15 Commandments - Civil Services Exam

The UPSC Civil Services Exam (CSE) preparation reminds me of the parable, Blind men and an elephant. Especially, with the rise of social media the elephant has grown new multiple parts, and to complicate matters more, the number of men and women trying to identify the beast too has gone up manifold. In short, information overdose is the norm of the day. I often see aspirants who are unable to clear the clutter, and justifiably so. Also the perils peak during this time of the year. 

So here we have 15 Commandments (most of them are in nature of suggestions and questions, though) that touch the heart and the soul of the Exam.  These fifteen pointers may help you achieve your dreams faster, or may also assist you in quitting the race at the right time. In either case, you are more successful than getting caught up in a quagmire that comes in the form of an Exam.

Basic questions - before you take the plunge:

1) Why do you want to enter civil service? (Pls get to the core of your thoughts and find the real answer, rather than parroting things like I want to be like Kiran Bedi, T N Seshan, Raghuram Rajan, etc.)

2) Are you planning to prepare full time or part-time along with a regular work? If you have a choice, do not juggle a job and the preparation.

3) Have you/your family done a bit of financial planning for the next 2-3 years? (Coaching class fees, living expenses, travel fares, opportunity costs, etc.)

4) Whether you are ready to spend the next 2-3 years of your life in Delhi or any such hub?

5) Keep a job skill ready - Plan B, in case (due to bad luck or forces beyond control) even after 3-4 attempts you do not find yourself among the 1000 candidates selected out of about 8 lakhs applicants.

Core preparation - before you enrol:

1) Meet/read the experiences of some serving officers and know about the overall job profiles of different services. 

2) Critically analyse the past 7-10 years' prelims and mains question (including the paper of your planned optional paper). Note down your observations.

3) Buy NCERT school text books for all the basic subjects from Class VI to Class XII. Read them thoroughly. (Prioritise the subjects based on the question paper analysis. For e.g. you may not need the higher level Maths books)

4) Read The Hindu (esp the editorials) and follow any two good weekly magazines. Keep track of a quality CS magazine. And, stay away from news apps.

5) The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey is a must-read and must-have.

Broad timelines - before you lose track:

1) The Prelims is usually conducted around June. The Mains exam will happen around Sept-Oct. The interviews will start in Feb-March, the following year. The final results in  April-May.

2) Generally, the the coaching classes start their sessions around August (Y1) for the next year's exams (Y2). The results will be known in the Y3. So planning is crucial.

3) Even before you sit for the Prelims, you should have prepared well for the Mains exam (including the optional paper). Watch out and plan accordingly.

4) The time between the Prelims and Mains should be mainly used for revisions and taking model exams. It is not for for learning new subjects. 

5) Do not wait for the Prelims results to be declared to start preparing for the Mains exams. In that case you are mostly doomed (like many candidates who commit this blunder). Just with a break of 2-3 days after the Prelims exams, (and with a deep sense of confidence), hit the ground running.

I'm sure 2 or 3 out of the list could be debated, but nevertheless for a fresh aspirant these fifteen will serve as a lighthouse. Best of luck!

(PS: Yes, Mr.Raghuram Rajan is not an officer of the civil services)

Related posts:

http://pilanipictures.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-next.html

More in Labels: Civils/Bureaucracy.

Bye Bye NADT...

It is close to 4:00 AM and I have a train to catch in a short while...

By all probability this is my last post from D-42, Nalanda Hostel, National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur.

Bye bye NADT...

Redemption

(This is the article I gave for the final issue of our in-house magazine during our training days here. I am not very much used to writing under time-pressures; but had to make this one)

My tryst with the National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur dates back to December, 2007. That was the time of inauguration day of the 61^st batch of IRS Officers. Very soon some thirty of us exercised an attractive option called EOL – Extra Ordinary Leave. We were called the EOL Mafia by the CD of the 61^st batch. Cutting to the present, in a matter of just under three weeks, May 2010, my NADT time warp is heading for redemption. Do I like to be redeemed?

It is said that we don’t forget our first love; many of you would agree the same holds true in case of lectures too. If there was one single thing in most of the then young, raw probationers’ minds (well, it is a subtle way of projecting ourselves as mature, field-ready ACITs at this point of time) during the first month of our training, it ought to be – PL to BK. (Programmed Learning to Book Keeping) It was a great attempt to make all of us of the 62^nd batch, irrespective of our educational backgrounds, sail smoothly through the deadly ocean of Debit & Credit. Being a module of much significance our Course Director sir retained the jurisdiction of PL to BK. After many waves of debit and credit, the cyclones of assets and liabilities, and the pirates of accounting conventions and rules, most of us were in a quite realised what was in store for us during the coming months of training.

From there things passed by us like the oncoming highway traffic; unending onslaught of Income Tax Act and Book Keeping, interspersed with home tests and workshops. They just happened; we just sat back and experienced the Acts happening around us. Suddenly I realised I knew the basics of the IT Act. There was also the highway special patrol in the form of the NALSAR team. Those erudite people came out of nowhere and before they left in a jiffy, our brains were loaded like in those sequences in The Matrix movie with – Indian Contract Act, Transfer of Property Act, Hindu Laws, Companies Act and Indian Partnership Act! It was fun!! In the second module we were enriched with The Indian Evidence Act, Civil Procedure Code, Indian Penal Code, General Clauses Act...wait it is not over yet...and the Information Technology Act – just in the same Matrix way. Wealth Tax also made its appearance from time to time. ALP, DTAA and ratios were the buzzwords now. Luckily, we had pleasant motels in the form of INTAX, Pongal-Lohri celebrations, cultural nights, NPL, audi movies, and of course the Mess elections spread over the year 2009. We continued our run on the highway. Probationer’s Talk stopped us from time to time and opened our eyes with concepts like learning to unlearning etc. Another major takeaway was Discipline = Self discipline + Imposed Discipline.

Of course, it is not possible to forget the great times at New Delhi, Dehradun and Mussourie. Those memories are still as fresh as the recent Malaysian/Singaporean memories. Personally, like many others, I too have dreamt of the international attachment ever since the day I got selected for the IRS! Sitting there at the tax academy of Malaysia, it was heart warming and ego boosting to hear from one of the Malaysians – probably India is the only country that sends its income tax officer trainees for an abroad study trip. Long live NADT.

“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is” – OJT made us appreciate that. The office stints threw us out of the safe harbour called NADT. We were moving closer towards taking independent charges. The OJT debriefing sessions and the presentations were full of hearings, raids, surveys, ARs, DRs, undisclosed crores, umpteen Sections...in short full of life! Due to our large batch size, more than the actual outdoor stint like OJT, Bharat Darshan or Mumbai module, the group-wise presentations mela that begin once we are back in campus, tests one’s endurance better. You are either waiting for your turn to be on stage and speak out about your earth shattering experiences or you are one among the hundred-plus helpless audience trying to be alert and grasp a point from here or there. In any case this mela adds to your overall personality. Needless to say, no one else in this world can claim to have glanced at 150-plus high quality books in such a short time as we did; the second module book review made this possible.

1-2-3-4-5 banana. Have you got a dog? Great big dog. Dance, dance I like to dance. Two dudes from Mumbai were making us learn Samba. That is how our third module aka Job Worthiness Module started a few weeks back. I guess Samba dance brings good fortune to our Department. JWM is full of action with the highlight, obviously being our posting orders. While most of us restlessly wait for them, the time passes in the form of INTAX 2010, moot courts, NALSAR reports, batch book, TA bills and the king of all – shramdhaan!

