“Dreaming high, staying focused, staying calm, learning from my own mistakes, extensive practice of mock papers, hard work and excellent guidance are the secrets of my success. “
-Ms. Annapurna Garg
‘Pratiyogita Darpan’ arranged an exclusive interview with Ms. Annapurna Garg who has been selected in Civil Services Examination, 2015 conducted by Union Public Service Commission. She deserves all admiration and our heartiest congratulations on her splendid success. This important, thought provoking and highly inspiring interview is being presented here in its original form.
PD—Achieving top slot in the coveted Civil Services Examination is no small feat; accept our heartiest congratulations on your splendid success.
Ms. Annapurna—Thank you so much.
PD—What preference in services have you opted for and any particular reason for that priority ?
Ms. Annapurna—My preferences were IAS, IFS and IPS. First preference is IAS so because it gives a wide scope of work at the grassroots level and brings about change; second was IFS because of my interest and keenness in international relations.
PD—‘Success is sweet’ were you confident of your success with top ranks and how did you react to this news?
Ms. Annapurna—‘Success is very sweet’ I was quite sure that I would be there in the list, but was not so confident about getting a good rank. That’s why the news brought about a miraculous mix of emotions – elation, joy, tears, surprise and pride too.
PD—Today, IAS Toppers are icons and lots of media coverage makes them popular. The top rankers are admired by all for their accomplishment and are a source of inspiration and motivation for future aspirants. Before your success, what was your opinion about these toppers ? Any particular success story which influenced your journey to this result ?
Ms. Annapurna—During preparation, I read many success stories. With time, my opinion on them changed. Initially, I used to look at them as someone who was very different from me and felt that I could never reach there. So, it was kind of another world for me. However, as I too progressed, I realized that the toppers were from amongst normal students only who reached there with persistent, hard work and dedication. Thus, what seemed like a distant dream came much closer with time.
PD—Can you recall the exact moment when you realized the importance of Civil Services ?
Ms. Annapurna—No. not the exact moment.
PD—Finally, at what point of time did you make up your mind to make career in ‘Civil Services’ ?
Ms. Annapurna—This was in my mind right after class 12th. However, I became sure during post graduation when I had realised that my aptitude lies in administrative field. And hence right after my post graduation exams, I started my preparation.
PD—Was CSE a planned decision or your parents’ wish ?
Ms. Annapurna—It was a combination of both. My father always wanted me to try for civil services. However, when I decided to prepare for CSE, my personal interest towards the field was also a major factor.
PD—Did you keep in mind some time-frame for the examination preparation and number of attempts?
Ms. Annapurna—No. But the shortest possible time was always a priority.
PD—‘Time Management’ is a key factor. How did you manage things ?
Ms. Annapurna—Extensive practice of mock papers makes time management very easy. I would particularly say so about answer writing in mains where habit of writing an answer in shorter time makes a lot of difference.
PD—While making final choice for optional subject, what’s important and what’s not ?
Ms. Annapurna—I would say that one must give the highest priority to one’s own interest and inclination while choosing an optional subject. No optional is good or bad. It’s how one approaches it. My optional was Psychology and many people told me that it was less scoring. However, I didn’t change it and prepared it so well that I have got a good score in it.
PD—Give the basis of selecting the optional subject ?
Ms. Annapurna—There can be two major criteria : One-One’s background and one’s interest in the subject. I took Psychology because of my five years of academic experience in the subject in college plus my personal interest.
PD—In how many attempts have you achieved this success ?
Ms. Annapurna—This was my 3rd attempt
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Bio-Data |
| Name—Annapurna Garg
Father’s Name—Shri Rajendra Garg Mother’s Name—Mrs. Meena Garg Date of Birth—April 5, 1990. Educational Qualifications : 10th—2005-06, CBSE, Gita Convent School (93%). 12th—2007-08, CBSE, Modern Vidya Niketan (93%) BA (Hon’s) Applied Psychology—2008-11, Delhi University, Gargi College (75%) MA (Psychology)—2011-13, Delhi University Faculty of Arts (70%). |
PD—You achieved the desired success in this attempt; how do you visualize your previous attempts ?
Ms. Annapurna—This time, I realized my previous fallacies and improved on them.
PD—The first step is the most difficult; how. From where did you get the right advice ?
Ms. Annapurna—There was no single source of right advice. Some came from the institute that I had joined, some from online forums, some from friend aspirants and some from self-understanding of the exam.
Much depends on evolution of personal understanding of the way to study and how much and what to study. There is no standard answer to this.
Moreover, as one starts to practise the previous years’ papers, one understands the depth of the issues needed to study and hence it becomes easy to understand how much and what to study.
PD—What was your approach towards Paper I (General Studies) during Preliminary Examination preparation ?
Ms. Annapurna—There were certain things which I did for preliminary examination. Firstly, I read the limited number of books again and again. This is important because having too many sources do not serve much of a purpose and leads to time wastage. Secondly, I invested a good amount of time in solving mock papers. This took care of my revision and also helped me realize my weak areas so that I could work upon them. Thirdly, I made a list of my weak areas which helped me to revise those things. Fourthly, I made sure of reading newpapers from prelims perspective as well and hence focused on factual aspects of the news too besides the analytical aspect of it. I also maintained daily notes from newspapers.
PD—Was there any change in plan for General Studies Paper II (Aptitude Test) after qualifying in Preliminary Examination ?
