My UPSC Interview

UPDATE : Results are out and I got 277 Rank. This interview was awarded 216 marks. Too bad My score in mains was low 959.. Total is 1175.

I have quickly jotted down the interview before it fades out of my memory.I attended UPSC Civil Services Interview on 28^th Morning session.

Board was headed by UPSC Members Madam Sri. Shashi Uban Tripathi . Board was very cordial and pleasant. It is a life time experience. I was the fifth candidate in the session and it started on 1:00 PM and lasted till 1:30 PM.

CH: Good Morning.. What should i call you as? Is Saikrishna OK?

me: Yes maam. with a smile.

C: Tell me , What are you doing now?

me : I am working as a software engineer.

C: Where ?

me: in ________Inc. Hyderabad.

C: No, I am asking about the firm that you were working for from Feb  2007 to May 2008.

me:  Madam, Firm name is _______ and I was the first employee in the firm. I was also a part of the founding team and we developed a technology which matches the resumes of employment seekers and classifies them in to various sectors and link them to recruiters in the specific domain and charge a fee for every successful job.

C: What sectors were you working on?

me: Mostly in business related sectors such as Investment Banking, Insurance and so on..

C: Which levels ?

me: Madam, We were working at middle and upper levels.

C: So you were a head hunters?

me: No madam.. we help the recuiters to find the right candidate.( Other members have understood it and explains it further to her)

C: Ok, Tell me about your current firm? When did you join?

me : Madam, I have joined 15 days back.  It is an oil trading platform, I would be working in customising the application to suite clients like Gavilon.

C: Good.

C: What is corporate Social responsibility?

me: Madam, Corporate firms use several public resources like land, water and other things.. so they should be paying back something especially to the community in which their operations are held.

C: (Prompting) What % should it be? 2%??

me: madam, it depends on the sector in which the firm is  .. for example leather manufacturing firm pollutes water and air and thus should pay more than ….

C: ok, Do you know that warren buffet is in town in regards to Philanthropy. What do you think?

me: Madam, His view is that of Individualistic philanthropy like now those with lot of money we should think about giving it back. He met with lot Indian billionaires and some have pledged money. But i think he was not very happy with response.

C: Smiled and looked at m1

M1: madam, can i take it from here on..

C: Ok. Please.

M1: (Starts off with a long sentences..I could not comprehend..But in the last line he asked a question).. Private philanthropy is behind the research and development activities in the universities in USA most of the Top univs have grants ..  why do not we see the same in India?

C: Yes Most of the Yale Universities have large grants.

me : Took a pause and Sir, Probably the during the evolution of those universities, the philanthropists were owning large manufacturing corporations and they funded R&D in the universities and slowly it developed into a philanthropy. In india our economy is driven by services and manufacturing sector which depends on technology imported and so we have not seen such a relationship. But the trend seems to be changing now..

M1: Ok, There is an Act of Government which was behind such development in US and we had a similar Act and we repealed it at a later stage? Do you know What it is?

me: I Beg your pardon sir.. [Not sure what Act means.. is it parliament act or activity of government]

M1: I am referring to Act of Government.

me : I am not aware of it sir.

M1 : Goes on to say, Estate duties were 60% in america on inheritance so the rich preferred to donate than pass money to government… Everybody listens attentively including Chairman.. M1 is impressed with his answer and looks at me.

me: Thank you sir.

M1 :  Ok.. Recently one country head visited India and he said that you have software and we have hardware together we can rule the world. Do you know who he is?

me: Sir, As far as i am aware of it was said by South korean president on Republic day visit and it was also the President of China.

M1: Correct, It is President of China. We had technical supremacy in 1960s in Hardware but we lost it. Can you tell us why?

me: Sir, It was because of our economic policies sir. We pursued import substitution and eventually got isolated from the technological developments.

M1: How did others move forward then?

me:  Others realised by 1970s that they need to change and did so by importing technology or reverse engineering.

M1: Do you think that our leaders lacked vision?

me : No sir, But by that time this became an ideological issue and socialism was considered holy. So they were gradually started bringing in changes which led to structural reforms at a later date.

