Swarochish Somavamshi (2011 49th Ranker)
**Entering The Dragon-1 : My First ‘IAS’ Interview**
• Date- 06 April 2010
• Session- Afternoon
• Attire- Bluish White Shirt, Blue tie, Black Trousers, Black Shoes, Hanuman Chalisa in my Shirts’ pocket.
• Chairman- Lt Gen Nirbhay Sharma’s Board.
• Nervous-ometer Reading- Volcanic!
I think I was the third to be interviewed in the session.
The headline that day was of brutal killing of 76 CRPF jawans by Maoists.
A peon came to us and said- “Nirbhay Sharma ka board hai”. I was feeling more sorry for the 77th one, who was going to be shot badly by The General in next Half an hour!
Before me, there was a beautiful and confident lady in White Suit, Ms Gunjan Varshney. She was inside the chamber and I was waiting outside. The peon was literally laughing at me seeing me reading Hanuman Chalisa. I gave a damn. Stakes were high so I chose Hanuman ji instead of ‘Lok Laaj’.
Suddenly Gunjan ji came out. Her face was more of red by then.
I asked- kya hua??
Gunjan ji- accha hua… cool kar de rahe hain wo log.. don’t worry…and she walked away.
(I murmered, cool kar de rahe hain tab aapki yeh haalat hai!! Hum to gaye…)
Then they called the peon and I was ready to go.
Peon- chaliye, aapka number hai…
(still staring at my Hanuman Chalisa which was in my pocket by now)
I entered the room/ hall. Abruptly 10 eyes were on me. Already so nervous. I wished Good Morning Sirs, Good Morning Maam. Then and there, I realized that it was an AFTERNOON. They smiled and wished me back.
Chairman- sit down Mr. Swa… Swa… Mr. Somavanshi.
I – Thank you Sir.
Chairman- How do you pronounce it?
I – its Swa-ro-chish, Sir.
Chairman- Hmmm… Swa-ro-chish… Whats your date of birth?
I – its 24th Dec 1984, Sir.
Chairman- Can you recall any major event or anything comes to your mind regarding the year 1984?
I – Sir Mrs Gandhi was assassinated that year.
Chairman- Who did that?
I – Her bodyguards.
Chairman- why so?
I – Sir they were against the bold steps taken by the PM during Operation Blue Star.
Chairman- what was the Operation about?
(I explained the separatist Khalistaan issue to the best of my knowledge and Operation Blue Star.)
Chairman- Who was the leader demanding separate Khalistan?
I – Sir It was some Bhindrewala….(a fter thinking for some time). Sir it was Jarnail Singh Bhindrewala.
Chairman looked towards his left sitting member-1 to ask the questiontion now. He, M1, in turn looked towards his left and kept silent. The ball was on M2s court now.
M2- What do u know about Green Revolution? What is its success story.
(sigh of relief, I knew the answer and explained it to him well)
M2- What are the drawbacks, side effects of Green Revolution?
(I explained it as multidimensiona l disparity viz inter-crop, inter-personal and inter-regional and elaborated well)
M2- what are ur suggestions regarding it and Whats being done by the govt?
(Apart from private sectors role in it I emphasized on the need to Extend Green Revoluton to Eastern India, and added that so much amount of money (100 crore I think) was allocated by the govt in recent budget. A nice elaboration here also. By the time I was feeling comfortable and confident.)
M2- very good Mr Somavanshi!
( Yesss!! An invisible pumping fist was there by me. My smile was back :)
I was the happiest soul on planet earth! Thank you M2 Sir )
M2- tell me something about Panchayti Raj System. Is it working well?
(I knew the answer, explained the three tier structure. I agreed that it needed some reforms, suggested the steps to be taken on the base of broader contours of Funds, Functions and Functionaries)
M2- Good.
(I was happy.Now he saw M3, who was till then enjoying his tea. M3 stats now)
M3- So, you did your B. Tech from Kanpur? Which river flows through the city?
I – Sir its Ganga river.
M3- Its so polluted huh! Tell me three major problems of Kanpur?
I – Sir firstly, its pollution obviously, secondly, lack of adequate infrastructure… … and thirdly de-industrializ ation.
M3- how can this be possible? Pollution and de-industrialis ation simultaneously? ?
I – Sir actually pollution is due to huge number of diesel auto rickshaws and old machineries based on obsolete technologies and tanneries… Sir….as I said earlier there is a lack of infrastructure…
M3- ok, ok.. what was your project during graduation?
I – Sir it’s an advance software on Library Management System.
M3- What was its need? Even a simple register of a librarian can do…. So why to do it on computers, where did you used it?
I – Sir our college has its hostels in two different locations we call it East campus and West Campus. West one is around 6 kms away from the Central library (correct me about the data plz ;). So it was very helpful for those inmates who were in West campus to ascertain the actual real time status of books, without physically going there…
(M3 was not satisfied. Kept on looking his cup of tea. I peeped into Chairman’s eyes. He was typing something in his laptop. M4 was a lady. She was silent and indifferent. M1 was very keenly observing me, dead silently though. M2 was smiling again. Thanks M2 Sir again. It all happened in a blink and suddenly M3 was back to UPSC personality test hall.)
M3- How would you use your knowledge of computer science in administration?
