Toppers Interview

CSC: Heartiest congratulations to you from Civil Services Chronicle for your success. How are you feeling about it?

Junaid Ahmad: Getting AIR 3 in civil services is no less than a surreal feeling. I am really overwhelmed, but along with that a greater sense of responsibility has also come in.

CSC: What was your inspiration for becoming an IAS officer?

Junaid: I always looked for a career where I can find meaning in. Where along with my personal growth, I have avenues to return back to society what all I have received from it. Civil Service provides the best platform for it.

CSC: Whom do you give credit for your success?

Junaid: Firstly, thanks to the Almighty who kept his blessings on me. Along with that I also want to thank my parents, teachers and friends who remained a constant source of support for me during my preparation.

CSC: What was the role of family and others (teachers, friends) in your preparation and success?

Junaid:Family – Whenever I failed at any stage, they always motivated me, gave me the courage to stand up and fight again.

Teachers – It is due to their hard work and teaching that I am able to clear this exam.

About Your Preparation

CSC: What was your source of Preparation? Which Books, Magazines, News Papers and Online Sources were used by you during you preparation?

Junaid: Starting – Focus on UPSC syllabus and Previous Year’s Papers.

Books – NCERT’s help in developing a base for this exam. Then reference books like Laxmikant, Khullar for Geographhy etc help.

Magazines – Yojana andKurukshetra.

Newspapers – Indian express and The Hindu.

Online – PIB, ADR, Wikipedia website.

CSC: How much time did you devote for this Exam?

(a) Prelims,

(b) Mains,

(c) Interview,

(d) Optional

It is an integrated study. 1 – 1.5 years are required for building up a base with standard books.

Then for Mains – Answer writing every day and crisp and concise current affairs notes

Optional – It takes around 3-4 months to complete an optional.

CSC: How did you manage your time in both prelims and mains examinations?

Junaid:Prelims – 2 hours Paper

1st hour – first reading and attempting questions I know vey well.

2nd hour- second reading of questions whereI have some doubt.

Mains – Answer writing practice every day helped in managing the time in mains exam.

CSC: Did you integrate your Prelims and Mains preparation or was it separate?

Junaid:It is an integrated study in the beginning.

1-2 months prior to the prelims, one should focus more on objective questions and solving test series.

After clearing Prelims 2-3 months, answer writing should be focused upon along with revision.

CSC: Did you prepare notes? How helpful are notes? What is your advice on notes-making?

Junaid: Yes, notes are very very helpful during mains examination.

Making notes should be very crisp and concise, preferably bullet points which you can elaborate in the exam.

CSC:What were the Books and Strategy for Preparation of Ethics Paper- IV?

Junaid: Ethics is more of an applied thing. Still for basic terminologies LEXICON is good.

Apart from that focus on examples and try to use them in your answers.

CSC: Tell us something about the preparation of essay paper.

Junaid: Essay requires holistic application of knowledge which you have acquired during your preparation.

Quotes, anecdotes, poems, examples are different ways to start an essay. Also the demand should be addressed in a comprehensive manner.

CSC: What was your style of writing in the exam? How was it distinct from the general writing style? How did you develop this writing style?

Junaid: My style of writing was a mix of bullet points and paragraphs. Also, Introduction, body and conclusion are required along with headings and subheadings to make it more visible.

CSC: What was your optional? What was the basis of selecting this optional?

Junaid: My optional was Geography.I shortlisted few subjects like History, Geography and Political science. I read few books and found out that geography interested me the most. So it is solely your interest that should be the reason of selecting your optional.

CSS: How did you prepare for interview?

Junaid: I gave few mock interviews and tried to improve on my mistakes. Vajirao and Reddy helped me in this. More than knowledge, it is your personality which gets tested there.

CSC: Which type of questions was asked in the interview? Did you answer all the questions?

Junaid: Questions are mostly from your background and current affairs. For e.g., I am from B.Tech (ECE) background, so questions on New Electronics Policy 2019, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G difference etc. were asked. Since my optional is Geography, questions on strategic location of India, maritime zones and their importance etc were asked.

No, I did not answer all the questions. You can say no to those questions of which you are not sure of. Just do not try to bluff.

CSS: Was there any specific area they emphasized upon?

Junaid: Things which you mention in the application form, questions are asked from that only. Also International relations is an area they are interested in.

CSC: What is the importance of coaching in the preparation of exam?

Junaid: Coaching is helpful in the beginning to keep the new aspirant on track. After that it is your self-study that matters.

CSC: What is the role of Civil Services Chronicle in your success?

Junaid: CSC covers the domain of current affairs in detail, which has become an important area in prelims as well as mains exam.

Suggested Book List:

Prelims:

1. G.S : NCERTs – 9th to 12th
2. Reference books:
3. Polity – Laximikanth
4. Geography– GC Leong and Indian Geography by Khullar
5. Economics- Ramesh Singh
6. History-Bipan Chandra

Mains

1. 1.G.S. 1, G.S.2, G.S.3 and G.S.4
• For static part above mentioned books.
• For current – Notes from newspapers.
2. Optional Paper – 1: Savindra Singh and R D Dixit
3. Optional Paper – 2: Khullar
4. Magazines/Newspapers:The Hindu, Indian express, Yojana and Kurukshetra.