Well, having spent eight-odd years of post-graduation, training, job, coaching, waiting, wandering etc etc after graduating in the summer of 2002, topped up with a 16-month IRS training, I badly need to be redeemed now. It is time to have an office desk and see how that feels like!

Orphaned Samosas

Wondering what a photograph of dozens of ready-to-eat samosas and sweets doing here? Well, they are not just an battalion of samosas, crispy potato chips and delicious sweets served along with tomato sauce; waiting to be had. They mark a rare occurrence in our campus. Generally we have a short break after every 50-minute lecture and a long break after every two such lectures. The first long break is a tea-break; the second one is the longer lunch break. Blame it on the soporific tax law lectures or the early morning physical exercises or the late night solid, liquid diets and movie sessions or just the sheer frustration arising out of the mere act of sitting inside the lecture hall for 50 full minutes -there is a sudden outburst of energy after every 50 minutes; that's when most of us rush out of the lecture rooms and make calls, catch up with friends, curse the bureaucracy, have sun bath in full formal wear outside the building, and prepare ourselves for the next fifty minutes. The energy outburst is of a very high intensity during the first long break when the tea, coffee etc is served. Being the winter hot soups are also being served these days. Most of us just wait for the lecturer to officially conclude and the moment we get that signal from the lecturer, there is a mad rush towards the mess workers who wait outside with the tea-can, soup and biscuits.

I feel it gives most of us a kick to fight and earn something, rather than getting things easily on one's lap. All of us here are aware that there is going to be enough of tea or soup for all of us, still we simulate the environment outside a PDS shop in a small-town, during every tea-break. There is a mad rush towards the tea-can. Imagine a minimum of 100-plus fully grown adults making a campaign for the tea-can and biscuits! Terrific! Here, the strategists have an edge. While many of us run and take positions near the tea-can and try to lay hands on the disposable cups kept on the other side, the masterminds conquer the disposable glasses first. Such a strategic move gives them the wild card entry; they have instant access to the tea-can. Their job is done, they have earned their cup of tea.

Among others who had lost out on the strategy there is a chaos and now the war zone shifts from the tea-can to the array of disposable cups. In the end everyone has the plastic cups in their hands and the real fight for the tea begins. Sometimes due to the commotion, many of our fingers lose the delicate balance of the plastic cup with some steaming tea, and a few others end up with heavy tea stains on their neatly-pressed formal shirts and trousers. "Very sorry yaar...". Coming to the biscuits the ones that vanish the fastest are Bourbon biscuits. I too attack them. Usually the salted biscuits are the leftovers.

So how were these samosas and sweets spared? Well, we had a special guest in our campus that day. He is also one of the persons I too admire. Samosa was in none of our minds. All of us were impressed by the talk the person had given in the audi earlier and were obviously interested in having a small talk or a snap with that special guest in the mess lawns, where the samosa-battalion was tantalisingly waiting. Alas! No one even cared about it. (Did you notice this in the photograph...how carelessly a person walks by the samosa battalion?!) No one even turned towards it.

Sometime early December, 2009. The best-ever captain of the Indian cricket team, M.S.Dhoni, visited our campus. It was an inspiring and a very memorable day.

Lions, donkeys and angels

Agreed. I was quite busy with my job as well many other interesting things in life that I found it difficult to maintain my average monthly post rate; But the poor Internet connectivity in our country is the real culprit. Even right now I am not typing this live on pilanipix. I will have to take this in a pen drive and locate a good Internet centre to make this available to you.

Well, my mind is having a words-jam. Words-jam is not like the ones that come in those transparent glass bottles with tight lids and bright labels; it is like the traffic jam. There are thousands of words struggling hard to come out my head at the same time, mainly due to the congestion caused by this delay in my post. The past six weeks have been quite exciting. Before I forget, let me tell you about a sarcastic yet heavy statement I came across today -"Bureaucracy is a donkey manufacturing factory". Well, I could not get any meaning out of it until that gentleman gave the addendum, "It catches lions and creates donkeys out of them". It is in reference to the tough civil service exams that tries to get the best talent available to the manage our country's administration. And how over a period of time we fail to make the best use of this talented human resources, and end up turning these smart fellows into mediocre officials who close their eyes before opening their pens.

I too was supposed to be a lion when I was caught by the civil services exam two years back. It is a different matter that I am not sure whether they caught what they wanted. But, I am sure I have not yet been turned into a donkey!

I am happy to have come across a few who still remain fearless lions even after dozens of years of service. I interacted with some of them today; I felt proud to have been caught. This moment I feel like retyping my earlier post; exactly the same way I typed it a year back. There are a few good civil servants scattered here and there; And these are the ones who keep the system in tact without any implosion or explosion. As one of my bosses said, these are like the angels sent by God in very small numbers - but to the right places, at the right time. I shudder to think of a situation where such self-driven and self-motivated people are absent from the system. With such people around there is enough inspiration!

(October 14th, 2009)

Back to Office

After a gap of about, exactly four full years I will be back at an office. Though it is just as a trainee for two months, the mere fact that I will have an office, a boss, timings, canteen, probably some place to park myself etc after a huge gap makes me somewhat thrilled. Also nostalgic. I was serving my notice period this day, four years back.

Tata for now... I got a train to jump into.

You know you are an Officer when....

Just one more to go... The last paper of the Departmental Exam is slated for tomorrow. The Departmental Exams are like the semester exams in colleges. These are a part of the larger bureaucratic formality, apparently designed to ensure that Probationers turn out into full-fledged Officers by the end of their intensive training (If we allow repetition of letters, "intensive" and "insensitive" are anagrams). There are three semesters and two Departmentals here.

From my point of view there is much, much more to these Exams - the foremost of them being the time one gets for oneself. This because unlike the normal days - on an Exam day you are inside a closed, classroom only for three hours at max. On other days it is about seven hours spread over nine hours and the day begins at 6 AM, with the compulsory morning PT. Thus one is choked during the normal days. Exams give me a great relief from all these. Added to this is the special bonus called the preparatory leave, for about a week before the Exams. It is exciting!

Above all the best part of the Exams is that they give me the compelling reason to watch good movies frequently. On the usual days, I am sapped by the end of the long lectures and I don't really feel like sitting in front of the system. But these days we are supposed to have been working very hard for the Exams and that means we need to take good breaks and that means watching movies often without any kind of guilt or discomfort. Also my group-study unit members never say "No" when it comes to opening any .avi or .dat file!

Over the past one week of Exams we have seen some of the best movies I have seen ever... It started with The Virgin Spring (Sweden/Bergman/1960), Mongol (Mongolia/Bordov/2007), The Counterfeiters (Germany/Ruzowitzky/2007), Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico/Toro/2006) and stands with The Downfall (Germany/Hirschbiegel/2004) that we watched last night. It is difficult to single out the best one out of these...however if compelled I would go for Mongol...er...also The Downfall. Mongol traces the life of the most famous person from Mongolia - Ghengis Khan. In addition to the authenticity one can feel in this movie, the back ground score also needs a special mention. It captivates you.

Another "cute" part of the Departmental Exams is that one is offered water, snacks and cups of tea at one's seat itself. During the normal class days the snacks and tea cans are kept outside the classrooms and the whole area regularly reminds me of the ration store where I had fought out for a few litres of blue kerosene many years back. (Just imagine...160 officer trainees v/s 2 tea cans and a few biscuit packets!)But being the Exam time, nobody expects us to simulate a PDS shop situation. Also, being "Officers" it is understood that we can not survive without a cup of tea for more than two hours at a stretch. So...this seat-delivery of tea and biscuits! Good idea!