M1: so is it only an issue related to IT sector?

me : Sir, It was the result of broader policies out of which IT sector was a specific case. M1 looked pleased and looked at M2.

M2: What do you know about Pakistani economy?

me : Pause.. Sir, It is largely an agrarian economy with few landlords holding huge amounts of land and a small middle class and large number of labourers who are poor. M1 Interrupts..

M1: Pakistan is falling apart what should we be doing? …

me: Pause.. Sir, we want  strong neighbours and we should do everything to keep our neighbours stable.

C: You mean directly or help the government?

me: Help the government madam.

M1: In the economic context our neighbours are benefiting from our growth why not pakistan benefiting ?

C: You can see a case of Bangaldesh how they have benefited from our concessions.

me : Yes, Madam. But our relationship with Pakistan little more complicated. First we must let the tempers cool a bit.  If i remember correctly. two billion dollars worth trade happens between India and Pakistan via Singapore. We are doing by encouraging cross border trade and two days back government relaxed visa restrictions..

M1: (happy but wants to poke more.. goes back) But why don’t you want to split pakistan?

me : ( I do not want repeat what i have said earlier) It is our government policy to seek strong neighbours.

M1: Why do you say that? Indiragandhi has split Pakistan into bangladesh (and looks at me).

C: Smiling and looking at me..

me: Sir, We did not split pakistan and east pakistan people wanted support and we helped them.

M1: (smiles and says) thats a diplomatic answer and looks at me and (C)madam who is also smiling.

me: smilingly, I understand sir. But, Times have since changed.

M1: (Passes the buck to M2)

M2: What do you understand my Computer Vision Problems?

me: ( I was thinking about Vision 2020 types..but wanted to be sure.. so paused..and looked at him)

M2: (seems to have understood the dilemma) I mean health related problems you see…?

me: sir, There is an issue of losing eye sight and also backbone problems and also due to lack of exercise becoming fat and eventually diseases like Diabetics..so on..

M2: Ok, What do you know about  test tube baby?

me: It is an artificial method to produce zygote by taking a sperm and ovum and fertilizing it in a testtube and placing zygote back into mothers womb. Sir, Recently, Robert chambers got Noble prize for this amazing technology.

M2: Good.

C: (Shows hand towards M3)

M3: (Starts off with a very long sentence… ) I forgot what he said in the beginning when he came to end. But it was about technology and society impact

me : pause..

M3: ( seems to have understood it .. instantly.) Is telephone a boon or bane to society?

me: pause.. Technology perse is not a boon or bane it depends on how we use it. It has both advantages and disadvantages.

M3: (looks interested) Tell me about advantages?

me: First, Most important advantage is connectivity. Not just technical sir. but also people are more connected to others and are also more aware of information that affects their lives. It has a transforming experience on social spaces.

Economically, It has reduced wastage of time in travelling and also improve the productivity through easy sharing of information….(interrupts)

M3: What about adverse affects?

me: this connectivity also has some problems sir.. according to post modern theorists..this continuous connectivity with friends leads to social saturation and eventually leads to frustration and psychological effects.

M3: Ok, Suppose you are writing a letter to CM asking him to take action on adverse effects of mobile phones. What will you write?

me: Pause..

M3: Like banning mobiles when driving..

me: But Sir, I was thinking what can CM do about them?

M3: Smiles.. he will issue orders banning them..

me: Ok sir. Then people operating complex machinery should also be banned from using mobiles. It can lead to industrial accidents.. any activity which needs concentration should restrict mobile phones usage.

M3 : About school children..

me : yes sir, We should restrict use of mobile phones in schools…but i am not sure about the age limit i would prescribe.

M3: (looked satisfied) Ok.

M4: So, you are from IIT Guwahati.

me: Smiling, Yes sir.

M4: Do you know a famous literature from Assam?

me: Sir, Are you talking about Sri Sankaradeva?

M4: Nods head.

me: Sir, We had a satra near our IIT campus and we travelled to it and it was a great experience visiting it.

M4: (looked happy) Did you read his ramayana?

me: As far as i am aware of, He did not write Ramayana though he was a vaishnavite saint.

