IQBAL DHALIWALALL INDIA RANK - 1CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Tamil NaduMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI was born in 1972 in Bangalore. My father was in the BSF, my mother runs herown school and my sister is a Doctor. I did my schooling from the MothersInternational School with Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics andComputers) in 1989. I completed my B.A.(Honours) in Economics from SriVenkateswara College, Delhi University in 1992 and my M.A. in Economics fromthe Delhi School of Economics in 1994. I specialised in DevelopmentalEconomics, Public Finance, Agricultural Economics, Money and Banking.Since childhood itself, my parents wanted me to be an IAS officer - the mainreason being that this is one service which allows an individual to do atremendous amount of good work for the people and make a difference in thelives of a few. As my interest in Economics, especially Developmental Economicsgrew, I realized that the IAS gives an economist the best possible opportunityto put into practice, all that we have learnt for the benefit of the people.I took my first attempt in June 1994 itself when I sat for the CSE 1994. Forpreliminaries, I just studied the NCERT text books for the various subjects andluckily managed to clear it. But I totally ignored GS and Public Administration(my 2nd optional) during the Mains. This was the reason that I got just 952 inthe written exam. The interview went exceptionally well (234) so I managed toget a rank of 229 and was allotted to the Indian Civil Accounts Service GroupA.I accepted the service but took a year's extension since my heart was on theIAS. For Preliminaries (GS and Economics), NCERT text books were enough. Butfor the Mains, the strategy changes to wide reading and very good understandingof the issues involved in the subjects and in current affairs. I was avoracious reader of Times of India and the Economic Times so that wasmanageable. For Public Administration, I concentrated on just the books byMaheshwari and read them thoroughly. Economics did not require any preparationother than keeping abreast with current issues and revising the class notes ofthe last 5 years of academics. General Studies required a lot of work -especially for Science and Technology, Polity, History and

Geography/Environment. Most of this from original texts. My papers luckilywent quite well and I scored 1250 in the written.The interview does not require any extraordinary preparation other thandeveloping a bit of confidence in yourself and in being totally abreast ofcurrent issues, besides being versent with the nuances of your optionals.Things went well in the interview again and I was awarded 226, making a totalof 1466 which allowed me to join IAS this year.Being at LBSNAA is like a dream come true - a dream that my family and Inourished for 24 years. Meeting friends from different services, interactingwith some of the best IAS and other service officers and taking part in a widevariety of activities like Horse riding, tennis and Net surfing among others isgreat fun - for which I cannot but again thank my Father, mother, sister and myfiancee - all of whom have made me whatever little that I am today.

DHEERAJ SAHUALL INDIA RANK - 10CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Uttar PradeshMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESGetting into IAS was like a dream coming true. Although I'd thought of joiningthis service much earlier in my school days, my mind kept wavering till fewyears back. It was in the third year of my engineering course that I firmlydecided to take up this examination.Incidentally, I'm a graduate from IIT, Kanpur in Electrical Engineering and Ipassed out in 1994. I started reading material on current affairs and on othersubjects in the general studies paper from that very time. As far as optionalswere concerned, I felt Physics and Electrical Engineering as the best bet forme. For the Prelims, I chose Physics. I'd decided not to attempt the examunless I felt confident about my preparation. So I skipped the 1994 eaxm andtook it up next year. By God's grace I made into the service in the very firstattempt. I stood 10th in India. 18th June, the day I came to know about thereasult, was the happiest in my life. By the way a funny part of this story wasthat when I'd first inquired about my Prelims rsult, I was told that I'dfailed.As regard my other personal details, I'm a 24 year old bachelor and hail from abusiness family of Lucknow. I'm youngest among the four siblings of my family.I'd my schooling in Lucknow in Colvin Taluqdars' College till 8th standardafter which I shifted to Mahanagar Boys' Inter College. My hobbies aretravelling, particularly to places of natural beauty, and light music. I enjoyplaying Billiards and am presently trying to pick up Tennis.My suggestion to future aspirants of this service is that one should try totake one's subject of speacialisation as an optional in the exam. This saveslot of time and labour. The exam requires one year of full dedication provided

