My interview for civil services 2009

After getting a few requests, ive decided to post my interview in as much detail as possible

My interview was on 29th March,and finally i scored 230/300,under Prof Purushottam Agarwals Board


I was the 3rd to be interviewed in my board


But before i post id like to add some miscleneous information

1st-i dint do any coaching or take any mocks so please dont be misguided by any claims contrary to this
i recommend the same to all other candidates,all these institutes cannot change ur personality,instead they make u more rigid(i found out the hard way in 2006 when i enrolled in a "reputed" delhi institute n wasted time which dint leave me time for self study,n finally ended up with 120 as id become defensive n "diplomatic" which simply wasnt me)


2nd-Id opted Ips,ifs,ias,irts,customs,Danips,Pondicherry police,Irs it,IIs,Ipos etc in this order,im adding this to explain the nature of questions i was faced with

3rd-This was my 4th attempt,and im a simple BA graduate from Lucknow univ with no job experience or professional qualification

4th i lived for 12 years in northeast,moving continuosly as my father was posted in the army so never had a steady location for over a year






and now my interview transcript






i was dressed in a white shirt,grey trousers,black shoes,black belt,red tie,my interview was on morning session,aprox 11 am time

(please note my interview was rapid fire,i was never given any time to pasue while asnwering if i pused cm wld change question)

i knocked and asked for permission to enter


Prof agarwal chairman(cm)
-Come in

(I enter and wish the lady 1st followed by cm n other members)

Cm-sit down

me-thank u sir,(sat down)

CM-Arjun,when did u finish ur graduation
me-2004 sir

cm-here uve written 2001,u lied on ur form?

Me sir i enrolled in 2001,it finsihed in 2004(unperturbed)

cm-ok so the session was 2001-2004

me-yes Sir

CM-ok arjun,tell me u studied in City montessory school
me-Yes sir,i did my 11th n 12th there

cm-what does montessory system of education mean
me-(now id read this very long ago,my school never harped on it,we were more concerned with world pearliament,peace etc)Sorry sir but im not sure

CM-ur not sure?what kind of person are u.its natural to be curious about what school ur in,n u dont know montessory system?this shows u have no natural interest or curiousity about ur school,now i can see u were in KV in in 10th n other schools,every one knows what KV system is,montessory or any other system so popular everywhere,after a person etc etc.....

im asking u again,what is montessory system of education

Me-sorry sir,but im not sure so i cannot answer

Cm- if ur not sure then forget it

Cm-ok,tell me something,u mentioned reading as ur hobby what do u read
me-sir mostly fiction

cm-k name ur last read book

me-Kaoboys of raw by Raman

cm-no only fiction(with index finger pointed upwards)

me-sir last book in fiction i read was Funny Boy
cm-k name other books
me-started naming some(sadly i hadnt reasd many as was busy for 2 months in hopsital taking care of my father who recovered from ketone urosis and later my grandfather whod passed away 2 weeks before my interview) came to sea of poppies

cm-ah yes sea of popies
tell me arjun which book won booker that year
me-i cant recall it currently sir(paused as i was trying to recall it)
(Immediately)
cm-white tiger
me-yes sir i remember now,i read it as well

ok tell me why white tiger won n not sea of poppies
me-sir i read both n found white tiger more enjoyable(before i cld finish my sentence)

cm-that doesnt mean it shd win the booker,then any pulp fiction thriller wld deserve bookertell me as a reader what do u think made the jury give the prize(before i can answer again question changed) dont u think jury liked india being portrayed as a poor counrty by the author who knows they love to see us painted like that n created a fake story etc etc etc
me-lot of incidents made me notice things around me sir,like the case where the person had to lie about his caste to get a job,how he cdnt complete school because of poverty

cm-(interrupted)dont i think he jury went by al that etc etc
me-its possible(i dint wana argue)




cm- hahaha ur just agreeing to everything im saying,so what if one incident hapend such as those mentioned there which might be real aroudn us doesnt reflect us
me-sir not even a single incident must happen


cm-(changed question)ok arjun,tell me are we a gender sensitive society
me-sir,do i think we r gender sensitive as a s society?No