Mains Optional:Geography

Civil Services Chronicle: Heartiest congratulations to you from Civil Services Chronicle for your success. How are you feeling post this achievement? What was your inspiration for becoming an IAS officer?Whom would you give credit for your Success?What was the role of family and others (teachers, friends) in your preparation and success?

Minal Karanwal: I am surely feeling very elated. You obsess over a dream for so long and finally you achieve it.

My inspiration for becoming an IAS officer was the job profile that would help me contribute my 2 cents towards nation building and also secure for myself such a good career opportunity.

Credit for my success goes to my entire family and ForumIAS Academy. That has handheld me through the entire process. Family provided the much needed moral and financial support, and my teachers at ForumIAS provided me the much needed guidance and mentorship.

CSC: What strategy one should follow for preparing Civil Services Examination especially in General Studies Prelims and Mains papers, Essay and Paper IV. Please explain this with your Subject- wise Preparation Strategy.

Minal: (a) For prelims: Making sure that I was conceptually thorough with every subject. Even for an intense subject like ‘Art and culture’, I had read Nitin Singhania, and had made many side notes in the book and separate topic wise notes for topics like types of dances, music etc.

(b) I had solved the last year question papers with a mind for reverse engineering, figuring out how the questions are asked by UPSC and what portions I should focus on. For ex: in geography the emphasis over the years has been questions on location of resources, location of cities etc. Hence, then my orientation while reading the text book was developed accordingly. In fact, I had even revised the last year papers, given that there is a chance of repetition.

(c) Faster completion of course- I was once advised at ForumIAS that since ‘work expands to fill time’, we should not get stuck on one subject and finish the course as fast as possible. Hence, I finished the first reading of the prelims course by January itself, even though I was still giving some time to my optional.

(d) 1000 revisions: metaphoric, but a lot of revision of my short notes and re reading of text books. This trained my sub conscious to even work under stress and anxiety.

(e) Practicing mocks: Practising and adapting yourself to solving regular tests will help you understand the exam pattern better and also help you figure out how you’ll go about solving it.

(f) Revision of some tests I hadn’t performed well in.

A. History: As far as Modern India is concerned, a thorough reading of Spectrum and solving of last year papers will suffice, because there are too many repetitions. Practice writing answers here as well.

• For ‘Art and Culture’, I find Nitin Singhania a compulsory read here along with the NCERT and the last year papers. There is heavy mugging up of facts required and this can only be achieved by thorough practice and numerous revisions.
• Post-independence: Bipin Chandra
• World History: Norman Lowe+NCERTs+ ForumIAS Comprehensive Program (CGP) Handouts and Class notes
• Focus was on making topic wise notes of everything.

B. Geography:

• Reading the 11th and 12th class NCERTs is the most important. I preferred making short notes out of them so that revision is fact focussed. Most diagrams given in these books are also extremely handy.
• For the topics of ‘Distribution of resources’ and ‘location of industries’, I referred a CGP book on it. In my opinion, it is brilliantly compiled, pontified , such that no separate notes are required.

C. Society:

• Reading of NCERTs of class 11th and 12th plus adding the knowledge of current to it. The question in GS1 this time on contrasting Western and Indian secularism was sourced directly from these books and exact references came handy for me.

D. Polity and Governance:

• I had Public Administration as my optional and hence I did not have to devote separate time for this portion. Also I used my PUB Ad notes for its preparation.
• For ‘polity portion’, focus should be solving last year papers and test series papers. Open endedly reading Laxmikant will not suffice here.
• For governance portion, it is important to read the ARC reports. Focus while reading them should be that of ‘differential study’: focus only on the specific problems highlighted and the corresponding solutions. I had made many notes from the ARC in a tabular ‘problem-solution’ approach. For example: in the 6th report of Local Governance the problem of 3Fs of Local bodies is pretty detailed and the solutions are also very specifically given. Ignoring them in the name of them being lengthy will be like putting a nail in your own coffin. You can get hold of either summaries or if you can read them fast and focussed, it would be better. ARCs that are a must:
• oARC 1ST Report
• oARC 4TH Report
• oARC 5TH Report
• oARC 6TH Report
• oARC 10TH Report
• oARC 12TH Report
• oARC 14TH Report

E. Social Issues and IR: Dipin Sir’s Current Affairs Classes at Foum IAS sufficed.

F. Indian Economy:

• Sri Ram’s economy book or any other standard Economy Book should be thoroughly read to gain a conceptual clarity.
• Shankar Ganesh can be read exclusively for prelims perspective.
• Reading newspaper and any CA booklet is very essential, as a current perspective is important while writing answers.

G. Government Budgeting: ARC 14TH Report has beautifully explained budgeting kinds and procedures. It must be read.

H. Agriculture:

• I relied on Dipin Sir’s notes of ForumIAS and I bought the past year papers questions from the market and made notes out of them topic wise: regarding procurement, MSP issues, Food processing etc.
• Land reforms was covered as part of Post Independence and the analysis of LARR, 2013 in the Classroom

I. Infrastructure, S&T: No separate preparation, only Dipin Sir’s notes of ForumIAS.

J. Investment Models: Sourced from my public administration notes. Emphasis should be on understanding various models like BOT, BOOT, EPC, HAM. And also what is the solution to make them more effective. Kelkar committee recommendations can be read.