M4: smiles.. Ok.. tell me ..what is at the root of major problems affecting North east?

me: Geographical remoteness is the main problem and it led to under development. Becuase..pause.. as far as i have seen..north east indian societies have strong communal ties and have tribal loyalties.. especially in areas surrounding assam…every assertion of issue of identity becomes a secession issue also because north east’s sharing long borders with other countries..The whole issue  becomes a complicated issue and [stop]…

M1: Suddenly, says.. you said identity ..there is a famous book written by a famous indian with identity in the title..do you know?

me: Yes sir, Identity& Conflict by Amartyasen.

M4: (Listens attentively) Don’t you think that corruption is a big problem in NE?

me: ( immediately with higher pitch and emphasis and with lot of conviction) Yes sir, Corruption is a very big problem in North east.

M4: So, If you were to be posted to North east what will you do to fix corruption ?

me: Pause..turned my head and looked at madam and turned to him.

me : Sir, In general there is a gap between government and people.. this is particularly an issue according to me in NE. I would be a proactive administrator and put every effort to bridge the gap by leading with example and encouraging people to participate and supervise governance…

M4: Let us say that your subordinates are local assamese and they say that you are not from Assam what would be your response?

me: pause.. I would tell them patiently that yes..I am not an assamese by birth but by heart because i have its best interests in my…

M4: (Looks very happy..) says fine..

M4: You said correctly that assamese society is based on communal ties.. if they organise into communities?

me: Sir, As long as their communities are not a threat to integrity of nation and does not give rise to conflict. I have no problems with it.

M1: Let me start of a new discussion.. Do you think that by fixing corruption can we remove poverty in india?

me: Looked at him and said.. sir, Corruption is a problem of human nature and though we limit it poverty is also a relative phenomena.. we cannot eliminate it.. What we should be more worried about is is the poverty happy poverty or angry poverty.

M3: Good. He is taking discussion to a new level.

C: ( looks pleased and smiling) What is happy poverty?

me: Madam, My grandfather is an example of happy poverty. He was poor but he was happy and wanted to lead a simple life.

C: Good. Your hobby is mentoring.. tell us about it?

me: Pause.. madam.. can i request for two minutes to set the context?

C: Looks at watch which is above my head and behind me and says ..take one minute..

me: Thanks madam..pause.. After my tenth standard I had no guidance and faced confusion about what to do next.. in general also and had to learn by making mistakes….

C:(interrupts) yes, thats a good thing and so you want to mentor others.whom do you mentor..

me: Yes mam. Most of the times they are people whom i met via friends and their younger brothers and sometimes people whom i met in trians also..

C: (interrupts) So is it on adhoc basis or you regularly stay in touch with them via phone calls and so on..

me:Yes mam.. I regularly interact wiith them.

C: Tell me about your strengths as a mentor?

me: Takes a long pause and answers with a hesitation.. I learn from mistakes.

C: It is a good thing to learn from mistakes… seems she is hell bent on listening till the end.

me: Madam, Most of the times when mentees come they are perplexed and want some instructions and I give them and this helps them in feeling that they are in control and later they open up and I listen to their problems and advice them accordingly. I also have a large network of friends across various disciplines and connect them to mentees…

C: hmm.. good. (Cunning smile now.. ) What are your weaknesses?

me:  Pause ….( She asked with her eyes..answer it ..:) )

me: Madam, I have recently started reading Patanjali’s Yoga sutras and have understood that my personality is a combination of Rajasic and Sattvic nature…

C: ( Quickly asks..) Sattvic means weakness isn’t it?

me: No madam..Sattvic means right amount of action with right efforts..

C: Ok.. tell me about your weaknesses.

me: Madam.. I have all the weaknesses that come with Rajasic…like passion, aggression.. but, now that I know them I am trying to take care of them.

C: Smilingly.. Thank you Saikrishna.. You can leave now.

me: (gets up.. thanks madam.. walk confidently out.. )

Hoping that this would fetch me enough marks to make it to the List. Anything is Possible with UPSC