“Fortune fights ever on the side of prudent”
Vidhya Sagar Naidu
Shri Vidhya Sagar Naidu, who attained 101st Rank in his 2nd attempt in Civil Services Examination, 2015 conducted by Union Public Service Commission; in an important, exclusive, thought-provoking and highly inspiring interview; attributes self motivation, firm determination, continuous hard work and his thinking that no dream is too big, no person is too small and no path is too long to the secrets of his success. Extracts of the Interview to “Pratiyogita Darpan”:
On preference in services opted for and priority:
The first five are: (1) IAS, (2) IPS, (3) IRS (IT), (4) IRS (C&CE), (5) IFS.
On ‘Success is Sweet”, confidence level & reacting to the news of the Top Rank:
I was 99% confident of this success; in fact, I had expected my rank to be below 500. But still 101 and getting into IPS with being the youngest among the top 5 people from my state is very exciting. I’m also in top 3 ranks of IPS, so that would definitely fetch me any of my top two state cadre choices. I should tell that my parents were 100%, while I was 99%.
On opinion about IAS toppers before your success:
To be frank , I used to read about the interview transcripts of toppers, and noticed something common among us all, optimism and the zeal to see something new in the system around us and the effort to be in it rather than being a bystander.
On exact moment of realizing importance of ‘Civil Services’:
Since my childhood my parents made me aware that this is something big and important to the society. But the personal realization came while I was in college. I realized the importance and respect an IAS or IPS officer commands and also that Civil Services are the bed-rock of functioning of our country. My dream became my goal in that phase.
On the point of time of making up mind to make career in ‘Civil Services’:
When I was a kid, I knew it, but a perfect decision kind of thing was during my graduation only.
On keeping in mind some time-frame for the examination preparations and number of attempts:
I tried to make it in my first attempt, but couldn’t clear prelims by a slight margin. Then I analyzed what mistakes I did and kept a thing in mind that I’m clearing the exam in my 2nd attempt, and that I shouldn’t compromise. That is why ‘no time frame or number of attempts’.
On ‘Time Management’ being a key factor & managing things:
A long term time-table for three months, one month and a short one weekly, which will be divided into a daily agenda, is my way of managing time. I usually put a target and try to finish off more than my daily agenda so that I can get more time for revision in the end.
On choice & importance of optional subject:
Optional Subject: History
Aspirants should keep in mind that only when they have personal liking for a subject, can they spare longer hours to study and explore the concepts. No subject is easy or tough, they may be just vast or limited if one has to say, but never easy or tough. It’s your effort which makes you obtain marks.
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Bio-Data |
| Name: Vidhya Sagar Naidu
Father’s Name: Shri V. Thyagaraju Mother’s Name: Smt. VSLK Durga Devi Date of Birth: March 25, 1992. Educational Qualifications: 10th: 2007, AP State Board of Secondary Education, St. Martin’s High School (83%) 12th: 2007-09, AP State Board of Intermediate, Sri Chaitanya Junior College (79%) B. Tech: 2009-13, JNTU Hyderabad, St. Mary’s College of Engineering and Technology, Nalgonda (75·9%) MBA: 2008-10, IIT Madras, Deptt. of Management Studies (7·99) CGPA. Previous Selections: 2013, Tehsildar through state PCS (HCS), 2015, 359th Rank, IRS (C&E) |
On visualizing his 1st attempt & achieving the desired success in this 2nd attempt:
My previous attempt is a failure and it was the biggest teacher for me till date, taught me what not to do and what to pursue while preparing. It gave me time and a chance to strengthen myself. Failure made me appreciate other people’s efforts.
On the first step being the most difficult to prepare & getting the right advice:
I should be honest while I answer this; I got such kind of help only from my History optional teacher Seenaih Sir. I read the answer scripts of toppers available on net, checked websites, and yes some close friends did help me in discussions, but it’s me who prepared my strategy.
On approach towards Paper I (General Studies) during Preliminary Examination preparation:
For Indian culture I prepared my own notes, like period wise literature, and from website and online videos etc. I’m a fairly good artist, so drew those temples and stuff so that I could remember easily. For geography part: GC Leong, Wizard and NCERT’s. For social issues: daily news plus issue-wise analysis.
On any change in plan for General Studies Paper II (Aptitude Test) being qualifying in Preliminary Examinations:
Basically I just saw a few formulas one day before and comprehension was my stronghold, so practiced reading faster. No special plan for this.