K. Environment:

• Focus was on reading Dipin Sir’s notes and Mains 365 selective reading
• However, I also revised Shankar IAS’s book from mains perspective because of which I was able to solve the Biological Diversity Act question in GS 3, with utmost exactness.

L. Security:

• Read the Tata McGraw Hill book selectively to cover static portions like Naxalism, communalism.
• However, more reliance was on Dipin Sir’s class notes ForumIAS printed material.

M. Disaster Management:

• Read the NDMA plan and made disaster wise notes in the form of pre-during-post disaster response
• Read portions of Sendai framework and hence could solve question of Disaster risk reduction in GS paper 3.
• Had also read portions of January 2017 Yojana.

N.Ethics:

• Section A: Read Lexicon and CGP notes. Use of internet is very important to explore many concepts.
• I had also collected many case studies while reading the newspapers to use as examples. Like: Case study for swachha bharat: pimprichinchwad
• Section B: CGP had made us practice some standard case studies and practice of many case studies is crucial to get a hang on what stand to take in different case studies.

O. Essay: Content was derived from My GS knowledge itself. However, while writing essay, emphasis was on interpreting the topic rightly and exploring many dimensions relevant to the topic, like: SPECLIH [Social, Political, Economic, Cultural, Linguistic, International, Humanistic]

• Sentences should be kept short and language simple.
• I always started my essays with either an anecdote or a quote. This helped me give a different touch to the essay.

CSC: Which Books, Magazines, News Papers and Online Sources were used by you during your preparation? How much time did you devote for this exam for various stages namely Prelims, Mains, Optional and Interview?

Minal: I had relied on standard books that have been mentioned in my strategy above. Read ‘the Hindu’ newspaper throughout, except 2 months before Prelims and Mains both. I used to extensively search online on topics in GS4.

I used to study 8 hours minimum daily. Days that I didn’t study at all, I used to compensate by studying double the next day.

Read my optional till February 2018. After that devoted time exclusively to Prelims.

CSC: How did you manage your time in both Prelims and Mains examination?Did you integrate your Prelims and Mains preparation or was it separate?

Minal: In prelims, I managed to read my entire paper thrice. I used to mark sure shot questions in the 1st reading. In the 2nd reading, marked those that I knew 75% about. In the 3rd, I marked those that I knew 50% about.

I had practiced full length tests for mains exam and had strictly trained myself to not to give more than 8 minutes for either a 10 or a 15 marker. Hence I was able to finish all my mains papers within time limit.

I integrated my preparation to a large extent. The difference comes in the approach: prelims has to be facts oriented study and mains has to be concept oriented study. For example: What happened in Champaran Satyagrah is knowledge, important for both prelims and mains but ‘why Satyagraha was a tool used by Gandhi and how effective it was’ is the analysis required for mains perspective.

CSC: Did you prepare notes? How helpful are notes in this exam? What is your advice on notes-making?

Minal: Yes, I prepared notes for almost every topic I read. I believe that note making helps you learn better and also makes revision easier. They turned out to be the core of my preparation.

Students have less idea on how to make helpful notes. I have seen them writing summaries in running sentences. These are not notes. Notes should be concise, keyword oriented and if possible confined to one side of an A4 page, no matter how big the topic is. DO NOT include running sentences in your notes, they would be very difficult to revise and would be least effective.

For CA, I advise, that the notes should be concept oriented and strictly confined to one page. For ex: on Judiciary, everything ranging from the stats, problems, solutions etc. should be confined to one page. This works magic when the exam approaches and is very easy to recall.

CSC: What was your Strategy for preparing for Ethics Paper-IV andwhich books did you refer to?

Minal: GS4 is a paper, which if approached mechanically, will fetch you very average marks. I was advised at ForumIAS to keep it as organic as possible. Hence, keep the language very simple and the content very simplistic. Here, internet plays a very crucial role. I sourced many definitions and differences from the internet. I also believe that some case studies as examples add to the quality of your answer. These can be picked up from internet or while you are reading the newspaper. For ex: Haritha Keralam was a people’s movement to bring in cleanliness.

I had read Lexicon as my base and had read the ARC 4th report on Ethics and Governance, but was still scoring average marks. Hence I enrolled in a GS IV Test Series that helped me a lot to reorient both Section A and case studies. The emphasis in section A has to be on exploring as many dimensions as possible, keeping in mind major schools like Utilitarianism, Gandhian Ethics, Virtue ethics etc.

In section B, my attempt was to first contrast as many values, like how objectivity is in conflict with nepotism or integrity is in conflict with personal financial benefit. I used to 1st highlight these conflicts point wise. Then, I used to pragmatically trace solutions from the least favourable to the most favourable. Each solution was accompanied with its merits and demerits.

CSC: Tell us something about your preparation approach for essay paper.

Minal: Essay requires you to be Crisp, Concise and Relevant.

Even though my content was mostly driven from GS, I had collected a sample of quotes and anecdotes from previous year toppers notes and internet and had revised them thoroughly. Using them in your essay will definitely give you an edge over other students.

