05/07/2015
UPSC IAS Interview Sanjay Kumar (Ex-Air Force)(IAS, 2008 Batch, All India 6th rank).
Here is an excerpt of the interview Sanjay Kumar (IAS, 2008 Batch, All India 6th rank) had with the board.
The interview panel comprised of five members, viz., chairman and four members (2 ladies and 2 gentlemen).
This is how the interview went:
Myself: May I come in Sir?
Chairman: Yes, come in Sanjay
Myself: Good Morning, Sir
Chairman: Good Morning, Sanjay
(I waited for a call to sit.)
Chairman: Sit down Sanjay.
Myself: Thank you, Sir.
Chairmen: So, Sanjay, you are from Bagpat. (After scanning my bio-data)
Myself: Yes, Sir.
Chairman: So, tell me something special about Bagpat.
Myself: Sir, it is the newly carved out district from Meerut. Sir, leave alone district, I will tell you particularly something special about my village. There is shooting coach Jaffer, who has trained various local youths in his own house and they have won various international medals.
(As I was not in hold of details about my district, I took them to my village. It is a fact that our village is famous for this, but it will be good to admit that I misquoted the name Jaffer instead of Farrukh.)
Chairman: From your village itself!
Myself: Yes sir.
Chairman: What is this….. your hobby, Rope skipping?
Myself: Sir, it is an international game, it may seem to be an easy or a girl’s sport (nodding in affirmation) but it is a fascinating game when one skips at the rate of 200-plus per minute. It involves double under, triple under, cross, double cross etc., and this year, I am even planning to participate at National Level.
Chairman: So, you are in Air Force, then be there, why do you want to join civil service?
Myself: Sir, I am there only, I am still working in Air Force (to emphasise that I have not run away), but if I have the ability and opportunity to go up in the career, then I would surely like to take it. As far as civil service is concerned, I wanted to go up in the career and for higher social status, in general. As far as particularly IAS is concerned, it is the highest peak an individual from ground can directly reach, and an aura and prestige is attached with it.
Chairman: So, you all can ask now. (Chairman indicated others to follow)
Lady (Right): (inquisitively and in haste) what are you in Air Force?
Myself: Driver (Nobody expected such terse reply that to with smiling and dignified face. I was never ashamed of it, and reply in resounding voice conveyed the same. They did not ask me anything thereafter on this).
Member (Left): Do you know Vishnu Bhagwat?
Myself: Yes, sir; he was the former naval chief, and removed at the time of NDA government by Prime Minister Vajpayee.
Member (Left): Then, what happened to him was that right?
Myself: Sir, he was naval chief and as I belong to defense forces, I know that at the level of chief, so many important decisions are taken. So we in general or media will never come to know what the real reason behind his removal was. And decision was taken at the level of Prime Minister on the advice of Defense Minister, so I believe that they would have taken the decision certainly in national interest.
Member (Left): You leave alone Defense Chiefs, even Foreign Secretaries are removed [as such].
Myself: Yes, sir. I can remember that at the time of Rajiv Gandhi, a Foreign Secretary was removed when in a press briefing PM said that you would see a new Foreign Secretary from tomorrow. But still I believe that he was the Prime Minister of India and he can certainly take that kind of decision. We can do little about it.
(It was the issue I read in a book of Foreign Policy of India, ex-course material)
Member (Left): What do you think, civil service offer you?
Myself: It is All India service and constitutional post under article 312, offering status, job security.
(Chairmen interrupted in between, that proved beneficial to me, as I think, I was not following correct line in answering this question. I failed to get hold of