After seeing the winning side in movies like Saving Private Ryan or say The Pianist, it is quite chilling to see the losing side in The Downfall. Not just the story of the losing side (that we have seen in the Vietnam War movies like The Full Metal Jacket or The Deer Hunter), but that of the last few weeks of the downfall of the greatest modern times dictator; Of the pain of a man whose great vision is shattered; Of the unmanageable shock of a leader as he sees his men betraying him; And of a family and group of die-hard loyals who actually kill themselves as a tribute to Fuhrer. The scene where a mother poisons all her children one after the other in their sleep is sure to bring tears even to the rocks. Bruno Ganz has lived as Adolf Hitler in this movie. Sometimes, he even makes us pity that beast called Hitler. Hats off boss!

Coming to the tea...I just think of those exams of school days, especially my Higher Secondary Exam. I would rate that as the toughest Exam I have ever taken, for the sheer amount of pressure and the stakes involved. But even during those exams, there was no seat-delivery of tea...forget seat-delivery there was not even a tea can anywhere in that vicinity. All one could do was to take a quick walk outside and have a glass of water kept from a huge stainless steel drum in the corridor.

I am an Officer now!

(To know more click here...)

I don't know what I did...

It was about seven monsoons back I had my first brush with the subject called book keeping and accountancy. (For the removal of any doubts - seven monsoons back means in the month of August of the year 2002) It was called as Managerial Accounting that time. It involved a lots of intimidating terms like provision for doubtful debts, appropriation account, sundry creditors, etc...and the most frightening of them all, the two words that always bagged the prize for the best couple - debit & credit! For some peculiar reasons known only to a select few called the Chartered Accountants, Debit&Credit were always together like Siamese Twins. The subject also involved rampant use of the small, black gadget called the calculator; one got to fill many A4 sheets with lots of numbers partitioned by numerous lines - horizontal and vertical. The final thing that you created was called the Balance sheet or Consignment account or Joint Venture account, based on what was asked in the question. But my answer did not vary much between the questions. Only the heading changed. The marks I got also did not vary much. Only the denominator kept changing! And it does not end there, one is also supposed to draw a horizontal line at the bottom and generate a mosaic of words and numbers under the title - Working Notes.

Coming to the calculator...during those four years that preceded that monsoon seven years back (!!hold on..hold on.. I just meant during my engineering days that preceded my MBA days), I had used my calculator quite extensively. In fact to unimaginable levels. Those people in my college did not believe in words, they spoke the language of numbers - and only numbers. As such I did not have any problems with that, but the real issue was they also expected me to speak the same language. Even in a paper called General Biology, that we did in our first year, there were numerical problems! Well.. not only numbers, usually all the papers also had some very bizarre symbols like.. d, a f, g, s, D, F, y etc.

I was equally scared of these symbols. Especially the last one. It reminded me of Trishul - the Hindu mythological weapon of Lord Shiva and many local deities. It represented the omnipotent, unbridled force that would destroy any evil. But I was using these symbols on a day-to-day basis. I was scared. Naturally. But my calculator was not afraid of any symbol - it had all these symbols and much more. The calculator was called Casio V.P.A.M fx-100s.

But the calculator needed for Book keeping and accounting is like our dhobhi's puny donkey. It has just the 10 digits, keys for the four basic mathematical operations, and the essentials like "=", MR, % etc. But it is expected to do carry loads and loads of clothes that ranged from rags to rich shirts. For instance it is supposed to find out out the right entry for the Stock valued at Rs.8,700 that was destroyed by fire on 25.03.2007, but for which the insurance company admitted a claim of Rs.5,800 only, that too in the next year. Poor donkey! About the dhobhi.. the lesser said, the better!

We are having a small test of accountancy and book-keeping tomorrow.. and I really don't know what I did many monsoons back...

Freeze!

FADE IN: INT. GRUBBY HOTEL CORRIDOR - DAY (DIMLY LIT)

A woman's face BACKS INTO SHOT, her head resting against grimy wallpaper. She is tense, sweaty, wide-eyed with concentration. This is CLARICE STARLING - mid-20's, trim, very pretty. She wears Kevlar body armor over a navy windbreaker, khaki pants. Her thick hair is piled under a navy baseball cap. A revolver, clutched in her right hand, hovers by her ear. She raises a speedloader, in her left hand, locks it into her cylinder, twists and reloads.

CLOSE ON a guest room door, with a small, wired pack attached to its knob. Suddenly, with a sharp CRACK!, the knob explodes, and the door bursts open.

WITH CLARICE - MOVING SHOT - as she runs around a corner, through a cloud of smoke. She shoulders aside the shattered door and rushes inside, gun at the ready in both hands...

CUT TO: INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY. CLARICE'S POV - MOVING - as she first sees, sitting on the edge of a bed - a FEMALE HOSTAGE. Black, late 20's, gagged, hands behind her back. Then, SWIVELLING... she sees a startled MALE SUSPECT - white, mid-20's - standing by a window with a rifle in his hands. He is turning towards her...CLARICE drops into a combat crouch, gun extended, and shouts.

CLARICE

Freeze! FBI!

Replace Clarice with My Name, also make necessary modifications with the descriptors like mid-20s, trim, very pretty, you can probably replace them with late-20s, appears to be trim, strikingly handsome! Hey.. don't worry, I have not yet gone mad! That was the opening sequence (as per the script) of Silence of the Lambs. A mock rescue operation going on in some Police Academy in the US. Tomorrow, we have a mock Income Tax raid here. IT raids - technically called - Search and seizures - are the biggest things that come to one's mind on hearing "IT". What has gone into IT raids here so far is long, and longer hours of lectures, mostly interesting. I can tell you very well that, it is not just about showing one's ID card, saying "We are from the Income Tax Department" and ransacking someone's resisdence. IT raids have much more to them. More updates after tomorrow. Till then..

Freeze! Income Tax!

Status Quo - 2

I plan to write something about "how to handle extreme rumour pressure" very soon. As most of you know I have been in the eye of the Civil Service Exam storm for the past one month or so. For others let me explain what I meant - a national-scale rumour about the CSE results has been doing rounds for the past many weeks. It went to that extent that my colleagues here even wanted to have a photo session with me based on that rumour. Sundar/Rajan has topped this year's CSE. That was the rumour! Over the past few weeks not even a single day passed in my life without at least five people congratulating me for topping the exam. Such people also called me from diverse geographies like Chennai, Delhi etc. Most of them would also add, "Topping IAS exams is in your family genes", referring to my elder brother's feat a few years back. A few of them also concluded that IAS Rank.1 is a family property. And over the past four-five days the number of callers and the people who congratulate me had only increased. Some of them came to me and even said the marks I had (apparently) scored in the Mains and the Interview, with great authority. 

Combined with the speculation about the actual date of the results, my life was quite peculiar. Things reached the zenith today before dying out at about 4 in the evening. But overall I enjoyed the process. It made me learn a lot about people - individuals and groups. I will talk more on this later on a post fully dedicated to rumour - and rumour only. But for a very few people belonging to my inner circle, no one actually knows the adventures I undertook, the dreams I chased - after taking the prelims exam, last year. Looking back I'm quite happy about the way things turned out. But even in that little inner circle many actually expected some truth in that rumour. I'm terribly sorry for them, and really grateful to them for placing such a high level of confidence in my capabilities. Or is it their lack of confidence in the Exam system? I guess it was a blend of both.