one has a good base in general studies and good backing of graduation. Oneshouldn't rely solely on the optionals as G.S. and essay paper along withinterview form a substantial portion in the total marks. The syllabus of mainsshould be finished before prelims so that one may get enough time for revisionand updating current affairs before mains.As regards interview, one just needs to be natural and attentive before theboard. The board members are in general very cooperative.Presently, I'm having great fun in the academy at Musoorie. Here the mainemphasis is on espirit de corp among various services. Although the routinehere is tightly packed, one gets enough time to learn new things and take upnew hobbies. We recieved our cadres few days back and I's fortunate enough toget the home cadre.My postal address is: 6, Bishop Rocky Street, Lucknow-226007 Ph:522-370633

R. RANJITALL INDIA RANK - 2CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : West BengalMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI am male, 24 years old and an electronics engineer, B.Tech from IIT-Madras.This time was my second attempt at the Civil Services Exam. In my first attemptin 1994, I had got the 104 th rank.While it must be very clear to anyone who is serious about this exam that luckhas a huge part to play in determining the result, it should be equally clearthat hard and intelligent work always pays. In my first attempt, the quantum ofwork I put into subjects such as General Studies, Essay and the Interview wasinadequate. Further, having been in an engineering College were the academicinput was intense, my general awareness was practically frozen in time for fouryears. In addition, during the first attempt I was based in Madras where thereis very little awareness and 'hawa' about the Civil Services.My optional for the Preliminary Exam was Physics. My strategy for the Prelimswas to practically ignore the General Studies Part and concentrate all myenergies on Physics. My aim was to score over 110/120 in this paper. Anyaverage person should be able to score about 70/150 in the G.S. paper. Thesetwo scores should suffice for the Prelims.For the Mains, my optionals were Maths and Physics. I studied the standardIndian books which most people read and I practised doing the previous year'squestions. For the essay I practised writing - which is not something engineersare used to doing in the course of their graduation. I had to learn the hardway the importance of effective writing, which is absolutely essential forsuccess in this exam or for that matter success in life.As regards the interview, I can't say I enjoyed the experience. I think I wastoo direct in my answers and spoke without due deliberation and thought.I am relieved to find myself at last at LBSNAA , if only because I do not have

to under go the torture of writing these Civil Services Exam again. The lifehere may be characterised as running from pillar to post from dawn to midnight.One may, however, occasionally get to do interesting things in between such astrekking and river rafting. Time here flies faster than light and before onerealises it, its all over.

NAVIN MITTALALL INDIA RANK - 3CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Andhra PradeshMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI am a 23 years old male & a B.Tech in Computer Science & Engineering from IITDelhi graduating in the year 1995. I have succeeded in getting the 3rd rank inmy first attempt in the civil services examination.I had decided to go into civil services in spite of getting admissions tovarious IIMs in India; a lucrative job with AT&T Bell Labs, USA and prospectivescholarships from various Universities abroad, basically because of the jobsatisfaction one derives in this civil services. It provides not only unlimitedopportunities but also unparalleled capability to ameliorate the status of thepoor of this country who cannot afford two square meals, whose children have togrow in ignorance and darkness, whose womenfolk are almost relegated to thestatus of animals. In this service one may earn much less than what the privatecompanies offer but still this is enough to sustain a decent lifestyle for anofficer and in any case money was never a priority for me. One may earn more byselling soaps or printers but can never get the kind of job satisfaction onegets in this job.My optionals for the civil services examination were Physics for thePreliminary and Physics & Mathematics for the Mains. The criteria for choosingthese subjects was my deep interest in them and my confidence of doing well inthem. Mathematics is a very dicey subject - if you do well, you can score verygood marks (I had 453) but if you commit even a few mistakes then you have topay a very heavy penalty. Physics is all about `fundas' - if you have masteredyour basics well, then you will certainly do well.I feel the interview board consists of very experienced and astute people whorelegate their personal biases and airs to insignificance to judge usobjectively and fairly and make the interview session feel like an extendedconversation.The general feeling I have got after taking this examination is that it isreally a test of one's determination, confidence & luck apart from aptitude &hard work considering the unpredictable nature of this examination. I wouldgive you an example. I got 115 marks out of 300 in GS II but this was the paperin which I performed the best in my view. In fact I told my father after thepaper that this is almost a dream attempt but the marks gave me a shock of my