While practicing tests, I made it a point to be relevant to the topic and not deviate. And this happened because of the extensive rough work I did, before attempting the essay. In this rough work I traced the tiniest details of the essay, such that the entire narrative was ready before hand. This helped me not to deviate from the topic while I was writing. And trust me this is a big booster for anyone who is reading the essay.

Keep the sentences short and the language simple.

Explore all the SPECLIH dimensions even to a philosophical topic. Example: in my second essay on how a society advantages its privileges over principles, I adopted an example based approach, where I used the SPECLIH approach. The nature’s resources are being incessantly exploited than conserved, hence, the level of destruction around the globe.

CSC: What was your style of writing in the exam? How was it distinct from the general writing style? How did you develop this writing style?

Minal: I am from a humanities course, and hence I was trained to write long sentences. This backfired in my mock as I wasn’t able to confine myself to word limits and neither did the answers look comprehensible.

Hence the style that I adopted was:

• Write in short sentences
• Write in a very simple language
• Use paragraphs and bullet points
• Use as many sub headings as possible. Example: when the problems of judiciary is asked, prefer dividing it into procedural, infrastructural, operational, appointment related, etc
• Use of diagrams and flowcharts, wherever possible, for example: if the question is on challenges of CPEC, draw a small map of the Indian subcontinent and show where the CPEC lies, with Gwadar and Xinjiang as its two ends
• A very concrete conclusion: I never wrote a rhetorical conclusion as it will not fetch marks. I wrote a sub heading ‘Way Forward’ and wrote futuristic solutions in points. This mostly involved relevant committee recommendations.

This writing style develops after a lot of practice. Time individual answers and full papers. Only then you can subconsciously implement this writing style.

CSC: What was your optional? What was the basis of selecting this optional?

Minal: My optional was Public Administration. I selected it because the syllabus was very concise, manageable, extremely overlapping with GS2, 3, 4. Also, a couple of seniors who had already cleared the exam with this optional had advised me to consider it.

CSC: How did you prepare for interview? Which types of questions were asked in the interview? Did you answer all the questions? Was there any specific area they emphasised upon?

Minal: 3 important points for interview preparation:

• Prepare for every word in your DAF. For ex: my address involves the word ‘Bengali’. In one mock I was asked on the minority status of Bengalis in Uttarakhand.
• Prepare your opinions on important national and international happenings. Make sure that no opinion of yours is extreme and is not in severe opposition to the government’s position. You can constructively criticise the government’s policy, only if you have concrete solutions as alternatives. For ex: should education be a minimum qualification to contest panchayat elections? Yes, because it will help in bringing quality candidates into the political fold, but only once it is universalised by the efforts of the government.
• Give an adequate number of mocks. If you stay in Delhi, then visit some institutes. Even if you don’t stay in Delhi, use the facility of e-mocks available these days. Mocks help you analyse the way you respond to a question extempore. You should also watch these mocks afterwards to assess your own performance.

CSC: What is your opinion on importance of coaching institutes for the preparation of this exam?

Minal: I believe that if there is genuine mentorship available in the coaching institutes, it should definitely be leveraged. Hard work and self-study are sure necessary for this exam. But without proper guidance, direction and mentorship, you’ll end up being part of a desolate crowd that blames its failures on its own capabilities. For me, ForumIAS was a place that I’ve gotten tiniest guidances ranging from how to make notes to how to write answers, without which I wouldn’t have made it to Rank 35.

These days help is available both online and offline. If you can, you should leverage it. If you cannot, know that every year there are many toppers who clear the exam with minimal help from the coaching industry as well. Find your feet and go all out in the preparation.

CSC: What are your suggestions to the freshers opting for Civil Services Examination and those who have failed in their previous attempts?

Minal: The only thing I would like to suggest to freshers is that if you can clear this exam in the very first attempt, nothing like it. The more time you spend in the process, the more your competency and confidence dips. Do not make any mistakes in the choice of your study material, how you read it. Make notes for every subject, in an effective manner. Write relevant test series and clear the exam as soon as possible.

For those who have failed previous attempts, know what your problems were. It cannot be possible that you did everything right, and you still didn’t clear the exam. This is not possible, and I can say that with conviction. Identify your problems and solve them as soon as possible.

CSC: What is the role of Civil Services Chronicle in your success?

Minal: Civil Services Chronicle provides a very comprehensive coverage of Current Affairs issues for both Prelims and Mains. It is helpful for candidates preparing for CSE across the country.