(This questiontion was asked this time also and I was better prepared this time. Then I replied like it was always easy for me to adapt to any technology. Use of E Governance, Biometrics, Smart card in Cash Transfers and some innovations I could very well do, eg- LOKVANI- online grievance redressal systems, Mr Amod Kumar,IAS, a B Tech has started in Sitapur Distt of UP)
(M3 was not satisfied or he chose to remain dissatisfied, I don’t know. For Some or the other reason I was feeling nervous and trying to be looked as smiling. He passed the baton to the lady member M4)
M4- Swarochish, Name five Prime Ministrs of India till now and what are their achievements ACCORDING TO YOU.
(She emphasized on ACCORDING TO YOU)
(I want to give due credit to her as she called my name correctly)
I – started with the first one and explained in detail. Giving the points in brief.
1st Pt Nehru- Industrial n scientific foundation of the country. ISRO, BARC , Nehru- Mahalanobis Model of economy etc.
2nd Shastri ji- Leading the Nation in crisis, ie war of 1965.
3rd Mrs Gandhi- Imparting ‘Pragmatism’ to our hitherto ‘Idealistic’ Foreign Policy eg- Indo Soviet Friendship Treaty of 1971. Her initiative for environment.
(chairman interrupted and asked what was about the war India fought during her time. By that he reminded me that he was still an army-man by heart and surprisingly all the wars were going to be discussed there.
I replied and elaborated 1971 Pak war and liberation of Bangladesh. Chairman was busy in his laptop and in between kept on looking in my eyes and I, as far as I remember, never failed to make a perfect eye contact.)
4th Mr. Rajiv Gandhi- Limited Liberalisation, Modernization, Telecommunicati on Revolution, Initiative to revive PRIs etc.
5th Dr Manmohan Singh - 1991 Economic Reforms, RTI, NREGS and ongoing emphasis on Administrative Reforms.
(I consciously named him as he was the man who had appointed these 5 Wise Men Of The East!
Till then no CWG, no 2G, no Chidambaram vs Mukherjee, so meri marzee :), I mean no fear of corruption related questiontions )
M4- Have you ever been to rural areas?
I – obviously maam.
M4- tell me the specific problems of Rural Women, as YOU SEE IT.
(I sensed the emphasis again)
I started with poor literacy and health condition then said that they were poorest among the poor as their little role in Decision Making in home even if they earned. As they had to submit it for the larger interest of the family which is invariably decided by the head of the family, again invariably the male counterpart.
So the patriarchal-sem i-feudal-social -fabric is the chief concern. I also added the problem of Social Mobility is greater compared to male counterpart…. And I kept on speaking… till she stopped me.
(Remember, this is your area! these are the questiontions which are going to fetch you marks, so don’t miss them. Keep on speaking, make your point very clear. Its always a test of your Emotion Quotient, so express yourself fully in EQ Questiontions, as I call them. Earlier Other EQ Question were Green Revolution’s side effects and suggestions, Panchayti Raj etc. identify them and explain in detail.
They want to listen all the good things with a conviction in your eyes )
M4- good!
(she smiled and looked to be the most beautiful women I had ever seen, I reciprocated)
Now she passed it to the Chairman.
Chairman- So Mr Swa-ro-chish! tell me something about Look East Policy?
(I explained well, he was indifferent as always)
Chairman- what do you know about Myanmar? Anything about it, area, population anything…
I – Sir I don’t know about area or population of Myanmar. I know that there was a military coup in 1962 and since then Military Junta is in power. Ms Suu Kye had been detained long back and democracy is still suffering. In the name of idealism, we maintained a distance with them whose advantage was well taken by China. Now we are Pursuing our Look East Policy and economic engagements to better the relations and to facilitate smoother transition to a democratic Myanmar…..in the impending elections, Sir…
Chairman- ok ok Swa-ro-chish.. (indifferently)
He once again asked to M1 to ask something. M1 refused again.
Chairman-Thank you Swarochish.
Now he was showing that he was comfortable with my name And he smiled. I too smiled. Looked at everyone especially M3. He also smiled thinly, shyly, half heartedly...
I – thank you Sir.
(To the Chairman, because now he was going to give me marks, then I briskly walked out of the room. I felt it was too short. But it was not so… time just flew by. Interview lasted for 30-35 mins. I recalled Einstien Chachaa Jaan for his Theory of Relativity.
I was completely calm by then but my face appeared to be red to the candidate waiting for my exit)
He asked- kya hua??
I - accha hua… cool kar de rahe hain wo log.. don’t worry…
and I walked away.
Marks awarded- 180/ 300 :)
PS: I have lost the page where I wrote all the questions that day. I may have missed some tail questions, still I have tried my best to recollect. Will update if I remember anything else.
I have tried to describe the “Mental Game”, played that day as I feel its far more important to describe candidate’s actual mental condition apart from the questions asked. Personality Test is not a question answer session/ cross examination, and that was the core assumption I made while choosing the writing style here.
About the title- The dragon, the only mythical creature among the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, is regarded as a symbol of might and intelligence. In ancient China, the dragon was associated with the emperor.
Boys born in the year of the dragon, especially, are said to be destined to be successful and wealthy. So was I desired to get a birth in the Prestigious Civil Services of India.
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