I have been laughing away this rumour since the day it reached my ears for the first time. Also from some corner of my mind, Dr.Gopalakrishnan's (ED, Tata Sons) quote always flashed within me. It goes like this - Deserve before you desire. [Something more fundamental to that is - One should want something in the first place. Only after that deserve/desire rule sets in] No no...don't worry, am not trying to be philosophical. I generally believe in cause-effect and usually do not subscribe to destiny/fate etc. Probably had I got the Rank as per rumours I would have started believing in destiny etc. I am happy now. I had full faith in myself and I'm happy that I was able to uphold that faith. I genuinely believed that for the kind of treatment I meted out to the Mains exam this time, even getting the interview call was a great bonus for me; leave alone Topping the exam.  And I would have really got confused with my career, again!

I'm happy that I have not betrayed myself; My belief in myself; 

My belief that I do not deserve anything, as I did not want anything this time.

I'm also happy that no one can be a Topper just by some miracle.

Now, let me resume the Debit/Credit lessons!

Status Quo

Pune, July 2002.

Personal Account: Debit the receiver/Credit the giver

Real Account: Debit what comes in/Credit what goes out

Nominal Account: Debit all expenses or losses/Credit all incomes or gains

Nagpur, May 2009.

Personal Account: Debit the receiver/Credit the giver

Real Account: Debit what comes in/Credit what goes out

Nominal Account: Debit all expenses or losses/Credit all incomes or gains

Well, that is the surface-level summary of my life over the past couple of years. I'm still fighting it out with the Golden rules of accounting, as I did over seven years back. In between, many things like soda ash, Kolkata, geography, psychology, Mussourie, modern Indian history, Lalitpur, many exams, Prasad Studios etc have happened in my life...but the status of "studying/under training" remains unaffected. Unfazed. "I'm sure even after a year you will be getting trained or studying something somewhere", that's what Mayur told me this evening. Mayur is heading the sales function of western India (comprising of 4-5 states) for a leading sports apparel brand. We had shared a room for a year from July, 2002 during my MBA days. After passing out in 2004, over the past five years, he had gained an impressive work experience in sales and marketing with the leading brands like Airtel and Samsung. He has also helped his dad set up an edible oil factory and business. Also, my dear cousin brother who was in Class VIII-IX during my MBA is about to complete his BE degree in a year.

My accountancy book is still open. I have to start studying ledger posting in a while. We have some tests coming up soon. I will also be doing a bit of the Income Tax Act 2008 tomorrow. (Wow!! It is a great way to spend a Sunday... you may also try)

And it does not end there. Similar to children of love, this blog is a blog of frustration. (Here is the link to my opening post). (Almost) Exactly two years ago I founded this blog, unable to do anything else, especially preparing for the then approaching prelims exam. I was impatiently waiting for my first attempt result. 

Cut to two years forward.

I am waiting for my third attempt result. Nothing else has changed drastically. Of course, I have gained a lot of patience over the past two years and am very well able to focus on the job at hand.

Personal Account: Debit the receiver/Credit the giver

Real Account: Debit what comes in/Credit what goes out

Nominal Account: Debit all expenses or losses/Credit all incomes or gains

CSE Interview - Deja vu

Unlike two years back, I was more relaxed and probably a bit complacent this time. But I can't say for sure whether I was wiser or not. Most likely not. Unlike last time now both the Chairman as well the Secreatary, UPSC dropped in the waiting room to pep us up. It was really nice of them. I don't know when was the last time the Chairman came to the waiting room. "Some of you will be working here (UPSC) in another 20 years or so...just remember this day. I too was here waiting for my interview many years back.... There is nothing to get scared. All the best". The secretary said something like this. But his mere presence made me feel better. Happier.

Unlike last time, I did not want an escort from home to Dolphur House this time. Omni's Punjabi driver was the lone man with me. It was Sasi last time....he had come to be with me after fighting it out with his bosses for leave, from some jungles in Himachal. This time my onsite support team was Ravi, Sadai and Sunny. 

I could see some familiar faces in the waiting room. I had the last slot in the forenoon session. 31st March 2009.  After chatting and joking around, I got someone to explain me the Tibet issue. I had a hunch that I'll be asked that. I tried helping a few with "Why do cyclones occur only on the Eastern coasts of continents?" and that day's EcoTimes editorial that talked about the corporate tax rates in our country. I wanted to know about Coastal Regulation Zone and coral reefs, but I could not find someone who could tell me about them. I had a feeling I was throwing away my marks. After convincing myself that I won't be asked on those topics I rehearsed my answers for the most expected question - "Why IAS after IRS?"

Now cutting it short, here are the questions that came my way between 1:00 and 1:30 PM:

Chairman:

How is your training going?

How is Nagpur?

Which is better in terms of cleanliness, your hometown or Nagpur?

How do you get back the money from Swiss banks?

How to estimate black money?

Member 1:

What are Towers of Silence?

What do you know about vultures?

What are national parks?

Is India a country rich on biodiversity?

What about other countries that are rich on biodiversity?

What is our forest cover?

Are you aware of the legislations (Acts) related to environment?

How is that estimated?

Who is the authority to estimate that?

Member 2:

You are a chemical engineer. (I was terrified to hear that!) You will be working in big industrial units that create pollution....in that context what is COD/BOD?

What is bioremedy?

Assume you are a shoe company owner and you are sending two sales persons to a country where no one wears shoes. One comes back to you saying there is no market for your shoes, while the other one says there is a huge market. Who is right? What do you do?

Member 3:

What is transactional analysis?

How will you use psychology (my optional) in IRS?

How to initiate community to participate in the developmental process?

What is the role of NGOs? (I had kind of goofed up here that the Chairman also intervened now)

What is the % of tax payers in our country?

What is the role of IRS during elections?

Member 4:

Don't you think the Election Commission is over-controlling the election process?

Do you see any patterns in the recent Assembly elections results?

What is carbon trading?

What is vote-on-account?

Are you not satisfied with IRS?

Why IAS after IRS? (I was happy on hearing this question. I had prepared it so well you know. But the answer delivery was so poor that the member said - Since you are from IRS I thought you will give a new answer....Anyway you would have expected this question) !!!

Of course, unlike last time I was not satisfied with my answers. However I was extremely happy with my answers to chemical engg questions.... in fact this was the first time ever in my life I have answered to questions on chemicals engg!!

But just like last time I have to wait for a few more weeks to know what's in store...!

CSE Interview - 1

Here's Vinay's (College junior, First mains) inerview in his own words. I found the write up to be comprehensive, but a little long for a blog post. However, I feel many candidtes are interested in knowing the answers as well, in addition to the nature of questions being asked. That's why I have not censored anything. Hope you don't mind the size of this post. I hope this is useful for those candidates.

Don't worry I'll keep the post on my interview crisp.

*****

28th March 2009. 

3:20 PM ( for about 30min)
Chairman: Dr.K.K.Paul

(I opened the door partially)May I come in sir? Yes. Thank you sir. ( walked in. stood beside the vacant chair. Slightly bowing my head....I wished ) Good afternoon madam. Good afternoon sirs. GOOD AFTERNOON. TAKE YOUR SEAT. Thank you sir. ( sat down. I felt that the chair was slightly far from the table. So, slightly got up and shifted the chair closer to the table ).