life. So I feel that belief in your luck & God is as important as belief inoneself.Now, in the LBSNAA, I am going through the best phase of my life. It is anopportunity to really rediscover myself & find my latent talents, to which Icould give proper justice earlier because of my other preoccupations. But now Ican let them blossom fully. This phase is enriching my life with some of themost varied & wonderful experiences ever like the Trekking to Roopkund, RockClimbing, Riding, River Rafting, Learning Guitar which has almost been apassion for me. And above all I am back into my kind of Music- Classic Rock-which I had to coldstore during my preparations. I am sure Led Zep, BlackSabbath, Deep Purple, & Iron Maiden must be pleased to hear that.

RAHUL SINGHALL INDIA RANK - 4CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : BiharMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI have a B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT-Kanpur. I did a11-month stint in S&T (a Software Multinational) during which I decided to gofor the Civil Services. I got through in my second attempt. In my first attempt, I did not get any service (in fact not even an interview call). My failureand the subsequent success tell me that though there is no substitute for realhard work, you need tons of luck to finally make it. The accent is not on theknowledge that you may possess, but probably more on the way it is presented.My optional subject for the prelims was Mathematics. In the mains, I hadPhysics in addition. For prelims, a very detailed preparation is not required.For Maths, only the Brilliant Tutorial notes sufficed for me. For GS, I didUnique (basically only the questions except in Polity and History). The stressshould be more on knowing where you stand, so taking lots of practice tests ishelpful.The Mains is a different ball game altogether. In GS, you need quite a detailedknowledge of Economics nowadays. In others also, depth of knowledge is probablyappreciated by the evaluators. But one must not get carried away. The theme ofthe answers should be such that they can be appreciated by a generalist.Finally, one should write a lot, especially in Paper 2. Physics is a subjectone should try to avoid nowadays. The UPSC, in its wisdom, has started acrackdown on Physics students, so much so that they set questions from outsidethe syllabus. Still, if one really wants to take it up, he/she has to studyvery hard, very extensively and very intensively. Also, the style of answeringcounts for a lot in Physics especially in Paper 1 which is the easier paper. Soscoring 350+ in Physics is now a lot tougher than getting the same score inother subjects, even those belonging to the Humanities.Maths is tough, but if one is good at it, one can really score in this subject.

Maths basically calls for selective study. One has to choose the portions ofthe syllabus one can really do well in. This can be done by means ofconsultations with seniors and also a self-evaluation about that subject. Butit is to be averred that one should take up this subject only if one is reallygood at it and not because others are taking this.My reasons for choosing this service were related primarily to a wish on mypart about not going abroad, which is probably the only option a ComputerScientist has if he/she wants to succeed. Also in India, this is, in myopinion, the only job which offers you a high degree of autonomy andindependence. So this had to be the job for me.