Your Suggested Book List for CSE Preparation

1. Polity: Laxmikant for prelims and mains both. However, paper 2 requires you to read some ARCs, Ii have already elaborated it in my strategy.
2. Modern India: Spectrum for both Prelims and Mains. For GS paper1, practice of last year questions, with a focus on Spectrum as the basis of the content will be sufficient.
3. Ancient India: R.S. Sharma for prelims and mains. I also read Tamil Nadu History book and class 6 NCERT and Themes in India part 1. For mains perspective, in addition to this, I used Nitin Singhania.
4. .Medieval India: class 7 NCERT and Themes in India part 2
5. Art and culture: class 11 NCERT and Nitin Singhania.
6. Geography: Old and New NCERTs from class 6-12 for both prelims and mains.G.C.Leong and Atlas. I also used ForumIAS CGP supplementary book for the topic of ‘location of industries of GS1’
7. Society: NCERT of class 11 and 12 and used CA for this portion.
8. Environment: Shankar IAS book and CA
9. Security: Tata McGraw Hill for static. Rest CA.
10. Ethics: Lexicon and test series papers from the market

A brilliant student right through his schooling days, had to endure many failures, in his journey to crack the IAS exam. He has had a journey, dotted with highs and lows, failure and little success. Meet Durishetty Anudeep. First rank holder in UPSC Civil Service Examnination 2017. An engineer, who had worked with Google, before getting into IRS. An all-rounder since childhood, he has done B.Tech from Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani in Rajasthan. He qualified the examination with Anthropology as his optional subject.For Durishetty Anudeep, topping the Civil Services exam was a dream. The achievement, however, was not an easy one to come by. It took the 28-year old Indian Revenue Service Officer five attempts to make it to the top. It was his fifth attempt. He had failed thrice before, and the journey was not easy for him. Currently serving as an Assistant Tax Commissioner in Hyderabad, Durishetty Anudeep started preparing for Union Public Service Commission examination in 2012. He used to study along with his job.The son of D Manohar, an assistant divisional engineer with Telangana Northern Power Distribution Company Ltd, and D Jyothy, a homemaker, Anudeep comes from Metpalli town in Jagitial district.

Preparing while in Job

Since I had a regular job, I did not get much time to study during the weekdays. So I used to make the most of my weekends and study hard. My family has been my backbone and if I did not have their support, I would not have been able to top the examinations.

Because of my regular job, I was not able to get much time to devote to my studies during the weekdays. Therefore, I used to prepare the most for my weekends and study as much as I could.

On His Hobby

I have interest in tennis and football, and am a fan of English football club Arsenal FC. Movies are good, books are great and music is soothing. But my life wouldn’t be half as joyful or interesting if it were not for the time I spend watching and playing sports.

On His Journey from Google to Dholpur House

While doing my degree, I developed an interest in civil services. On my first attempt, I had cleared the UPSC preliminary and mains exam, but failed to clear the interview, after which I joined 'Google India' as a software engineer in Hyderabad and side-by-side continued to prepare for the UPSC exam. In spite of having deep interest in Artificial Intelligence, I decided to follow my dream of being an IAS officer rather than a researcher at Google.

In my second attempt in 2013, I got the IRS cadre and was appointed as a customs and central excise officer. However, my quest for IAS (Indian Administrative Services) continued. In the subsequent two attempts, too, I could not achieve success. This year, it was my last attempt and I put my heart and soul into it. By grace of god, I topped the Civil Services.

On his Optional Subject

I have qualified the examination with anthropology as my optional. The subject had been close to my heart right because it deals with the evolution of mankind and the society.

On His Preparation Strategy

One of the primary requisite to crack the civil service examination is to update yourself with current facts, in-depth knowledge of recent topics, and constant practice. I relied n mock tests apart from reading newspapers. Apart from the day to day study, I watched the news and read newspapers like The Indian Express, The Hindu, and also read magazines. The online mock tests helped me a lot, as they also contained answers. I never got stressed and studied with patience and concentration.

On Coaching

It is not necessary that one enrolls with a coaching institute. These days everything is available online and all one needs is the zeal and motivation to crack the test. There are many websites, magazines and newspapers that can provide one with all the required information. Even then if someone has a doubt, YouTube is the best tutor.

On His Choice of Cadre

Haryana's Anu Kumari, mother of a four-year-old boy, has overcome many hurdles before securing second rank in UPSC exam.She has achieved this feat in her second attempt. She had quit the corporate sector job and had taken the plunge in 2016, and failed in her first attempt. However, the failure had made her stronger, and more determined. And the rest is history now.Here are the excerpts from our conversation with Anu Kumari :

CSC: Heartiest congratulations to you from Civil Services Chronicle for your success. How do you feel about it?

Anu: It is a very warm and a nice feeling. I am really very very happy. Since a few days are gone now, along with the celebration mood, I’m starting to get a feel of responsibility.

CSC: What is your inspiration for becoming an IAS?

Anu: In life, I am generally inspired by Swami Vivekananda a lot, he is my inspiration. But, as such the thought of joining the Civil Services that came was when I was feeling very monotonous and drudgery had set in my private job in the corporate sector. I had begun to feel that if I continue doing what I’m doing for the rest of my life, perhaps I would not die a happy person. I wanted that if I look back in my life few years down the line, I should be able to have a fulfilling experience; for that I thought that Civil Services is the best platform and that is how I thought of getting into Civil Services.

CSC: Whom do you give credit to for your success?

Anu: A lot of people are responsible for my success- my father, my mother, my masi, my brother, mamaji, my husband’s side of the family, almost everybody. Even my friends helped me a lot. There were girls whom I did not even know properly, even then they helped me a lot. And finally, God’s grace.

CSC: What is the role of family and others, like teacher and friends in your preparation and success?