Ms. Annapurna—The only change in my strategy was that I did not practice any papers for GS2 and instead invested that time for the first paper.
PD—How did you manage to tackle the ‘Negative Marking’ in Prelims ?
Ms. Annapurna—I did not make any blind guesses. Largely I attempted those questions in which I was pretty sure. But some questions in which I made guesses, such guesses were calculated and informed guesses in which chances of getting right were more than being wrong. That’s why it is very important to do mock papers to learn the art of elimination and making informed guesses.
PD—What shift did you adopt in your strategy for Main Examination (Written) ?
Ms. Annapurna—For Mains exam, I did extensive answer writing practice and extensive reading. I started answer writing on a daily basis without fail and got them reviewed on online platform. I also reviewed others’ answers which helped me improve mine as well. This gradually helped improve my speed and enriched the content as well.
Also I maintained soft issue based notes which I updated as and when required. This ensured that I could cover most of the current issues in an easy manner.
Also, I found multimodal study very useful. There are some concepts which are difficult to understand from books. For example Jet streams. I watched videos of such topics which clarified things. Multimodal study also includes Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha channels on which there are some very good quality informative programs which help in mains examination.
PD—Was there any special effort for effective preparation for ESSAY Paper ? Which topics did you pick up this time and why did you choose these particular topics ?
Ms. Annapurna—There were no special efforts for Essay, except that I wrote some 5-6 essays before exam. While practicing I made sure that I am writing in a good flow and covering the topic from a holistic perspective. These aspects resulted in good essays.
I chose ‘Dreams that should not let India sleep’ and ‘Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make a man more clever.
I chose these topics because of my familiarity with the subject matter and my confidence in being able to think widely about these topics.
PD—How did you prepare yourself for Interview (Personality Test) ?
Ms. Annapurna—I joined some mock tests for the interview which helped me to realise my weak areas on which I worked. I also focused on current affairs. Most importantly I prepared my Detailed Application Form well which actually formed the core of my interview. My interview was on 10th March, 2016. I got Ma’am Alka Sirohi’s board. It went for about 30-35 minutes. It was cordial and gave me a feel of satisfaction after I came out.
I was asked wide range of questions related to my DAF and optional subject.
PD—Were you preparing for other career opportunities as well while preparing for your ultimate goal i.e., Career in Civil Services ?
Ms. Annapurna—No. Though I gave other exams as well I was preparing for civil services only. However, I cleared NET JRF recently.
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Personal Qualities |
| Favourite Persons—My Brother, Chaitanya Garg whose approach towards life has been a blessing in disguise for me.
Strong Point—Learning from failures. Weak Point—Extreme attachment to the loved ones which makes it difficult for me to move on. Hobbies—Travelling and Reading. |
PD—While the changing economic environment offers immense lucrative career opportunities in various sectors, still what kept you motivated towards Civil Services ?
Ms. Annapurna—I think that one must do where one’s heart and soul lie. And my heart and soul were in civil services. Also, I found my aptitude suitable for working in this field.
PD—In your opinion at which Educational Level should one start preparing for Civil Services and what should be the minimum period of time required to prepare for Civil Services Examinations ?
Ms. Annapurna—I think 1 to 1.5 years before exam is sufficient for preparation. There is no standard answer to the minimum education level when one must start preparing, but if one has right frame in mind one can start at the close of graduation.
PD—What is your opinion regarding the general view that Science subjects have better chance to score than Humanities ?
Ms. Annapurna—This is not necessarily true. In fact, I find humanities as a supportive background for writing skills.
PD—What is the importance of medium of examination for exams like CSE ?
Ms. Annapurna—This is a highly controversial issue. I think English medium candidates do have an edge over Hindi medium candidates. However, I attribute this difference to the quality of material available for the two languages. There is dearth of good quality material availability for Hindi medium.
PD—Does the educational, financial and demographic status of the family of an aspirant have any impact on the preparation ?
Ms. Annapurna—These factors don’t play any role directly, but since human behaviour is a composite of person and environment, these factors affect one’s preparation. One’s financial needs may require him to work alongside preparation and hence may be an obstacle. But at the end of the day, person’s conviction and determination can defeat all the roadblocks.
PD—In your opinion what role do the Competition Magazines play when you are preparing for an examination like Civil Services ?
Ms. Annapurna—They are an additional source for covering current affairs and associated topics in an easy manner. However, I don’t consider reading of magazines as mandatory in preparation.
PD—How do you find Pratiyogita Darpan ? Do you find it close to your expectations ?
Ms. Annapurna—I found Pratiyogita Darpan very comprehensive in its coverage of current affairs. I specifically liked the toppers’ interviews which motivated me to work more and gave a direction.
PD—Being a reader of Pratiyogita Darpan, how did you find the articles written by Atul Kapoor specifically for Civil Services Examination preparation ?
Ms. Annapurna—These articles were very informative about CSE preparation.
PD—What is the secret of your success ?
Ms. Annapurna—“Learn from your mistakes” & “Never Lie to yourself as self-deception is self destruction”.
PD—To whom would you like to give the credit for your success ?
Ms. Annapurna—I give greatest credit for my success to my mother and father who reposed their complete faith in me and provided a stress relieving atmosphere to me.
PD—Any suggestion/advice you would like to give to the future aspirants.
Ms. Annapurna—Stay calm, stay focussed, and dream big because you can make your dreams true.
PD—Thank you very much and wishing you all the best for your future endeavours.
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