WHAT'S YOUR NAME ? **DATE OF BIRTH? **NATIVE PLACE? My native place is Kunavaram, sir. It is in Khammam District of Andhra Pradesh. ROLL NUMBER? **SO, U R AN ECONOMIST....& SAID SOMETHING..... sir, I beg to differ with you.......... I beg your pardon. I am not an economist sir. I am just a student of economics. DON'T U WANT TO BE AN ECONOMIST ? Yes sir. But, I did an integrated dual degree program of 5 years with EEE as the major focus area. Even my 2.5 years of job was also based on electronics itself sir. WHERE DID YOU DO WORK? I worked in Pune sir. WHAT DID U DO IN UR JOB? Sir, I was into chip designing....semiconductor design. (then came the immediate bouncer)...WHAT'S QUANTUM COMPUTING? I was taken by surprise.... I started something but struggled..Just a moment sir....paused....Sir, at atomic levels, energy exists at quantum levels. By assigning information signs to these, we try to process data. This is the process used in quantum computing. WHAT IS A QUANTUM LEVEL...Sir energy exits in fixed amounts at atomic levels. These form different levels called quantum levels. CAN WE PIN POINT THE POSITION OF ELECTRONS? No sir. According to deBrogle's principle, the position & mass of ....... IS IT HEISENBERG'S UNCERTAINTY ? Yes sir, thank you for correcting me......the position & mass of an electron.... IS IT POSITION & VELOCITY? Sorry sir. Yes sir. It is velocity...not mass. Position & velocity of an electron can't be located simultaneously. BETWEEN UV RAYS & IR RAYS, WHICH HAVE HIGHER ENERGY ? It is UV rays sir,...... because they have higher frequency. WHY? Sir, energy is directly proportional to frequency. Energy = Plank's constant x frequency. So, UV rays have higher energy. WHAT ABOUT WAVELENGTH ? Sir E = hc/λ. Where h=Plank's constant. C=velocity of light and λ=wavelength. Hence, it is inversely proportional.WHAT IS DUALITY PRINCIPLE? It talks about energy having mass & wavy nature. For example, photon can be treated as a particle as well as a wave form having energy.

Member 1:
Mr.Vinay, YOU DID MSc IN ECONOMICS. TELL ME WHAT IS GAME THEORY.Sir, it is application of mathematics in economics.....infact in many humanities studies.
(he started disapproving...by nodding his head sideways..... I raised my tone some what higher & answered fast ) Sir, it helps in decision making when our decisions are influenced by others' decision....(TO THE CHAIRMAN)....I DON'T THINK SO..... To my knowledge, this is what I know sir. OK THEN, WHAT IS NASH EQUILIBRIUM? It is an equilibrium condition in which the players have taken their optimum decisions & they don't need to change them. I DON'T THINK SO..... YOU MUST HAVE STUDIED ABOUT THE WELL KNOWN ECONOMIST THOMAS FRIEDMAN WHO IS A STRONG VOTARY OF FREE MARKET ECONOMY. WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT THE PRESENT FAILURE OF FREEMARKETS? (CHAIRMAN STARTED SAYING): DO YOU AGREE THAT LIBERALIZATION IS A FAILURE? Sir, I don't think it is a failure of liberalization & free market economy. It is actually a failure of Regulators. It is due to lack of transparency. Sir, infact, in the name of liberation......sorry, liberalization, they misused the freedom given. So, I don't think it is a failure of freemarket economy. DID YOU READ THE BOOK "XYZ" (SOME ECONOMICS BOOK). No sir. WHY HDI IS GAINING IMPORTANCE NOW A DAYS ? HOW IS IT BETTER THAN PCI? (I was about to start) DO YOU REALLY THINK HIGHER PCI INDICATES DEVELOPMENT ? (I was about to start) SHOULD WE USE HDI MORE THAN PCI? Sir, higher PCI does not necessarily mean better development.Actually, it is the welfare & satisfaction of people that matters. For example sir, Middle East has higher PCI due to petro-dollars. But, they are poor on many social indicators. I feel satisfaction of people is important. As HDI includes longevity, literacy, decent standard of living, it is a better indicator than PCI. Even if a country has higher PCI, it may have disparities. Infact, precisely, because of this the 11th Five Year Plan talks about 'inclusive growth'. WHAT DO YOU SAY ABOUT HDI DIFFERENCES IN INDIAN STATES. FOR EXAMPLE STATES LIKE GUJARAT ETC. Sir, in India, states have HDI disparities. For example, Kerala has lower PCI but has the highest HDI due to focus on welfare sectors. DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTION OF PAUL KRUGMAN? Yes sir, he got Nobel prize in 2008 for his New Trade Theory. WHAT IS IT? It talks about international trade. Unlike the "old" trade theory of Ricardo..... (He frowned....)Sorry, it is actually the original trade theory of Ricardo which talks about a country acquiring comparative advantage in particular goods. Krugman says that over a period of time, different countries may acquire comparative advantage with respect to a particular variety of a good. This improves the choice available to customers in different countries. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT HIS THEORY ? Sorry sir, I know only this much. Pause. Sir, may I add one more point. He also says that over a period of time, the costs also come down because of economies of scale and this helps in international trade. NO, THIS IS NOT WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. (he leaned back into his chair.....as if he got disinterested with me & my answers) OK VINAY, TELL ME THIS..... WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH INDIAN PLANNING ? DO YOU REALLY THINK THERE ARE SOME PROBLEMS WITH OUR PLANNING ? Sir, our 60 years of planning has been a learning experience sir. We have been experimenting, learning & improving as per the times. I feel more than the problems with planning, the problems with implementation are the major problems. As such our planning has been good. Infact, we moved from centralized planning to decentralized planning & bottom-up planning. WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS WITH IMPLEMENTATION ? Administrative inefficiency, corruption, lack of monitoring, lack of proper feedback mechanisms. For example, lot of attention is given to Budget but hardly any attention is given to the outcomes out of the spending.

Member 2:
YOU ARE FROM ANDHRA PRADESH. WHAT ARE THE POVERTY ALLEVIATION SCHEMES OF YOUR STATE ? Sir, INDIRAMMA is a major program. It is for the improvement of infrastructure in rural areas. Also in towns sir. It stands for Integrated Novel Development of Rural Areas & Model Municipal Areas. IS IT COMPLETELY FUNDED BY YOUR STATE? Sir, it is actually funded using Bharat Nirman funds plus state govt funds. Sir continuing with the poverty alleviation schemes, there are schemes like Rajiv Grihakalpa etc...... Jalayagnam is for creation of water potential.....then there is a program called Telugu. WHAT ABOUT RURAL EMPLOYMENT SCHEME. Yes sir, thank you for reminding me about NREGS. Infact, it is implemented very well in Andhra Pradesh because of people's awareness & participation in social audit. The people's awareness is very high due competitive politics & media sir. WHAT DOES NREGS PROVIDE ? Sir, it assures 100days of employment to one adult member of a family to do manual work. WHAT IS THE STATUS OF NAXAL PROBLEM IN YOUR STATE? DO YOU THINK IT HAS BEEN EFFECTIVELY TACKLED? Sir, I feel naxal problem has been well tackled in AP. First of all there was political will sir. Infact this is what that is precisely lacking in other states. A special police force called Grey Hounds was set up. They were given special training, latest equipments and good incentives. And most importantly sir, as the Naxals were pushed back, development schemes started moving towards remote areas. Government teachers & doctors started going to villages. Government employees are now daring to go & work in remote areas so that Naxals don't reclaim those areas. And this way they handled it in long-term & short term perspectives sir. That is by tackling it as a law & order problem as well as a development issue.

Member 3:
YOU STUDIED IN A JAWAHAR NAVODAYA VIDYALAYA SCHOOL. WHY WERE JNVS SET UP? Madam, they were set up by Mr.Rajiv Gandhi....Late Prime Minister Mr.Rajiv Gandhi. He studied in Doon school. He wanted to provide similar quality education to rural & poor people...poor students at affordable rates....infact almost free of cost. They focus on all round development of students. They also emphasize on national integration. We have a migration program in 9th class for 2 years. South Indian students have to stay in North India & vice versa. JNVs focus on all round development of students. HOW STUDYING IN JNV HELPED YOU? Madam, first of all, getting selected into JNV in 6th class at district level itself gave me confidence. It helped me to realize that I have the potential & raw material and all that is required is performance. Education is not the only thing that I learnt at JNV madam. It helped me to face life challenges better. JNV gave me opportunities to develop good social & communication skills. We had to shift to English medium NCERT syllabus in 9th class. I studied in Telugu medium till 8th class. This transformation was a challenge to me & faced it well. JNV also helped me to broaden my horizon. DO YOU THINK JNV SCHOOLS ARE A SUCCESS ? Yes madam. Largely, they are a success.  

