13 April 2012
12:17 AM
I had my civil service interview on 28th march forenoon session. I got up 6 in the morning, dressed
myself neatly in white shirt, dark blue trousers and blue tie. I arrived at upsc at 8 am. Then we were
escorted inside the premises, where we had our paper formalities. Finally i came across my fellow
competitors. Unfortunately all of them were highly qualified. Out of six , 3 were iitians, 1 was from
AIIMS, one was a lawyer and one was an IPS officer. Finally at 11 am our first candidate went. We came
to know that we would be interviewed by shashi tripathi's board. I was both happy and sad to hear this.
Happy coz shes cordial and sad bcoz she being an ifs would definitely grill me in foreign relations which
is my weak link.So we started revising our international relations.
I was the fourth to be interviewed. I was very nervous before interview and went to toilet about 6-7 times
in half an hour. Finally when i was called in i went inside and wished everyone. Shashi mam was very
cordial with a smiling face. She made me sit down comfortably.
Shashi mam: So u r nakul agrawal
me (with a smiling face)-yes mam
mam: and you did your Mtech in 2009.
me: yes mam, infact it was a dual degree course with both btech and mtech in 2009
she smiled. I smiled back
mam: So whre did you work
I explained about my organization.
She pointed to other member
M1- So nakul u wrote that u led a marathon event. Which all countries are leading in marathon?
Now frankly i did study my mains form but i never anticipated that question would go that way.
me: sorry sir, i have no idea.
he smiled
M1: so u wrote cricket. u play or watch cricket
me: i do both
M1: you play more or watch more
me: earlier it was more play but now i watch more
M1: so acc to you after so many match fixing scandals what is the reason for sudden turnaround of
pakistan team in this world cup?
me:( i was completely taken aback)- Sir, its more bcoz of leadership The captain afridi is currently
leading from the front, with spectaclular performance. This has lifted morale of team and motivated
them. more coaching and presence of umar gul has also lifted the spirits of the team.
M1: people say in india cricket has completely overshadowed other games? wats your view?
me: Sir to an extent i agree with your point but thats not completely true. Other games are also having
prominance. For example vishwanathan anand is currently indias number one chess player. Saina
nehwal recently won singapore open.So other games are also growing in india
M1: why you think china has witnessed spectacular turnaround in sports?
me: sir, recently china has seen a very high reduction in drug abuse cases, than india.
M1: but why so much turnround as compared to india?
me: Sir in india we are lacking infrastructure of sports at school and college level.China has better sports
infrastructure than india.
M1 didnt seem satisfied
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M1 didnt seem satisfied
M1: India is known as country of diseases? whats your view?
me: Sir india ranks second in HIV. We have high frequency of tuberculosis and polio.
M1: Do you know which country tops in diabetes?
me: Sir i am not sure but most probably its India.
M1: Its China.
Me: sorry sir, i wasnt sure. Although i still couldnt accept tht india is not number 1 but still i preferred
not to argue.
the baton shifted to member 2
M2:So u work in NCB. Do you know national buildings code?
me: No sir but i know that this code is mandatory to be followed while constructing buildings.But i dont
know specific provisions.
M2: Do you have any idea about cartelization of cement?
Me; Yes sir
M2: whats uur opinion
me: Sir i personally belive that although cartelization is there yet its more of a demand and supply. For
example a 50kg bag costing 220 rs is being sold at 180 during recession despite cartelization
M1: is cartelization an offence under law? if so which act?
me: yes sir it is offence under law but i dont know which act
he said competition act.
M2: if you become administrator,, what would you do?
me: I will introduce more players to bring more competition. CCI has been established to ensure that no
cartelization takes place and it should ensure that fair competition is induced
M2 smiled at my answer. He said that with coming up of foreign company lafarge, cartelization has
reduced. I nodded and smiled back
M2- tell me about india's nuclear programme??
Me- India believes in credible minimam deterrance and unilateral moratorium on profileration.We
follow principles of no first use policy and non use against non weapon states.
M2-So what acc to you was the turning point in india's nuclear policy?
me-1974 coz after this we were denied nuclear commerce
M2-what changes it brought?
me- It changed our nuclear policy to a 3 stage process where in first stage u use natural uranium, second
stage is of FBR and in third stage utilize our thorium reserves
Then he went deeper into the policy
M2- lets start with beginning.What was india's earlier plicy?
me-disarmament sir
M2- Then why did we change ?
me- m not sure but most possible reason could be war with china nad pak in 1962 and 1965
M2- So 1974 was the major turnaround?
me-yes sir after this event we were isolated from nuclear commerce.Earlier france was helping india in
nuclear energy but after 1974 it refused to cooperate
M2- was it only big event?
Here i realised tht m missing something which he is hinting
me- Sir one more major event was NPT. NPT had 1 jan 1967 as cut off date and didnt allow its signatories
to test nuclear bomb
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to test nuclear bomb
M2- So u support indias nuclear policy?
me-yes sir i do believe in unilateral moratorium. Inf act india recently presented a global roadmap in UN
where it asked nations to follow no first use, non use against non weapon states and ultimately final
destruction of weapons. I think its a right step in right direction
M2 seemed satisfied. Shashi maam was smiling as usual.
Then he suddenly asked out of a bloom.
M2:Which is your fav hindi poet or writer?
Now i was completely taken aback coz it was nowhere related to my biodata or mains form and it had
come out of nowhere.I knew i would be grilled deeper so became really confused whose name to say.
Many hindi nonsense names came to my mind but i still kept on thinking to find an easy one.Finally i
spoke
me: Sir munshi premchand
M2: which book u like most
me: Sir, nirmala
M2: what did you read in this book
me:This book depicts story of prejudices against women .It talks about story of women who had to marry
an old man just bcoz she couldnt afford dowry.Then i further illustrated the problems tht she had to
suffer.