On tackling ‘Negative Marking’ in Prelims:
The first thing I decided is to mark questions as perfectly yes, doubtful, and not to touch ones. I practiced in test series to check the levels of accuracy and improved them. This gave me ample time at the end to review and confirm the choices before marking.
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Personal Qualities |
| Favourite Person: Not one but many, my family, my uncles and aunts, my besties mentioned above.
Strong Point: I am a hardcore optimist and I don’t fear failure, and I rectify myself. Week Point: Not many and I believe that weaknesses shouldn’t be disclosed to anyone. Hobbies: Collecting foreign currencies and commemorative ones of Indian currency, doodling, singing, cooking (recently). |
On adopting any shift in strategy for Main Examination (Written):
Prelims do have weight age to analysis, but facts play a major part here plus logic. In mains, we have to explain a particular aspect with logic, put it down in an orderly manner in nearly 7 minutes.
So, while writing about a topic in notes, I used to write the basic statistics separately and ingredients for introduction, analysis meant for body and mind maps for logic. I ensured that every topic is comprehensively covered and has all the basic ingredients to make a 200 word answer in any angle upon it.
On special effort for effective preparation for ESSAY Paper & on pick up of topics:
I did not prepare or practice much for Essay. For essay, I did practice two tests. I kept in mind to cover the social, economic and political aspects and a wider level of implications. Essay should not be a narrow minded one, for choice, I chose the ones related to leadership and Dreams that shouldn’t let India sleep.
On preparation for Interview, the Personality Test & facing it:
When I got the Mains result, I focused much on my DAF, and educational background as many suggested. I went to three to four mock interviews all in Hyderabad. UPSC interview was all together a different experience as they probe the candidate for honesty and confidence rather than subject and they are well equipped and experienced to spot a right/wrong one easily. Coming to subjective part, I just prepared the current affairs and the questions which are contemporary like State bifurcation, Climate issues, History based questions and also at the end they made me speak on a contemporary topic.
It was Shri Vinay Mittal Sirs Board and the interview lasted for around 45 minutes.
On preparing for other career opportunities as well while preparing for ultimate goal i.e. Career in Civil Services:
No, I did not think of alternatives, I was confident that I will get it this time and if not UPSC, I’m always confident that I can do something big in my life. But I never bothered to think of the alternative.
On motivation towards Civil Services despite other lucrative opportunities in various sectors in the changing economic environment:
There are people who come from diverse backgrounds leaving fat paychecks, because this is the only career according to me, in India which can offer a vast experience, respect, responsibility at a young age and mainly the scope to bring a change in people’s lives and influence many. At the end of the day money can’t buy satisfaction and respect. This is the thing which I liked while getting into this path.
On Educational Level to start & minimum time-frame for preparation for Civil Services Examinations:
People should plan accordingly and choose graduation which compliments their interests and the one that guarantees them a career as an alternative, and this gives them peace of mind while preparing for UPSC Civil services. There is no such graduation stream made for Civil Services, we have people from varied streams cracking this exam.
On general view that Science subjects have better chance to score than Humanities:
This is a misconception, and I cannot agree with it because students of non-scientific field scored better sometimes than students with science subjects. It’s the way we prepare and approach the exam that brings marks.
On importance of medium of examination for exams like CSE:
I don’t think it makes much difference. As for marks, content matters, medium doesn’t.
On impact of educational, financial and demographic status of the family of an aspirant on preparation:
Yes, they do have an impact and we should be pragmatic. But all these drawbacks have been proven wrong by many aspirants who clear this exam. It’s the burning desire which pushes us through. Once we succeed, all these will not matter before the happiness we get.
On role the Competition Magazines play in preparing for an examination like Civil Services:
They help us in getting the content in an organized fashion and at one place, and that definitely saves time and effort.
On finding “Pratiyogita Darpan” close to expectations:
Personally I prepare my own current affairs notes from paper, hence did not follow any magazine in particular, but to be honest, many of the aspirants do follow Pratiyogita Darpan. I’m not a regular follower, but I do have the app in my Ipad and I used to refer it sometimes.
On Secret of Success:
Few words, I always kept in mind. A man should have some pages in history and some credit in putting efforts in his country’s growth. No dream is too big, no person is too small and no path is too long. It’s not the end point that matters, but how much we enjoyed the journey.
On Credit for Success:
I give the credit of my success to Almighty Lord, my parents, members of my family and friends who believed that I had that potential to clear this exam. and this constantly encouraged me.
On suggestions/advice to future aspirants:
Be honest in efforts and to yourself and never give up on your dreams.
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