Member 4:
YOU ARE A PRODUCT OF PILANI. HOW DID YOU GET IN? WAS IT BASED ON ENTRANCE EXAM OR BASED ON NORMALIZATION OF BOARD MARKS ? Sir, during my time, the admission was based on normalized scores of Board marks at 12th class level. Now, they have shifted to entrance exam. THERE WAS SOME CONTROVERSY RAISED IN PARLIAMENT REGARDING THIS ENTRANCE EXAM. ARE YOU AWARE OF IT. IT WAS ALLEGED THAT ENTRANCE EXAM REDUCES THE CHANCES OF AP STUDENTS. Sir, I am not aware of it. But, I feel that because of the good coaching facilities available at class 11-12th levels in AP and the kind of factory type of education the students go through, they are securing the highest number of admissions based on entrance exams. So, I don't feel the apprehension is valid sir. HE EXPLAINED ME THE PARLIAMENT ISSUE. Thank you for telling me this sir. WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION ON ENGINEERS ? Sir, globalization gave lot of opportunities. There was flow of FDI, capital, technology. So, many got employed. It helped us to tap our potential. It increased the craze for professional education .....especially IT education. HOW MANY ENGINEERING COLLEGES ARE IN AP ? Sir, I think about 250.ARE YOU SURE? I am not sure sir. I know for sure that there are about 150 colleges in & around Hyderabad itself sir. So I feel it could be about 250-300. but, I am not sure sir. HOW MANY ENGINEERING STUDENTS PASS OUT EACH YEAR IN INDIA ? Sir, I think about 5 lakhs. ARE YOU SURE. I am not sure sir. HOW MANY IN AP ? Sir, it is about 90,000.WHICH STATE PRODUCES LARGEST NUMBER OF ENGINEERS ? Sir, it is AP sir. NO, IT IS TAMIL NADU. Thank you for telling me this information sir. DO YOU KNOW WHO PROPOSED "XYZ" ? ( SOME CONCEPT...SOME JARGON ). No sir. IT IS "MR.ABC DEF" ( SOME NAME)Mr.ABC DEF.....Ok sir ( I repeated the name, while nodding my head ). YOU STUDIED IN LITTLE BUDS SCHOOL. WHERE IS IT ? Sir, it is in a place called Kothagudem. ITS IT A TOWN ? Yes sir, it is a small town. It is a coal mining centre. The famous Singareni Collieries mines are there.

Chairman took over again:
WHAT IS NANO TECHNOLOGY ? Nano tech operates at 10 power -9 meters level. At this level, we try to harness the material properties for applications. We tap the energy, increased surface area etc for applications. For example,carbon nano tubules have higher tensile strength and light weight. They can replace many of the existing materials. WHAT ARE THE APPLICATIONS OF NANO TECH? Sir, nano tech is used in manufacturing sector, aero space industry, in semiconductors and electronics. Etc. WHAT IS THE NAME OF CARBON AT NANO LEVEL ? IT IS NOT CALLED SIMPLE CARBON. CARBON IS FOUND IN MANY DAILY USE GOODS. FOR EXAMPLE GRAPHITE CONTAINS CARBON... TELL ME THE TERM USED FOR CARBON AT NANO LEVEL. Sir, I am not able to recollect it. I can try it if you can give me some hints. "ABC DEF" ( SOME SCIENTIST NAME) No sir, I am sorry. "LMN XYZ" ( ANOTHER SCIENTIST ) No sir, I am sorry. I am not able to get it. WHAT IS AI ? Sir, it stands for Artificial Intelligence. It is a branch of computer science and it deals with taking decisions in a dynamic manner. Unlike the normal ways of calculating logic using '1' or '0', yes or no, or black or white, it deals with intermediate logic levels sir. It also deals with learning dynamically from past experience like humans & animals and facing novel situations and challenges. (SUDDENLY) WHAT IS KASHMIR ISSUE ? (I was baffled.....firstly, for the sudden change of topic. Secondly, as to where to start, where to end..... this is like compressing a 60Marker into a  2Marker !! I started speaking something in a haphazard manner. Then stopped. Took a pause ) Sir, I will explain it in historical perspective. Pakistan lays claim to Kashmir saying that it is a Muslim majority area. India stresses on the accession done by the king of Kashmir. The 1948 UN Resolution proposes for a plebiscite but only when POK is evacuated by Pakistan. Now, India is making efforts at making the LOC itself irrelevant by increasing people to people contacts, trade, transport etc. India says that Kashmir is only one of the issues to be settled. The other issues are also there like Siachen, Sir Creek etc. but, Pakistan insists on solving Kashmir issue as the most important one. (No reaction / lead question !!) DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE LITHIUM BATTERIES USED IN THE CELL PHONES. THEY ARE SMALL & EFFICIENT AND HAVE LONG LIFE. THEY HAVE OTHER SUCH MANY BENEFITS. ( HE WAS OBSERVING ME WHILE TELLING THIS LONG....LONG QUESTION) DO YOU KNOW WHICH COUNTRY PRODUCES THE LARGEST AMOUNT OF LITHIUM? No sir. I am not aware of it. WHICH ARE THE RARE MINERALS OF RAJASTHAN ? Rare minerals of Rajasthan, sir ? ( I asked back, stressing on the word 'Rajasthan'). YES. Sir, I am aware of rare minerals of India in general but not Rajasthan in particular sir. YOU HAVE GEOGRAPHY OPTIONAL. Sorry sir, I am not aware. ANY ONE WANTS TO ASK ANYTHING? 

The 2nd Member took over (Who asked me on Andhra programmes) YOU WROTE YOUR EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITY AS TREKKING...... Yes sir, trekking & jungle excursion are some of my hobbies. WHERE DID YOU TREK? Sir, around my native place. It lies in the fringe area of Dandakaranya forest region. I used to trek on small hills. While working in Pune, I used to go to the hills of Western Ghats around Pune. During monsoon season, it is very pleasant and nice to trek there sir. THERE IS A PROGRAMME MEANT FOR DANDAKARANYA REGION. WHAT IS IT? I am not sure sir. I am aware of the Backward Regions Grant Fund scheme meant for the backward & naxal affected Districts. NO, NO. ITS NOT THIS. Sir, is it Salva Judum ? NO, NO. (CHAIRMAN JOINED): IT WAS DURING 60S. DO YOU KNOW ABOUT IT ? No sir. I am not aware of it. 4th Member took over:( Who asked me on Pilani. Engg. ) BITS, PILANI GIVES LOT OF SCOPE TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS. WAS IT SO IN YOUR CASE ALSO? Yes Sir to a large extent. But, in my case, my schooling at JNV helped me greatly at the initial level. IN WHAT WAYS BITS GIVES OPPORTUNITIES? Sir, we have many activities that are conducted by students. There are many clubs, departments, associations. Even there are student elections to choose office bearers. WHAT ABOUT THE "LANGUAGE LAB" IN BITS CAMPUS ? Sir, I feel it is meant for higher end literary activities. To a large extent, student activities help us in improving social skills. DO YOU THINK AP PEOPLE ARE NOT SO GOOD AT COMMUNICATING IN ENGLISH ? Yes sir, unfortunately, many people are not good at it. ( blunder ???? prejudice or slip of tongue ??? ) WHAT WILL YOU DO AS AN OFFICER TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS ? Sir, I want to answer this question from my personal experience. I studied in Telugu medium upto 8th class and then shifted to English medium. Sir, I feel language depends on the sub-conscious mind. If one is good at Telugu.... I mean one's mother tongue, interms of being expressive, creative, spontaneous and confident, he can be good at any other language. For example sir, vendors selling in Goa beach speak 4-5 languages. May be struggle for existence makes one learn what is necessary. ( I was in full josh & momentum.....but, abruptly, he said ) OK STOP. (INDICATED HIS HAND TO THE CHAIRMAN)

Chairman: OK. YOU CAN LEAVE.
Thank you sir. ( I got up from the chair, stepped aside. But didn't push the chair forward) (slightly bowing my head): thank you madam. Thank you sirs. (then moved out ).

