TOPPERS MANTHRA 2

Questions Test Knowledge Not Just Memory
Dr. Amit Shiv Kumar Telang
All India Rank - 11 C.S. Exam. 2004

" I look forward to represent my country at various international fora. I wish to let the world know that we are a country not only big in number but in intellect, culture and above all democratic ideals."

Congratulation on you success. Having met you ambition now, what role do you visualise for yourself in context of the nation, society at large and your family?
I look forward to represent my country at various international fora. I wish to let the world know that we are a country not only big a number but in intellect, culture and above all democratic ideals.

Whom would you give credit for you success? Your secret of success?
I thank the almighty and my parents my teachers from my early schooling till date, my friends Sandeep, Atul, Prasad and my wife Deepali who were always with me in thick and thin. The secret of my success is my perseverance and hard work.

How much time did you devoted for (This attempt)
(i) Prelims 15 days
(ii) Mains 21/2 months
(iii) Interview 15 days
I devoted equal time, for GS & Optionals in mains. In prelims I concentrated more on optional.

Did you integrate Prelims & Mains preparation or was it separate?
I integrated study of my first optional-Medical Science.

Which magazines & newspapers did you concentrate on? Did you get any help from Civil Services Chronicle?
I exclusively depended on Civil Services Chronicle for general studies (Current Events). It also read Hindu. I read books from Spectrum Publication for General Studies.

What were your Optionals in Prelims & Mains? What was your basis of selecting them?
Prelims : Medical Science
Mains : medical Science & Zoology
The former was my subject of graduation and Zoology was much similar to my first optional especially the second paper.

Which books did you refer for Optionals & GS in Prelims and Mains?
GS - Spectrum books, NCERT class VIII to XII, Civil Services Chronicle.
Medical Science - Standard books
Zoology - Kotpal series, Verma & Agrawal (Cell biology, ecology etc.), Veer Bala Rastogi (Evolution), Reena Mathur (Ethology), Guyton (Physiology) & Harper (Biochemistry)

Did you makes notes? Are they useful? What is your advise on note-making?
No, I have not made any notes. I relied on books, underlined them and revised them.

Did you feel any change in the trend of questions? When you appeared for the first time in the exam did you feel any change in question-trend in comparison to what you had anticipated? Comment on trend today in comparison to 5 to 10 years earlier.
The questions are more generalised now and test knowledge and to just memorising the notes.

Did you attend any coaching institute. What is your over all opinion about the coaching institutes?
I attended coaching for interview only. I feel guidance from a good coaching constitute helps a lot.

When should one ideally begin thinking about and preparing for this exam?
During final year for graduation.

Do you believe writing style matters in the examination? What are your suggestions?
Success in this examination depends a lot on one’s writing style. One has to be precise, succinct and simple. Illustrations, examples, diagrams are must.

What is your opinion on time management for preparation and in the actual exam?
It is “the most important” factor, infact poor time management is the reason for my initial failure in this examination. One must practice writing answers within time to prevent last moment hurry.

What is your observation on
(a) Disadvantage to Rural background candidates in this exam.
I don’t think in this examination any disadvantage exists. Infact background doesn’t make any difference.
(b) Advantage to Professionals and Technocrats qualifying in greater number.
They are a habit of writing precise answers.
(c) Advantage to students of public school and top universities.
I don’t find any specific advantage.

What should be the strategy to maximise one’s score in essay paper?
Should write a simple essay with real life examples. No need of any unnecessary idioms, phrases or quotations.

Before getting down to actual preparation, what kind of reading should one do to prepare one’s suitability for this exam?
One should be a regular newspaper reader to say the least. Interest in quizing, watching current event programs on TV etc. does help.

What is your advise to
(i) Freshers who are going to appear for the first time.
Think that it is your best attempt and put all your energy in it.
(ii) Candidates who cannot decide upon Optionals.
The best ways is to select an optional with which you are familiar. Write some answers, get them corrected by teachers and ask for their advise.

Those who have failed in this exam.
The failure is because of some mistakes. Try to rectify them and success is all yours.

Tell us something about your interview? Did you feel nervous in the exam?
I appeared in Prof. D.P. Agrawal’s board. The members and chairman were very cordial. Questions were general and situational. I did feel a bit nervous at the time of interview but not in prelims or mains.

When were you introduced to CSC for the first time? As a reader what do you think are the strong points in CSC and in which segment do you visualise a room for improvement?
I started reading CSC since 2001. Its strong points are sections like World Watch, India Watch, Economy Sections. Questions & answers on constitution are very good. Improvement may be done on model test papers many times the answers are wrong.