Secretary Keshav Chandra, IAS, was never a book worm. He recollects the memories of his UPSC Civil Service examination days
and says, “I did not prepare much; I was
teaching at that time. Actually if you
choose a subject which you studied during
your graduation course as the main
paper for the IAS exam, half of your
work is over because you don’t have to
prepare much as you have already studied
the subject for three years. The challenge
arises during the selection of the
second paper which is very tricky. This
should be done with a lot of consideration.
If you like the subject, you can do
well. The UPSC examination seeks your
overall knowledge rather than the facts
and figures of the subject. I took a very
unusual paper, History, as my main subject
and I also chose Sanskrit”.
Chandra got the second highest rank in the country at his UPSC interview. His passion for painting made him score good marks. He says, “I have seen people desperately preparing for interviews but I never did that. However, I think if you are regularly in touch with current affairs, you can easily clear the interview. UPSC interviews are based on the candidate’s overall knowledge which he/she has gained during 22 to 25 years. You cannot prepare for the interview in just one month. Invariably questions are asked where bookish knowledge is not required”.
He elaborates, “The interviewers judge you by your attitude. For example, I haven’t done the management course but the first question they asked me was ‘What is the similarity between the principles of modern management and Bhagavad Gita?’ I was caught as I could not reply. Then immediately they switched over to my hobby subjects i.e. English literature and painting. I was the rarest candidate as the interviewers didn’t ask me a single question about current affairs. I scored good marks and got the second rank in India”.
Chandra wishes a bright future to the students appearing for the Civil Services examination.