*****

Thanks Vinay!! Good Luck!!

winaykumark at gmail dot com

Quickie!

Just like most of you, I too am supposed to be quite busy with work during the middle of a week. However, sometimes we do come across a few interesting things even amidst piles of boredom and monotony of Wednesdays...

This is cool! Hats off to blogs...and babus!
http://www.ceowestbengal.blogspot.com/(Also please take out time to go through the comments for the posts. Interesting! )

This dude was my.. sorry..I was his batchmate during my Pilani days in the late 90s..
http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/Corporate/Smooth-Journey-So-Far.html

Gen..http://rajeevchandrasekhar.blogspot.com/

Okei.. see you all after a longer break.

I would be having a "..natural, directed and purposive conversation” with a few erudite and respectable people in a couple of days, in Dolphur House. I hope they like me!

Random

Time runs.

The day I locked D-42 for the official Delhi/Dehradun tour seems like yesterday. But the desktop monthly sheet here says it was a good 15 days back. Don't worry..this post is not going to be a summary of my life over the last two weeks, ...not because it is going to bore you, but because it is impossible to capture this time frame with the keyboard. Here are some random lines.

* It was great feeling to be inside the campus of our Parliament...I also took a stroll in those corridors with the imposing, jurassic pillars. Flashes of the Tamil film Iruvar (Maniratnam/1997) came to my mind. Also the greatest speech given by Sh. Jawaharlal Nehru.

* Felt quite privileged to be inside Rashtrapati Bhawan. You got to see it to believe it....it's an amazing place...palace! I was reminded of a few scenes in Muthalvan. (Shankar/1999)

* Beyond a point, it was really difficult to resist the gulab jamun or the samosa that featured regularly in the high teas. I will check up my weight tomorrow.

* Government job, generally = hierarchy + conformity + meetings

* Really impressed by two speakers during our module on NRM (Natural Resource Management) at Dehradun. One was on tigers... I think we guys (human beings) are really screwing up all other species on this planet.

* Getting out of a comfort group is really difficult for most of us.. but is it really needed to attach oneself with new groups often?

* Mussourie has always brought me a deep feeling of nostalgia. This time was no exception...the only difference being that, the feeling was deeper this time.

* Naan kadavul (Bala/2009) is not as powerful as his earlier films. But this one is far superior to SDM (Boyle/2008) that claims to have covered the Indian reality in a really real way.

* It is just a beginning for ARR...he will rule the music world in the years to come.

* Indian Institute of Petroleum. Mokhampur. Mixed feelings. I had worked on developing a DCC (Deep Catalytic Cracking) catalyst there. Sorry..not to scare you..I was just trying to recollect my project title. I'm scared now.

* Early morning walks can be really refreshing. But, getting out of the warm quilt in a cool, early morning....?


Btw, this photograph was taken around 0730 hours at FRI (Forest Research Institute), Dehradun. Try to go there if you get a chance...you'll feel like being in some heritage university campus in Europe.

* Got the chance to taste the best set of vadas made ever.. Thanks to the Mussourie friends...and the cook, Karnan. Cooking: art/science = 80/20 or 100/0 ?

* Idea might be a bad idea when it comes to roaming. Either the network is not available or your balance drains out at jet speed.

* Loved Dev.D. Missed 13B. Waiting for Gulaal.

* How often you feel like being alone? Daily/Weekly/Monthly? Or hourly?? Well..if you are around with more than hundred and fifty people at any point of time for a prolonged time..it definitely got to be hourly.

* Hard work pays? I'm not sure.

* It is painful to see the way railway tracks and the trains on them shredding Rajaji national park and making elephants' lives a dog's life.

* Some apparently well-educated people are extremely unaware of basic public manners...esp the ones who shout and laugh loudly till late night, even during train journeys.

* Knowledge is power supreme.

* Imagining India. Innum sila sindhanaigal (Some more thoughts). India: Development and Participation. Something like an autobiography. In which Annie gives it those ones. 50 Psychology classics. Got. Not read.

Oh!! Even before I could complete typing this my Idea network has already vanished!

I should make it a point to take my BSNL when I go back to Delhi for my personality test in another two weeks' time.

Freedom Regained

I’m not a product of my environment; My environment is a product of me. This or something very close to this is the opening line of The Departed. But in real life I have not heard many people say that. However, I very strongly feel that most of us have such a thought, consciously or underneath. After all, who wants to be controlled? I too am one of them. I do not believe in God of any form; not yet. I do not openly believe in destiny. I have always maintained that destiny is a creation of losers to rationalise their past. I rate my freedom as one topmost thing in my life. Probably that is why my father hesitated when I told him of my decision to take the UPSC Exams. He felt, apart from being very low paying, the Government jobs also did not offer one space; freedom. I did not heed his advice. But today, after spending quite a considerable time (by my standards) with the Government and more than three weeks at the National Academy of Direct Taxes, Nagpur, I have concluded there is a supernatural force; a power that is omnipotent; an overwhelming strength. There is no escape from it. That force torments me throughout a major part of the days here. I’m no more a free bird. I did try and still trying hard to overcome it, but I’m still on the losing side. One of my friends asked me to be sincere during our early morning yoga sessions. “That will help you”, he said. I took that advice very seriously and moved from my usual last row to the very first row of the yoga sessions; forgoing much of my freedom. But even after that I have not seen any progress in my fight against that Force Supernaturale!

One another friend, an intellectual, said, “Try moving from the last bench to the first rows in the lecture hall”. I thought about it for 48 hours; but did not try it. That was beyond my risk appetite. I was finding out other ways to overpower my enemy and take charge of my life. One of them was to take two ball pens – one blue and the other one black – and keep myself busy by underlining the key terms and take down the learning points in my brand new register. By the end of the day the plan produced something very strange. My register had a few pages of bi-coloured scribbling. It looked like that of an infant’s first-ever attempt with a pen. I felt more ashamed. In the attempt to ward off sleep and keep awake in the lecture hall I had lost control of my handwriting too!



Yes, that force that has thrown my life out of gear is – sleep.

Over the weekend I’m hoping to find the best possible game-plan against sleep during the lecture hours. Usually interest and attention go hand in hand. The more we like to do something the more attention we show to the job. (Forgetting other extraneous variables like incentives, salary, food etc.) But I genuinely feel my sleep is not due to the scarcity of attention arising out of a total lack of interest for the subjects taught. I like the IT Act, just like I love other things in life like playing saxophone, scuba diving, double trap, rock climbing, blind-fold chess etc. And I owe full allegiance to my job here.