cm-(sudenly looks up)
me-we still have a lot of male domination sir

cm-ok tell me how has our foreign polciy changed
me-sir we went from nam to pro ussr to pro west(before i can complete)

cm-dont u think its a mistake,usa abandons everyone when it has no use for them,do u know what their foreign secretary said on her pakistans visit?pakistans problems are Usas problems,what do u think of that,here we r trying to please usa n they r geting closer to pak
me-sir if we dont maintain good relations theyl get closer,but mainly we must maintain good relations primarily for our national interest

cm-do u know headlyes case?
me-yes sir

cm do u think usa wil give us acess to headely they have so many double standards
me-sir i bleive they will

cm-what makes u say that?even our own foreign minister not that optimist (everyone laughs)
me-sir they will because hes bound by his agreement(interrupted)

cm-dont tell me about law agreements etc usa famous for using that only when it suits them,do u know why im saying we wont be given access to headely?
me-sir yes,because hes believed to be a cia double agent

cm then what makes u think theyl give us access


cm tell me again do u think we'll be given access
me-yes sir i belive we will

cm laughs haha ur so optimistic (everyone laughs at me)
me sir wel get acess because his pardon is subject to cooperating fully with international authorities on al charges leveled against him

cm-define indias national interest
me-sir our economy and national security

cm-national security,ok tell me what r the threats to our security in our neighboruing countries

me-sir certain elements n groups(before i can finish)


cm-no tel me countries names,im not interesetd in elements etc
me-sir pakistan and quite possible china in the future

cm-ok do u know hwat a khap panchayat is?recently u mustve read about them,(i nod in the affirmative) tell me ur posted as a DM and get to know a panchayat is about to humilate,no, about to exectue a couple for marrying within gotra what do u do??

(now i was puzzled,why wld i end up as a DM when i opted for ips?answered anyway)

me-sir il immediately arrive and extract the couple to safety

cm-how

me-sir with whatever manpower i have ill rescue them

cm-how? they wont let u
me- il order a lathi charge if i have to

cm-that wont work then?
me-il order fire
(before i can complete)
cm-haha ul fire at a crowd
me-sir il fire in the air

cm-hahaa they wont get intimated then?
me-sir il fire at the crowd
(again before i can complete)

cm-ul kill people?
me-sir il fire below the knees

cm-hahaha,waht if ur ocnstable dont go by the book(looks at member 4 who i think was from ips) ul kill so many to save so few, so many inconcent people will die etc etc

cm-acha tell me this,do u know ur cm etc have strong political base in khaps,ul get transfered suspended,bad acr etc etc whatll u do now wil u still put so many at risk for 2 people?
me-sir consequences r irrelevant,they can do what they like with me,i must protect the couple come what may,their lives r all that matters to me,i must do my duty!


(cm nods to m2 to ask questions)
m2-ok tell me what do u know about cash reserve ratio n statutory liquidity ratio
me-i defined it

m2-what is reverse repo n repo
me-defined it too

m2 what wil hapen if reverse repo increased explain the mechanism how liquidity will be affected
me-sir ive been out of touch with eco for a while,i cant answer it accurately

m2-what subjects have u been in touch with?
me-sir psy n pub ad for last 5 years

cm interrupts-5 years?
me-sir yes,ive been preparing for civils exclusively since i completed grads

cm nods at m2

m2-ok explain what is e gov
me- i explain

m2-tell me how e gov can help
me-explain how it brings trasperancy accountabilty official access right from home etc

m2- how have u as a citizen used e gov?
me-sir i used internet to pay utility bills,book rail tickets etc,curently all departmentalised but soon shd be a common window

m2-explain how u can use it as an administrator
me-sir i can use it to have paperless filework,quicker acess,allows me to put up informationf or citizen to acess with ease,can follow up on feedback n complaints etc etc

m2-which states have implemented egov sucessfully?
me-sir i know Andhra Pradesh has,but im not certain about all the states

m2-ok tell me why do u think so much money has been invested fro budgetary alocation on egob projects
me-start telling problems with infrastructure technology availability etc

m2 no dont tel me problems tell me why?
me-sir if ur asking my personal opinion its because it will bring transperancy n cut down on misallocation of money and corruption,but thats my personal opinion