Anu: As I just said, these people have played an instrumental role in my success. It is only because I could leave my son to my mother’s care, I was able to focus on my studies. I was contented that he would be taken care of even better than I would have cared for. I lived at my masi’s place, she made me feel so comfortable that I did not even had to get up to get a glass of water. I was able to devote the entire day to studies. My brother used to help me out with small bits of information on whatever topic I needed. So, my friends, family, a lot of people have played an important role in some or the other way.

CSC: What was your source of preparation? Which books, magazines, newspapers and online resources were used by you during the preparation?

Anu: For the static portion, I had basically relied on the NCERT books and standard books. For Geography, for example, I used class XIth and XIIth NCERT books, for Polity I used Lakxmikanth, for Indian national movement I used Spectrum book, for Environmental Studies I used Shankar IAS, for economy I used Shri Ram printed notes, so on and so forth. When it comes to Current Affairs, for that I relied a lot on online sources and one single source that stands out is Insights on India website; from there I used to read the daily current affairs and attempt the MCQs and then I also did their online test series. Basically these are the sources I referred to, other than that I used to refer to compilations of some magazines to quickly revise the name of the schemes and what they pertain to.

CSC: How much time did you devote for this exam?

Anu: Today, with the benefit of hindsight I can say that 1.5 years of dedicated study is good to crack this exam. When it comes to my case, I started preparing for Prelims 2017 immediately after Prelims 2016 results were announced. I could not clear Prelims 2016 by 1 mark and after that I started preparing for Prelims & Mains 2017 in an integrated manner. I believe that if you start a year prior to Prelims, it will be sufficient to crack this exam.

CSC: How did you manage your time in both Prelims and Mains examination?

Anu: Time management is a very crucial thing and also very tricky. I focused on little things, for example when I used to go for morning walks, I used to listen to the All India Radio news, after coming back I listened to the Rajya Sabha TV programs; even while eating I would listen to one or the other program on Rajya Sabha TV. I used to devote my entire day to studies besides the sleeping time from 10 pm to 4 am; basically I am a morning person so I used to get up early and study. For effective time management, I deactivated all my social media accounts- Facebook, Whatsapp etc. Also, I cut down on my family and friends time; I did not attend any family functions because at that point of time, the priority was preparation.

CSC: Did you prepare notes?

Anu: I personally haven’t done much of notes preparation, especially for the Prelims preparation, I haven’t done it. When it comes to Mains, I had started preparing some soft copy notes especially for parts like important statistics- GDP of the country, growth rate, how much is being spent on education, health, names of important committees etc. On whatever important current affairs were going on, I prepared very small, precise and crisp notes so that I could revise them quickly on the day of the Mains exam.

CSC: Was it subject-wise or paper-wise?

Anu: It was subject-wise; I had four word documents- GS-I, II, III, IV. For essay paper also I prepared soft copy notes, wherein I had jotted down and compiled the quotes by important persons and important current affairs that could be linked to multiple essay topics. Similarly, for my optional, in order to relate the optional with the current affairs, I had prepared a soft copy for that also.

CSC: Students usually face problem in Ethics, Paper IV. Which books have you referred and what was your strategy for preparation?

Anu: I believe people face problem in GS-IV because they tend to ignore it. People believe that it is an easy paper and they’ll be able to write it but I can tell you that I have devotedly prepared for GS-IV. I referred to the book named G. Subba Raofor Ethics paper and practiced a lot of answer writing, I compiled the quotes and important proverbs and referred to them multiple times; I precisely focused on the content written in the syllabus. I prepared definitions of every word written in the syllabus and studied all the dimensions related to the words.

CSC: Tell us something about the preparation of the essay paper.

Anu: Essay again is a very crucial part and does not have to be missed. I practiced a lot of essay writing. On almost all the weekends, I used to write one essay and used to get it evaluated by my friends, sometimes by my brother. A few months before the Prelims, I was not writing anything but overall I would have written around 12-15 essays and got them evaluated continuously.

CSC: What was your style of writing in the examination?

Anu: I come from a science background so I have a habit of writing in bullet format. Mostly it was in bullet format and I used to support that with a lot of diagrams and flowcharts.

CSC: How did you practice writing answers?

Anu: Generally, for most of the questions, I would want to follow the style of introduction, body and conclusion but due to paucity of time I had to skip it some of the question and had to come directly to the main point. So, out of 20 questions say in around 12-15 questions I would have followed that style and in the remaining 4—5 questions I would not have.

CSC: What was your optional? What was the basis of selecting it?

Anu: It was Sociology. I selected Sociology just by chance. I did not know about the subject but I was told that it has got a smaller syllabus and can be prepared pretty quickly. Other than that I relied on availability of the material, notes were available in the market and then I thought that it would help me in the preparation of topics in GS-I which were related to society etc. That is how I took it.

CSC: How did you prepare for the interview?

Anu: For interview preparation, I had some background. Because I have worked in the corporate sector for 9 years, there was no hesitation and I was confident enough to face the board. But, in order to have a feel of variety of questions, I attended many mock interviews. That helped me boost my confidence and to assess myself on how I perform under pressure. Many times, there used to be questions that I could not answer so I learnt how to calmly handle the situation and smilingly say “No, I don’t know the answer”.

CSC: Which was the board for your interview?