ANURAG GOELALL INDIA RANK - 5CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Assam - MeghalayaMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESEducational Background:B.E. (Electronics and communication) from Thapar Institute of Engineering andTechnology, Patiala. Topper throughout.No. of attempts : ThreeMy first attempt went in vain due to the floods in Punjab that year. In thesecond attempt, I was unable to do well in the interview and this 3rd attemptyou know it already. From your previous attempt, you must learn from themistakes - never be too casual in your approach and maintain a proper schedulefor the revision of the course.Hints for Prelims :1.G.S. : Factual study plus practising as much objective questions as you can2.Physics : Detailed study of whole syllabus plus practising problems,numericals, objective questions of various types helps a lot.Hints for Mains :1.GS: Without going into the name of books (which you can get from varioussources), I will like to lay stress on only one point that it is not thequantity but quality that matters. Your answer should have a cutting edge overothers to give you that vital decisive lead and try to stud your answers withexamples from current events.2.Physics and Electrical Engineering : Standard textbooks of both foreign andIndian authors can be referred to. In these papers, full details should begiven in your answer with diagrams, graphs etc.Reasons for choosing IAS : Highest job stature in India, good promotionalavenues, variety in job content and above all, a sense of achievement.It feels great to be in LBSNAA finally - like the moment of truth has finallyarrived and we are in our karambhoomi to serve our motherland.

Dr. SANJAY MUKHERJEE

ALL INDIA RANK - 6CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : MaharashtraMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESHi ! I am originally a medical man, now an IAS. I am one of the lucky ones tomake it to the top 10.People ask me time and again what I am doing in the IAS. That I should havecontinued as a doctor. Fine. I loved and still love medicine as was and am goodat it. But perhaps no other branch of science is so directly related to the jobof an IAS than Social/community medicine - for instance Public Health,literacy, sanitation, drinking water, gender issues, children's issues,environment and many other such sectors in which the IAS is deeply involved arewhat's taught in that subject. So obviously one interest led to another andultimately landed me up here.I made it to the IAS in CSE 95 ; my earlier attempt landed me in the IPS when Iwas 72nd. I had decided to take the exam in a very frivolous manner and wasquite unconcerned till the declaration of the mains result and intended to be apaediatrician. I had chosen 2 new subjects as optionals - Public Administration(in which I now hold a bachelor's degree) and History. But what proved to be mynemesis then was the essay - my marks were quite pathetic. So I resolved to sitagain, this time with proper preparation and made it.Here in the academy all Officer Trainees are generally kept very busy - and sowas I and I feel that most of us don't even have time to think. Otherwise, Ilike the academy. I like the crowd here. I have learnt many new things and seenmany places. The Foundational course, I can positively say, shall be the bestpart of the course.What do I want of life ? Peace of mind. And happiness. And that comes throughdoing good work, and I'm sure I will have plenty of opportunities. I think themost important thing one has to learn is to do his job well and that's what Iam striving at here.I like watching films. I like speaking in public. My other hobbies includephotography, music, esp. Hindi Kishor Kumar songs and exploring the unknown.In the future as an administrator, I would like to explore hitherto untriedareas to find cures for the complex ailments of our society.

MONA KHANDHARALL INDIA RANK - 7CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : GujaratMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI am a commerce graduate from Sydenham College with special papers of Financialaccounts and Computer programming. Later I did my post graduation in Sanskrit

grammar from University of Bombay.I decided to go for Civil services exams when I was in MA II because I gotconvinced that power, authority and status of a civil servant would help me infulfilling my desire of doing something for Indian society, besides providing adynamic career.I succeeded in my second attempt. My first attempt was more of a trial kind. Itgave me an idea about where to focus and where my stronger and weaker pointswere. In Preliminaries, I concentrated more on my optional Philosophy becauseGeneral studies is quite unpredictable.In Mains, all the papers, excepting languages are equally important. However,in GS I prepared Statistics, objective questions and current affairs of everysort very well. In my optional papers, I paid more attention on short notes andanalytical questions. I was predetermined to write essay on philosophical topicand made general preparations accordingly.During my interview, I was cool, confident and natural. I was original andhonest in my answers.Presently I am an Officer Trainee at LBSNAA under 62nd FC in the IAS. It is oneof the finest periods of my life. I am having a number of new experiences liketrekking, living in a cosmopolitan crowd etc. Though academic inputs andcompulsions are sometimes boring and irritating, overall training program isinteresting. Faculty and fellow OTs are very friendly and co-operating. It hasincreased my confidence, ability and broadened my vision.