m2 looks at cm-no more questions

m3-arjun how do u think psy n pub ad wil help u as an ias officer
me(k i was getng miffed they dint even see my service preferences) sir,ive opted for ips,so i cna use psy in criminal behaviour,personality type,to motivate my men,to improve social cooperation with public etc,cna use pub ad principles of management to beter manage my men(suddenly cm started checking my biodata to see my service n cadre choices)

m3-ok uve traveled a lot,so tell me how ull adjust in so many cultrural scenarios?
me-sir i just need to use the constition,its preamble and what it stands for as my guide,i can adjust anywhere

m3 looks at cm,no more questions


m4(lady)
arjun u were in northeast?
me-yes maam i was in northeast from aproximately class 3-10

m3-what problems did u find there?
me-maam firstly i found lot of insurgency,and to some extent distrust,but the people r not to blame,we call them northeast so end up geting called outsiders,till we learn to remeber we r all indians cant expect them or any1 else to treat us any different,when id first gone there i was abused,called names,outsider this n that,was bullied and even beaten up after getting ganged on in school,but after a while when we got to know each other found none of us different,made a lot of friends,still have them,and was accepted by them,its a lovely place,like a home to me,We must learn to treat each other equally instead of referring to each other as north east south north etc


problem isnt that insurgency exists because of people,often people have no choice as if they dont provide support they end up geting killed,security isnt always there to protect them

we must learn to treat citizens as citizens,and then isolate n exterminate the insugrency by deploying better security

m3-what do u think is needed for ne?
me-employment,beter social interaction,as personal experience showed me nothing better than meeting each other to resolve any mistrust issues,conflicts etc,tourism industry stil untapped in ne as lot of beauty there

m3-ok tell me ,u mentioned target shooting as ur hobby?what do u shoot
me-maam when im shooting for acccuracu i shoot coins n candle flames,when im shooting for speed n when for reflxes i use a wooden plank(unconsiousy made a snap shooting posture,sadly its automated so cdnt help it,made a mental note to cut down on shootng talk in fron of ladies lol)
(also made a gesture of dimensions of the plank i shoot at unconsiously while explaining)



m3-name some shooting sports in olympics
me-named double trap 10 m air standing prone,cross country etc,then said thats all i can recall for now

m3-ok no more questions

m4-what do u know about inspector raj?
me explained how power of licencing abused n earned that name

m4 is it a term for an office?or for a practice?
me-sir it was to denote how power abused to earn bribes etc

m4-what did gov to do elimiate it
m2-mention delicencing,egov etc

m4what do u know anout bioinformatics?
m2-explain

m4 what is ur opinion about bharat ratna being given to people who dont deserve it?
me-sir i feel it is best left to an autonomous authority manned by emminent citizens,gov shdnt interfere in it

m4-what kind of people do u think desevre the bharat ratna?
me-citizens whove proved themselves emminent in some field etc etc

m4-ok so u mean based on merit?
me -yes sir

(sudenly cm interrupts rahene dijiye sir,int over,lets finish it,m4 got agitated n said one more quesion only sir,cm relented)

m4-ok do uknow about a dacoit in mp who got ratna?so what if he did some social work now hes a convicted felon what do u think of that?
me-sir was he convicted in a court of law

m4-yes n theres a bar on that too(smiling)
me-sir did he serve his sentence?

m4-yes he did (:D)
me-then hes already paid his debts to society

m4 looked at cm

cm ok int over

everyone was bowed down n scribling smthing so i got up sharply,stood in attention like i always do,thanked lady then members n marched out


some miscellaneous info
all the time i never smiled,none of the questions were amusin n i dint want to smile artificially

i always wear my hair short in a crew cut which i did in int as well

all the time i was siting i was erect,chest out straight up,legs apar by 6 inches,feet straight,fists semi closed,everytime i was asked i swivelled my chair n faced the members,who asked it




on a personal note id like to thank my Interview board,tho i doubt theyl read the blog,for appreciating my honesty and recognising my integrity,i will never fail the trust they placed on me no matter where i go or what i do


to other aspirants,the only thing i can tell based on my interview is be honest,be integral,stick to what is right n not what u think wld be politically correct,only thing that matters is character,and not ur knowledge,background etc

and be urself






Good Luck to all Future candidates