Anu: It was Smita Nagaraj Maam’s board.

CSC: Which type of questions were asked in your interview?

Anu: The questions were not specifically related to my optional or particularly to current affairs. There was a variety of questions and the questions were related to a lot of fields.

I was asked questions on PPP, standards of education in our country, narcotics problem in the country, why there is corruption in schools in India. There were quite a few questions on my career in insurance sector and health sector. Certain questions were asked on the latest budget, the kind of schemes that have been launched in the budget, were they good or not. Then there was a set of pretty interesting questions, for example one of the questions asked by one of the honorable member was- “There are pink pajamas flying over the Red Fort today. What do you understand by that?” Because my hobby is drawing and painting, the other question was- “It is hugely said that artists have a third eye. What do you mean by that and do you have a third eye?” So it was a mix of some interesting questions, current affairs, my background and issues in our surrounding.

CSC: Were you able to answer all the questions?

Anu: No, I was not able to answer three questions.

The first question that I was not able to answer was “Who is the Cabinet Minister from your college i.e. the Hindu college who has been recently appointed?”

The second question was “Since you travel from Delhi to Gurgaon by Metro, what is the difference that you have found at the ground level if you compare Delhi metro with Gurgaon metro?” But since I have not travelled in the Gurgaon metro, I could not answer this.

The third question was the interesting pink pajama question to which my answer was “It’s a very interesting question but I’m sorry I don’t know its answer.”

CSC: Were there any specific areas that they emphasized upon?

Anu: During the interview, I wouldn’t say that there was a particular theme to it. But as I had said earlier, there was an emphasis on my work profile and my background, the sectors that I have worked in.

CSC: Were there any questions that you had prepared for but weren’t asked during the interview?

Anu: Oh of course. I had prepared thousands of questions and there were thousands of questions which were not asked to me. I had memorized a lot of statistics, comparison between Indian and Chinese economy, India and American economy, what does the IMF says, what does the World Bank say and a lot of questions on Haryana because Haryana has a lot of controversial topics- khap panchhayats, issue of women in Haryana, for that matter patriarchy and reservation issues, the latest Ram Rahim case. So ya, I had prepared a lot of questions, especially I was expecting question on Haryana but there was none.

CSC: What is the importance of coaching in the preparation of the exam?

Anu: I would say that coaching is not extremely crucial for success in this exam. I had not taken any coaching for GS or my optional preparation. I had relied on self preparation. What I took help for was for answer writing. For my optional, I had joined Nice IAS Coaching Institute to practice answer writing. Other than that I did not rely on coaching. But yes, again for interview preparation, For interview preparation, I gave mock interviews at Samkalp, Vajirao & Reddy, Vajiram, Khan Study Group, Rau's etc. Individual guidancereceived here helped me improve my score.

CSC: What is the role of Civil Services Chronicle in your success?

Pratham Kaushik, the 5th rank holder has been able to make his family proud by fulfilling their overlong dream in his second attempt of the Civil Services Examination. Pratham has vehemently made his place for himself in the Indian Administrative Services and believes this will help him in fulfilling his generous and thoughtful vision of empowering people. Here are the excerpts from our conversation with Pratham Kaushik:

CSC: First of all, our heartiest congratulation to you from Civil Services Chronicle. How do you feel about achieving AIR 5 in the UPSC Examination?

Pratham:It’s a very pleasant feeling. I feel very good that I have been able to fulfill a dream that my family had dreamt long time ago.

CSC: What was your inspiration to become an IAS?

Pratham: I drew inspiration from my father, who is a Haryana Civil Services Officer. As a whole, I feel, as an IAS you are most equipped to empower people and I definitely believe in the approach that one does not feed fish to someone, instead you teach them how to fish. I feel, to empower people and to provide them with more opportunities, IAS is the best way to do it.

CSC: To whom do you give the credit for your success?

Pratham: The credit lies with all my friends and family, all the teachers who have been with me during this journey and all the well wishers; but specifically I wanted to be a role model for my little sister, which constantly motivated me; so I give credit to her that I could be an example for her.

CSC: It has been observed in the last few years that people who are graduating from technical backgrounds have been more successful in the examination. What are the possible reasons behind this?

Pratham: Actually, if you see, Civil Services is the most diverse pool of human resources that India has had earlier and now as well. You will see that students from different backgrounds, not only from engineering background, but also from medical, humanities, law background as well are becoming bureaucrats. People with technical background are getting slightly more success which might change in a few years. It is not a permanent trend. It will definitely change.

CSC: Students coming from these technical backgrounds take Humanities as their optional and they achieve success in the exam. What may be the reasons for this and do you think it is the right way?

Pratham: In my opinion, UPSC offers you an optional subject to check your attitude to study any subject in great detail. For example, even I took Geography as my optional and I have an engineering background, but I do not see any correlation here. There are many engineers, many of my friends as well, who have taken engineering as their optional subject and they are getting success too. It lies in the personal preference of the candidate.

CSC: What do you think is the criteria for choosing an optional?

Pratham: Geography, in my opinion, is an optional that helps you in General Studies as well and it is an ever-evolving optional because every day the human geography is changing. It is an interesting optional, that is why I took it.