M2: So u must have heard about dowry code? which provision talks about it ?
me: Sir, i dont specifically know about the provisions but dowry act states that within 7 years of marriage
dowry complaint is a criminal offence which is non bailable.Further here accused is considered guilty
until proved otherwise thus violating the cardinal principle
M2: So premchand is the best writer of hindi
I smiled and nodded
Baton shifted to M3
M3: Mr nakul how would you define BPL?
me: Sir acc to contitution......
he interupted "coonstitution"
me: sorry sir acc to planning commision , BPL is defined as affordability to buy 2400 cal for rrural areas
and 2100 for urban
M3: but these are vague.How would you actually measure BPL?
Now here i started feeling trapped and uncomfortable. I couldnt think of anything. So i said " i will use
tendulkar committees report:
Now he caught me deeper.
M3: ohk to what criteria does his report uses?
me: Sir it measures on basis of expenditure on essential items.
M3 interrupting: essential items is a vague term. In delhi car is an essential item .So how actually would
you measure this , if you become DM?
Now frankly i was gone completely blank.I found myself trapped and couldnt find any reply. I said i will
measure his affordability to buy 2400.............
he interrupted " if you dont know i will ask something else"
Me feeling dejected - Sorry sir i dont know how do they measure but if i am administrator i will try to
measure their affordability of basic goods.
He felt little disheartened with my answer. A smooth interview suddenly went bizarre. Oh why couldnt i
think of WB estimates, income criteria, ADB criteria. Why under pressure you forget such simple things.
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think of WB estimates, income criteria, ADB criteria. Why under pressure you forget such simple things.
Neways i again started getting nervous
M3: So you know about security bill.what is it?
now i was still carrying the hangover of last grilling. But i was relieved that topic changed. So i regain
myself. All my hand movts were gone and i was cracking in my voice.
me: Sir it provides 35 kg of rice and wheat at 3rs and 2 rs respectivelty
M3: what r its implementation issues?
me: Sir it would increase further burden on govt ranging about 60000 crores ruppees.Secondly the issue
is identification of beneficiaries.There is different figures of planning commision and state. while
planning comission states BPL at 28 %, the absolute BPL card are 60
million........errrrrrrrrrr.............sorry sir i am not sure of figure but almost double the planning
commisions estimate
M3: So how would you identify?
me: sir UID is a good measure. By UID its easier to identify the beneficiaries.Furthermore govt has
launched land modernization programme which will further help in identification
M3: land records r there with govt.This prog only systematizes it
me- with a smile-ok sir
I was in no mood to argue. That guy had really placed me in stress and i didnt want to argue and
suddenly let everythng turn against me.SO i smiled dumbly and preffered keeping quiet.
M3: why schemes are failing at grassroot level?
Now this was a welcome lollypop after so many bouncers. My confidence regained and i pounced back
into the interview
me: Sir there r 2 main reasons.First is lack of grievance redressal mechanism for the people. In this
regard RTI has emerged as a powerful grievance redressal tool and this has led to reduction in
corruption and many frauds coming to limelight. Second is the social audit mechanism , which is a
powerful tool has still not been implemented in most of the states.
M3:So which are the probable reasons for inefficiency,
a) govt not sincere
b) govt not having enough money
c) some blah blah
d) corruption and lack of implementation of schemes
this ques was very long and he tool abt 30 secs to answer it.Personally speaking i felt very bored in
listening the ques and had a gr8 urge in interrupting and bursting my gud ideas. But i realised the trap
and kept on listening. Maybe hes testing my patience.
So after he finished his ques i spoke after ages
me- Sir as per my opinion the option d appears to be the most plausible reason.
He seemed completely satisfied and me too
Now the focus shifted to chairman who was smiling all along
And then came the bouncer of the century
maam: So nakul u talked about dowry. Its a popular phrase that 'charity begins at home' ....how would
you apply this phrase in women's emancipation?
Now I was completely taken aback. I turned pale.Nothing struck my mind.What nonsense ques was that
yaar. All i could say was
me( with a dumb face)-pardon maam
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I thought she will clarify more but unfortunately she was smart enough she just repeated her ques
without clarifying anything.
me ( again dumb struck)- by emancipation you mean enpowernment?
this was to show that i wasant dumb and actually couldnt understand the english word. I had understood
but i needed time as i was not able to think of anything.
She nodded and said yes
and then i started farting- Maam charity begins at home ............errrrrrrrrr.......
......it talks about predujices faced by girls and discrimination of girls at homes. Moreover many times
they are not sent to schools.So parents should send their girls to school so that they can have meaningful
skill devt which will provide them good job and ultimately enpowernment.. It will also aware them about
their rights and laws and prevent crimes against them.
I again went blank.I realised i was farting so suddenly stopped and started thinking of other points.
Maam smiled, probably she could read my dumb face. and then i farted again.
me- SHG'S also
She smiled and said 'SHG's'
I smiled coz i realised it was stupid point. I said
me-maam education is one of gud charities.Women would come to know about various laws like
domestic violence, dowry codes etc.
Chairman was smiling all way.I guess she caught my dumbness.
Finally she said " ya and many families give less food to their girl child, so they should feed their girl
child"
I smiled but at heart i was abusing myself.What dumbo i am.How could i say SHG....and that too......to
chairman..............
she said you can go
I wished all of them and made my way out.
My first impressionis that my interview is average with messing up of BPL concept, sports and finally
chairmans question also. I was angry with myself.HOpefully i get good marks.
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