Okay, let me take stock of the terms that have gone into my mind over the past four weeks here. Well...IT Authority, firm, search and seizure, heads of salary, exemption, Shaw Wallace, immovable property, junior artists, previous year, basis of charge, HUF, vigilance case, four corners of law....Oh! Good! The list goes on and on. I never even imagined so many things could have entered that soft, light thing in between my ears. Hmm...I think have acquired something special; probably the exceptional ability to exist in the two extreme states of consciousness, Stage IV NREM sleep and being fully alert – at the same time!

I’m excited! I really don’t know when I got this ultimate gift of life; anyway it does not matter now. Am happy I got it!

I did a bit of google to find out whether such a case had been reported earlier or not, if someone else too possessed this special and unusual control over his/her conscious or not. As usual the result had thousands of totally irrelevant web pages. But I was lucky enough to spot one source that gave me the precise info. (But I’m not sure if that is authentic) And I’m quite elated now, as the only person who had a power something near-similar to what I have is – Arjun. No no... not the one in politics or cinema. But that one Blessed by none other than Lord Krisha himself. It is said that Arjun can sleep or be awake even for years together as per his own wish.

M.F. II

I'm really surprised at the way the post M.F.Hussain has got connected with many of us. Firstly thanks to BlogBharti for linking the post.I'm very happy about it.

I'm also thrilled to get an extraordinary Comment[anonymous] to that post. I feel that Comment needs to be seen by more people; felt by more people. I do not want it to get lost. So here it goes...

"A recently turned 'civil servant', from a totally non - civil service background, my time in the district is showing me what I never ever saw, imagined sitting in a metro, even when I was studying for this exam. What I do see now is not something I can explain and thereby answer all the questions put up on the blog or reply to the repeated accusations of the terrible bureaucracy. But I can say, that there a million little and big things that the bureaucracy takes care of, every day, every minute, at least in the districts. People's lives are run by it, depend on it. What appears in the newspapers is always and only where the administration has failed. But each day, I personally see, so many people being helped, being protected by the very same bureaucracy.

In a short span of 3 months, I have seen and understood that, something I did, because of which an entire village came to thank me, took my side when local media and politicians came to accuse as usual, did not get published and will never get published and people at large will never know. BUT, I know, and that village knows, and respects me - as a bureaucrat - for what was done.

I can confidently say, that the bureaucracy is NOT the monster it is always made out to be. It has its shortcomings - many of them too - but it binds,coalesces and smoothens things out, in a way that people may not even realise. "

Thanks for that...!

People like you build that one village that fought Caesar...

M.F.Hussain I.A.S.

"How are you able work under corrupt, criminal politicians even after studying so much?"

My tryst with the creature called civil service began almost a decade ago when my brother got ready to take his UPSC exams. Today both of us are “civil servants”. (I’m yet to figure out who were Uncivil servants!) Over the last many years we and my other friends here, have come across those questions in various formats, from different corners. They usually move around –
o The system is beyond repair
o The system is corrupt
o You have to follow the orders of politicians
o Transfers and punishment postings
o No single man can make a difference
o Don’t waste your brain

Every morning the newspapers show us how the state has failed us – bomb blasts, lack of basic facilities, murders, communal clashes, leaking PDS, red tape, poor infrastructure, corrupt bureaucrats etc. Yes, it seems the state and a major part of its agencies – Courts, Assemblies, Bureaucracy – have failed. BUT we are able to hold together as one nation purely due to the fact that there are very honest, able men and women sprinkled here and there. These men and women ensure we do not lose hope, completely. I’m reminded of Asterix and Obelix. As it goes, during the time when a vast expanse of the known world was under Caesar, only one Gaulish village stood out; they gave Rome a real pain; these people made sure their independence was not negotiable. But for this one village Caesar would have been the real Emperor. Every soul would have been his subject. The people I’m talking about are like that village, without them there would be no hope. No future.

And, as we know, if all of us move away from the dirty world of government and administration for these reasons, our future will not have even one single village to fight odds…

Well, I do not mean that being in the civil service is the only way to contribute to the country. I don’t ask why M F Hussain is wasting canvas and cans of colours instead of being Sh.M.F.Hussain I.A.S., Secretary-Ministry of Rural Development. Also, there have been many officers who have quit the service to do better work! But civil service is not something one needs to avoid for frivolous reasons like “working under illiterate politicians, under constant fear of transfers and punishment postings”.

It’s good to remember our quotes-man George Bernard Shaw – Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

Whether we like it or not, democracy is in the DNA of our Constitution.

Plan B?

Some of my friends were quite eager to know what kind of questions one gets in the Civil Services-Main Exam (a.k.a. IAS exam) conducted by the UPSC. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Five papers. While the last two papers - English and any Indian language - were only qualifying in nature, the first three papers would matter a lot in deciding whether one got a chance to sit for the personality test in April 2009. Two papers of General studies (GS) and one Essay paper. As it gets boring to type as well to read the entire paper, I have given samples from the GS papers.

* "The emergence of new social classes in British India was the direct consequence of the establishment of new social economy, new state system, administrative machinery and Western education." Discuss. (150 words/15 marks)
* Golkonda Fort (20/2)
* Bring out the pros and cons of Special Economic Zones (150/15)
* Nor' westers (20/2)
* Discuss the major extra-constitutional factors influencing the federal polity in the country. (250/30)
* Discuss the composition and functions of the Union Public Service Commission. (150/15)
* Discuss the problems in achieving National Integration in India. (150/15)
* The conditions of urban poor are more deplorable than that of their rural counterparts." Give your views. (250/30)
* Lakshmi Mittal (20/2)

The above are from the GS - I paper. The GS papers are for 300 marks each, and one gets three hours for each paper. There is a two-hour break before one takes the GS - II paper.

* India and the New World Order (150 words/30 marks)
* India-Nigeria: Abuja Declaration (20/2)
* Indian diaspora and Bollywood (20/2)
* Access the performance of India in attracting Foreign Direct Investment(FDI). (250/30)
* NAMA (20/2)
* Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (150/15)
* INTERPOL (20/2)
* In what way "Medical Biotechnology" and "Bioengineering" are useful for technological development of India? (250/30)
* Spintronics (20/2)
* Sappan (20/2)
* Components of Robots (20/2)
* A question on representation of data by a suitable diagram.(like histogram, pie chart etc) (6 marks)
* The mean monthly income of a person is Rs.18190 and his mean monthly expenditure comes out to be Rs.17930. What is his average monthly saving? (2)

Essay paper. One gets to choose a topic from a basket of six topics. The essay paper is also for three hours. It carries 200 marks. No specific word limit.

* Is an egalitarian society possible by educating the masses?
* Discipline means success, anarchy means ruins.
* Urbanisation and its hazards.

Four more papers are remaining. Two each for the two optional subjects that one gets to choose from a range that stretches from Russian literature to Zoology.

Well, let me be frank and tell you what I felt during the Exam. I sincerely hope that the UPSC reduces the age limit for the candidates (without affecting the number of attmepts one gets. this can be done by shortening the cycle time of the Exam) I thought I was very old to sit and take this Exam, which anyone above 21 years can take. But at the Exam centre I felt I'm quite young! I genuinely feel hundreds of candidates are wasting the wonderful phase of their lives by mechanically appearing in the Exam, year after year, for many years. Some of my friends have spent more than five years in this Exam, without any result. It saddens me.

While I agree that dreams need perseverance, what hurts me is the fact that many candidates do not have a Plan B. So suddenly one fine morning, after exhausting all the attempts over the years, one realises one does not have a place to go. One is not equipped to find a decent job; an alternative career. My sincere wish is that the Civil Service aspirants while chasing their dreams, should also work on their fallback options - without mindlessly escalating their commitment year after year.