I got up and embarrassingly I started searching for my button which I unbuttoned in the beginning and finally ) Thanq sir, Have a nice day, Jai hind.
(Forgot to wish madam and other members).

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?
My interview went as I prepared. During my interview while answering to their questions, I stressed on some words so that they would ask questions on them and it worked. It was more of a discussion, but I felt it lengthy.
Q6. Any side details about technicalities like “make sure you bring xyz document or do xyz thing, or you’ll face problem”?
No problem at all. You can speed post them later if you fail to submit at the time of interview.

Q7. Any word of wisdom / observations about medical checkup?
No comments.

CSE-2015 Marksheet

Q1. Please attach both prelim and final marksheet
Prelims mark sheet-

Subject	Marks obtained
Paper 1	126
Paper 2	81.1

Mains mark sheet-

Subject	Marks obtained
Essay – Paper-1	127
General Studies – Paper 2	94
General Studies – Paper 3	67
General Studies – Paper 4	91
General Studies – Paper 5	88
Optional Paper – Paper-1	120
Optional Paper – Paper-2	120
Written total	707
Personality Test	171
Final Total	878

Q2. After looking at the marksheet, suppose you had to prepare again next time, what changes will you make in your studies?
As my first preference is IPS and I will be allotted my desired service this time. Incase if I want to prepare again I will focus on HOW TO IMPRESS DAVID SIR DURING MY INTERVIEW.

Career Backup

Q1. If you were not selected, what was your career backup plan?
I’m already working as an Assistant Commandant in Indo Tibetan Border Police and more over I had few more attempts. So I would have used all my life lines if I didn’t clear this time.

Views on UPSC reforms

I never gave a thought about the UPSC reform issues seriously because my only aim was to get into service whatever the exam pattern was. UPSC has changed the exam pattern thrice since 2010(in 5years). So all I focused on is how diversified my knowledge should be to clear UPSC. As I cleared my CSE now, I will think about the reforms now.. From now on…

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?
I didn’t face such profile insecurities and a civil services aspirant should never be. It doesn’t matter from which background you are. All it matters is what you are capable now and after.
Being from a big college will not fetch you more marks.  It all depends upon how you perform during that 30 minutes, how you present your views and impress them. We all see many rankers coming from a humble background and with minimum education qualifications. One can give their interview in their own regional language with prior intimation to UPSC at the time of filling your DAF (AIR# 101, CSE  2015 gave his interview in Telugu).
Regarding communication skills, it is obtained only through practice and not a one night show. So I suggest to aspirants to interact with people, form groups and discuss issues which will definitely help you during your interview.

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?
I never liked the feeling of my fate not in my hands, I always objected it. But after cracking this exam (Fortunately, I will also get my desired service), I can say one thing for sure– you can mould your destiny…  Only mantra is- give your best, organise your daily routine, plan your strategies, modify them according to the requirements and be prepared for everything. In this competitive world people, there is a shift from Struggle for existence to struggle for Excellence. Have a competition between yesterday and a today. All is strive to become a better version of yourself everyday…Evolve..

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?
Yes, there are many people behind my success. I thank my parents for consistent support all these years and being on my side all the way even in taking risky decisions like resigning for my job.  I thank my younger sister for constantly boosting my morale, reminding me what I’m capable of through nostalgic incidents. There are times when she stopped watching /downloading movies from the internet so that I can use Internet at full speed.
I also thank my friend Mahesh Kalyanapu (Income Tax Inspector), a fellow IAS aspirant with whom I discussed critical topics, ethics case studies and answer writing techniques over telephone. Funny thing is I met him last in December, 2012 and so far we didn’t meet again.

BOGUS Marketing Propaganda

Q. You are well aware of the sacred rule of conducting toppers interview- 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.
Yes, I used mrunal.org since beginning for analyzing prelims question patterns, tricks in CSAT and so. This helped in planning my strategy for prelims. For mains I completely relied on mrunal for economy and ethics. The articles on Ethics provided a conceptual clarity and made things easy for me answering case studies.