[CAPF Topper] R.Selvaganapathy Rank 236: BE ECE, RMK Engineering College Tamilnadu

1. CAPF Topper Profile
2. Education
3. Introduction
4. Electronic Vs Paper material
5. Tempo and style
6. GS and Aptitude paper
7. Accuracy in GS paper
8. Descriptive paper
9. Four Essays
10. Argument For-Against
11. Report writing?
12. CAPF Physical Efficiency Test
13. Interview by UPSC Panel
14. UPSC Interview Transcript
15. After the interview
16. CAPF Marksheet
17. Service preference
18. Career Backup
19. Wisdom
20. Credit: Friends/family
21. Bogus Marketing Propaganda

CAPF Topper Profile

Name	R.Selvaganapathy
Rank in CAPF-2013	236
Roll No.	035684
Age	24
No. of previous attempts in CAPF	1
Home town/city	Cheyyar,Thiruvannamalai dist, Tamilnadu
Work-experience if any	No
other competitive examsincluding success & failures	Civil Service 2 attempts not cleared
coaching/postal material (if used)	Manithaneyam Free IAS Academy
Hobbies Extra-Curricular Activities	Strength training exercise, Kitchen gardening, Kabbadi
Do you have NCC certificate?	No

Education

% in class 10	79
% in class 12	83
Schooling (Medium)	English
Graduation course & %	B.E(ECE), 70%
College & batch-year	R.M.K.Engineering college, 2011 pass out
Post-graduation	No
Any professional courses	No

Introduction

Q. Tell us something about yourself and your family. When and why did you enter in the competitive exam field?

I have done my engineering in RMK Engineering college and got placed in Mphasis but didn’t joined. My brother was District employment officer and my father was farmer and my mother housewife. Am 2011 passout. With help of my parents and with guidance from my brother I entered upsc civilservice. I gave 2 attempts but not cleared prelims and now I cleared Capf(Ac) 2013.

Electronic Vs Paper material

I gave preference as 1. newspaper and ncert 2. Std books 3.govt news sites, 4. Others

For me, too much of any thing is good for nothing,..so read what really needs.

Tempo and style

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

Always think that this hardwork will give you fruit for your life time. Read what really wants and don’t waste time with unwanted materials. If its boring, do your hobbies for some time or discuss with friends or teach your friends or hear songs and continue with your studies. You are matured and know the thing how to do. So get prepared  yourself for your success. Keep in mind ‘opportunity will not be given you should create it’.

GS and Aptitude paper

Q1. Please share the list of resources you used, your strategy and other tips for benefit of future aspirants.

History Ancient	Ncert
History Medieval	Ncert
History Modern (Freedom Struggle)	Ncert, India Struggle For Independence
Culture society	Material
Polity (theory + current)	Lakshmikanth, newspaper
Economy (theory + current)	Sriram material, newspaper
Science (theory + current)	General manual(tata mchill), news paper
Environment (theory + current)	Shankar environment, newspaper
geography physical	Ncert, Atlas
geography India	Ncert
geography world	Ncert, Certificate Physical and Human Geography, Atlas
other national/international current affairs	News paper, mrunal
Schemes, Policy & Filler Stuff	Newspaper, mrunal
Maths	R.S.Agarwal
Data interpretation	R.S.Agarwal
Reasoning	R.S.Agarwal

Accuracy in GS paper

How many MCQs did you attempt?	82
How many of them correct (When solved at home)?	64
official score (when UPSC uploads)	58

Q. What’s your overall experience with GS paper? (E.g. it was on expected lines as per my preparation, it was quite tougher than earlier years etc.)

Its not that much tuff. Because  Am preparing  for civil service, so this exam was not that much tuff. So prepare for civil service exam ,then this will become easy for you.

Descriptive paper

Q. How did you prepare the Essay, grammar, précis and report writing?

For essay I used only newspaper. For grammer, précis, report writing I used internet.

Four Essays

This time, UPSC required the candidates to write 4 out of 6 essays. Which of the following did you attempt? And what were your keypoints in them?

Topic	your key points
doctor-pharma nexus
interstate water dispute	Article 262, examples, about Inter state water Tribunal
social reformers in freedom struggle
falling rupee & Indian economy	Economy key concepts and recent examples
China’s aggressive policy	South china sea dispute, aksai chin and arunachal dispute, string of pearls theory
media publicity on terrorism	Press freedom, pay news, katju opinion at that time, media vs terrorism

Argument For-Against

This time, UPSC required candidates to write both arguments for and against the given statements. so what were your keypoint in it?

Topic	Argument for	against
casteless society becomes distant through issues raised by reservation	By this all are like to be within their caste for claiming reservation	Reservation is only to improve people status
women empowerment is urban phenomenon	Availability of infrastructure, good education in cities, etc	Nowadays lot of rural womens are coming  forward than urban.and some recent news.

Report writing?

Did you write report the same way you wrote essay? or did you apply any special format/structure here?

Topic	keypoints
Uttarakhand tsunami & Military	Operation rahat, why flood happen
Ethics crisis in cricket	Match fixing

Q. What is your overall experience with descriptive paper (e.g. too lengthy paper, grammar tougher than previous paper etc.)