ANAND KISHORALL INDIA RANK - 8CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : BiharMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESSubjects:Physics(for prelims.) and Physics, Maths for mains.Qualifications:B.Tech in Electrical Engg. (IIT KANPUR)M.Tech in Electrical Engg. (IIT KANPUR)I.Sc. from Science College , Patna.Address:Present (till May'97):-Anand Kishor, IAS(P)LBSNAA, Mussoorie.Pin-248179.Hobbies:Yoga,Hindi Literature, Stock_Markets.Suggestions for future aspirants:1. General Studies should be paid greater attention (Science students have ageneral tendency to neglect it)

2. Answers should be concise, precise and effective.As far as possible, one should stick to the word limits.3. No substitute to hard labour- should not believe in short-cuts.4. Your preparation should be a judicious mix of exhaustive and selectivestudy(depending on the nature of the paper)- for example I adopted selectiveintensive study for Mathematics but stuck to exhaustive approach in Physics.5. Decide Your optionals carefully, chalk out a strategy and work hard .Neverlose faith in yourself. One must identify one's weaknesses and try to rectifythem.For any further enquiries or correspondence , please contact me at aboveaddress

Thank you

ALOK GUPTAALL INDIA RANK - 9CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1995.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : RajasthanMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESEducational Qualifications :1. B Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Bombay, 19922. M Tech in Communications and Radar Engineering from IIT, Delhi, 1994Job Experience :-1 1/2 year in Indian Telecommunication Service, Group ANumber of Attempts : 3Optional Subjects :Preliminaries : Electrical EngineeringMains : Electrical Engineering, MathematicsMistakes during previous attempts :I could not prepare for mains as I was busy with my thesis during my firstattempt. In the second attempt, I laid overemphasis on my optionals and ignoredGeneral studies.In the third attempt I laid equal emphasis on GS and optionals and lady lucksmiled and I was selected in the IAS.

SUNIL KUMAR BARNWALALL INDIA RANK - 1CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : BiharMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI belong to a medium class family in Bihar. I did schooling from R.H.T.B. Highschool, Barari, Bhagalpur and intermediate from Science college Patna. My

father is working in Bihar state government and my mother is simple housewife.Just after schooling I left home and had to stay in hostel in intermediate.During intermediate I prepared for Engineering entrance examination. But Icould not appear for IIT examination due to the minimum age requirement.Therefore, I appeared only for entrance examinations of Indian School OfMine(ISM), Dhanbad, Roorkee engineering and Bihar state engineering. Isucceeded in all three and finally decided to join Petroleum Engineering atISM, Dhanbad.Right from childhood I had ambition of becoming an IAS mainly because of theimportance of SDM and Collector in the Society. But I decided to take the routeto IAS though engineering as it could have assured me bread and butter in thejob market in case of failure. I really worked hard to excel in engineeringwhich was paid in form of three gold medals including the medal for the topperof the batch.During my vacation while doing engineering, I used to look the syllabus ofphysics and mathematics for civil services, which were my favourite subjectsright from beginning. After enginnering I could have had good career oppotunitybefore me like going abroad, doing MBA or joining a job in Petroleum sector. Iwent for the third option as it was the best route towards achieving the finalgoal of IAS. The route of sitting idle and preparing for civil services wasruled out because of the financial condition of the family. Finally, I joined agood job in Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) through campus in July 1993. Icould appear in this examination only in 1995 because of the minimum agerequirement. But I used the two year, while working, for completing thesyllabus thoroughly.In my first attempt in 1995, I qualified preliminary and main examination butcould not get any service after interview. Main reason for failure was lack ofproper strategy and lack of confidence in interview. So, in this attempt I madea strategy of concentrating on my weak points which I could very well identifyfrom the mark sheet of last attempt and kept one month for revision. My mainsexamination went well and I could score 1240 because of high score in theoptional subjects Maths(422) and Physics(403). This year my interview wasbetter than last year due to better confidence level and experience of lastyear's interview.I got 177 in interview which made a highest total of 1417 putting me first inthe list of successful candidates. The dream of becoming an IAS could becometrue only after a great sacrifice of my parents, besides my hard work, patienceand God's grace. Now, really it is a moment of great satisfaction when I havegot my home cadre, Bihar, where I would get opportunity to bring positivechange in condition of our people, through some of which I myself passed in mylife. At last, I would like to suggest all civil service aspirants that hardwork never goes waste. Besides, this examination requires lot of patience andluck.