CSC: Is there any correlation between one’s age and the preparation? When should one start preparing for the examination?

Pratham: I do not think that age is a factor in starting the preparation. The moment you feel that you want be an IAS or that you want to be a Civil Servant, you jump in right there.

CSC: When did you start your preparation?

Pratham: I started casually, during my college to look at the sources and newspapers but I started serious and regular preparation right after my college.

CSC: It is often seen nowadays that students who enter class XIIth are starting their preparation for three years. Do you think this trend is a good thing for them?

Pratham: Civil Services is not only about the knowledge that you’ve gained through your preparation, it is also about your personality and one’s personality is groomed right from their childhood. So, for students who are taking up coaching or who are taking specific subjects right after class XIIth, I think it is a bit too early; they should concentrate on their graduation subjects. During graduation or right after graduation, they should start preparing.

CSC: What was your strategy while preparing for the exam?

Pratham: The most important aspect of my strategy was to break the syllabus down in small parts because the syllabus is vast. Sometimes you get lost in there, so to streamline my preparation, I divided the syllabus into small parts and assigned a few days for each part and then started to prepare them and revise them.

CSC: Did you have a separate strategy for Prelims and Mains or is it possible to prepare for both simultaneously?

Pratham: Except for the month right before the Prelims, I think the preparation is collectively done because the syllabus is more or less overlapping, so except for some specific topics for Mains and the time right before the Prelims exams when you have to mug up certain things, the preparation is all inclusive.

CSC: What should one consider while selecting notes and books for preparation because it is often seen that there are a plethora of books and materials out there? So how should one go about it?

Pratham: There is a lot of guidance available. I looked for strategies adopted by the toppers earlier and through that you can very well analyze that which material is best for which topic because there is no material that is perfect for the whole syllabus. In fact, even in GS or in optional, you have to look for materials for that specific topic and you have to read it multiple times.

CSC: If you can delineate a strategy for preparation for the overall examination, what would it be?

Pratham: First of all, as I said earlier, you break the syllabus down to understand it better and so that the syllabus does not bug you down. The second thing is to gather few resources based on the advice by your seniors or by toppers, you look for the resources and find out the best resources and then you read it, re-read it and then revise it; reading one source multiple times helps. You can divide the syllabus on the basis of what is more important and what is less important, by looking at the previous year question papers. Things that are more important can be prepared in great detail and the rest of the topics can be just gone through quickly.

Beyond all these things, you need to have a very good opinion of yourself, good self confidence, and a belief that you will make it because eventually attitude and belief will take you through the examination.

CSC: In the Mains examination, one should follow an inter-disciplinary approach and the same is the case with the questions. So how can one develop the inter-disciplinary approach?

Pratham: My optional was Geography and it is an inter-disciplinary subject because it encompasses history, geopolitics, political sciences and society. So, because of the optional, an inter-disciplinary approach was developed automatically which helped me in GS as well.

CSC: Can essay be prepared with the help of essay specific classes just like GS?

Pratham: Essay is a written test of your personality, according to me, because at the Mains level you get to write your thoughts for three long hours on just two topics, so essay preparation lies with two aspects- one, your thought process, and other is the material and content that you have. The content can definitely be taken from the GS preparation and the thought process and the structuring of your essay needs to be practiced repeatedly. There is no such correlation between essay specific classes and the exam.

CSC: Ethics paper which is a very dynamic paper but over the years it has been noted that the questions are very easy but scoring marks has been difficult. Can you state why?

Pratham: In Ethics paper, you basically write what you think because time crunch is there and the paper is lengthy. The difference in marks is definitely because of two reasons- first, it is the solution that you think of the case study or problem that is given and secondly, the way you write it or your expression.

CSC: Did you find it necessary to study the whole syllabus as the whole syllabus of UPSC is vast? Is it necessary to cover the entire syllabus? Is it possible?

Pratham: That’s what I told you, that you divide the syllabus into different parts. You will see that some parts of the syllabus are very crucial and important and are repeated almost every year which should be prepared in detail. Among the rest of the topics, you can pick and choose. Definitely, you have to skip certain topics because either they are not very relevant as far as questions are concerned or they are too dynamic to be completely prepared.

CSC: Can you give some insights into how you prepared subject-wise for both GS and optional?

Pratham: Most of my preparation is based on the NCERT and core books; I have read NCERT books multiple times. For GS I, for example, History, Art & Culture, I prepared everything from the NCERT books. Geography was my optional so I didn’t need to prepare specifically for it.

For GS II- Polity and Governance, I relied on the current affairs and I tried to find out the reasons and need for certain government policies and their impact. For International Relations, I prepared certain bullet points on which international relations depend and vary; along these lines I wrote my answers in GS II.

For GS III, Agriculture and the Indian economy were covered in my optional; for the rest of it, I relied on the newspaper because GS II and GS III can comprehensively be covered with the help of newspapers. For Ethics, I did not read anything specifically. For Geography optional, there are specific books for different topics and along with the books, various materials from teachers are available in this field, they helped.

CSC: Have you taken any coaching classes?

Pratham: Yes, I joined coaching for my optional subject and test series. Coaching has been an important part of my preparation.

CSC: Thank you so much.