Its  too lengthy,..i wrote upto last minute, grammer moderate. Time management is most important.

CAPF Physical Efficiency Test

Q1. To pass Physical Efficiency Tests (PET), what preparation did you do at home?

Am  not an athlete. Even in my school days I didn’t go to ground. I started PET after I checked my answer keys. I used YMCA ground, Chennai  for  1 month. Initially I can’t able to finish even 200mts, but after regular practice I made it possible to finish 800mts by 3min. before exam my weight was 82kg, by regular exercise, jogging and diet I get reduced to 70 ( my upper limit as per PET was 73). From this I want to show you that only your commitment and will power is most important.

Q2. Where was your PET held?

CISF NISA, Hyderabad

Q3. Please narrate your actual experience PET test with readers.

CISF NISA personnel’s were very friendly. Most important is don’t  get  tensed at any time. There will be no possibility to have morning breakfast so take some fruits, glucose with you.

Interview by UPSC Panel

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

I used internet and attended Iterview class in TIME IAS Academy and mock interview in  Manithaneyam Free IAS Academy. I prepared some basic engineering terms and concepts by own.

Q2. 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 Tamilnadu House,New Delhi. Used my hand written notes for revision.

Q3. Who was the chairman of you interview board?

Prof.David R Syiemlieh,..totally 4 members

Q4. How long was the interview?

About 35 to 45 min

Q5. Why do you want to become an Assistant commandant? Why don’t you continue in your graduation field? [Since I don’t know whether they asked you this question or not. But if they had asked- what will be your reply?]

They asked me this question. I think this is std que. i interested in uniform service and love to take challenges , CAPF offers me uniform and various challenges. My graduation is engineering so tat I can able to grasp latest concepts of science and tech related to security easily

UPSC Interview Transcript

Q. 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)

1. What is your BMI

2. where is Thiruvannamalai (my dist) located (daf)

3. among capf services, which service you think that suits you.why

4.about Tamilnadu politics

5. what you think about al-qaeda, Taliban, Indian mujahideen

6. what is global warming

7. implication of global warming

8. what is vibgyor

9. you are 2011 pass out, what you done for past 2 years

10. health sector in  Tamilnadu

11. about primary health care in rural areas of Tamilnadu

12.how speaker get elected

13. first CM of tamilnadu

14. tell me preamble

15. define democracy

16.If am coming to Tamilnadu and staying there for 5 days, what places will you suggest me to go in Tamilnadu, tell some 5 places and explain why

17. What made kitchen gardening as your hobby. (daf)

18. Farming paddy r vegetables, which will be profit (daf)

19. What is procurement price of paddy in Tamilnadu (daf)

20. What is strength training exercise?(daf)

21. What are all internal security problems of India

22. tell me what are all insurgent groups in North East india

23.what is Maoism, who are maoist and how we can eradicate them

24. using drone on maoist is good r bad,..give your opinion

25. If you didn’t get any service what will you do, whether higher studies or any other job.

After the interview

Q1. 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?

Mostly expected que. normal interview and no stress que for me. If they ask you unexpected question, tell them dono sir/Cant able to recollect sir politely. Have a smiling face.

Q2. Any side details about technicalities like “make sure you bring xyz document or do xyz thing, or you’ll face problem”?

No problem I faced.

CAPF Marksheet

P1-116

P2- 76

Interview-92

Total-284

Rank-236

Service preference

Q1. What is your service preference order BSF,CRPF, CISF, ITBP?

CISF-ITBP-CRPF-BSF

Q2. How/Why did you pickup that order?

I just referred my brother and seniors.

Career Backup

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

No other plan I had. Am sure I will get into any of the service

Q2. When were you going to execute that backup plan (e.g. after third attempt, after dad retires, after girlfriend dumps me etc.)

Finally I got service, so no gf dumps,..ha ha,..

Q3. If you were to re-appear in CAPF-2014 then what modifications would you make in your studies?

Extra commitment

Wisdom

Q1. Through this journey and success, what wisdom did you gain about life and competitive exams?  What is your message to new aspirants?

Life is short, world is large, get into your dream life, don’t give up, don’t give your ears to people who demotivates you, if you think you are right go-ahead in your path don’t think what others will think its none of ur business, after you reach success all will praise you until keep your mouth off, do good to others, believe yourself YOU CAN.

Q2. UPSC had cleared nearly 2500 candidates from CAPF-prelims. You’re selected but many others did not. They’re feeling dejected with this whole competitive exam business. What is your message to them?

Don’t give up ur dream. YOU CAN. Success delayed but not lost.

Credit: Friends/family

Q. Behind every topper are many people who stood by him/her 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 brother Dr.Rajaganapathy helped me a lot. He clarified all my doubts in subjects. My parents helped me financially and motivated me. My friend sui motivates me and supported me a lot. With help of these people I made it possible.

Bogus Marketing Propaganda

Q. You are well aware for the sacred rule. The last question in topper interview,  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 publish your answer without tempering.

I wnt to thank mrunal sir. I use mrunal for current affairs and international relation, budget, economic  survey.i use to read newspaper regularly, if I left something that I may find in mrunal.org. this site is very usefull for civil service aspirants and also for other competitive exams.