SANJEEB KUMAR MISHRA

ALL INDIA RANK - 10CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : OrissaMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESBackground :Graduation - B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering in 1993 from Indian Institute ofTechnology, Delhi. M. Tech in Industrial Engineering in 1996 from sameinstitute.From 01-07-93 to 31-07-94, I worked with the Tata Iron and Steel Company, Ltd.(TISCO) now commonly called Tata Steel.After my graduation form IIT-Delhi in May, 93, I started working with TISCO. Iwent with the good intention of excelling myself as a mechanical engineer. Thetraining programme was very good. I had to pass around 8 subjects like Ironmaking, steel making, power engg., plant metallurgy etc. But when the real jobin the works began, it was very de motivating. Though Tatas provide good pay,perks, other facilities, the job was not challenging enough. Further, thepromotions, recognition is not solely based on work but on other things. Thisled to total demotivation.In January of 1994 I decided to go for Civil Services. I did not want to go forMBA as I knew that I shall again work in a private sector such as Tatas, Birlasor in foreign banks like citi bank or standard and chartered. I rather believedthat I shall fit more into working for the poor people at large and be involvedin decision-making of the country. The job at Tata Steel was very hard. Ihardly have any time to read properly. By that time I was also married (1stDecember, 1993). My wife was at IIT and is still now as well. The preparationdid not go as I expected. Finally I resigned on 31st July, 94 and joined forM.Tech at IIT Delhi. The earlier idea that I had that I can study for CivilService along with M.Tech was not true. The M.Tech in Industrial Engg.Programme did not give much time. Further I stayed in a hostel and my wife wasstaying at girls hostel.We god "married hostel accommodation" only on 24th Feb. 1995. In the meantime,one big jerk occurred in my life. Though, I qualified in prelims, I could notwrite the main exam that year. I just appeared my G.S. paper and was very happyabout it. Uptil 8 o'clock I was with my other friends. But unfortunately by 9p.m. I had very high fever. I still stayed in my room and my friend SanjeevJain helped me in reading essay paper besides my bed. I believed that I shallbe able to go for 3 hours and finish essay paper. But on the fateful morning, Ifailed, I was totally shattered. One wrong notion or my past thought came to mymind. I had met an astrologer earlier who had said to me that I shall nevermake into IAS or IPS. I started believing in the prediction. I had the optionof giving abroad to top grade universities in USA. So I started thinking that Ishould do well in M.Tech and go to USA. That would have fitted for both me andmy wife. Infact I stopped studying till April as I wanted to do well in M.Tech.I did very well. At this time my wife motivated me to appear exam again. Sheunderstood that I was not really happy with the decision that I had made. I was

interested in my heart of hearts to appear again, but was worried about thepredictions and events which occurred which reinforced that. The prelims' 95was around at June 26. I had gone home from June 2nd to June 15th. Around June12th, I started suffering from another illness. I again got frustrated as Icould not study. Before 5-6 days I was O.K. I almost told my friends that I amnot going to appear. But finally, I again went to appear. The Physics paper wastough and since I was not fully prepared to face the exam. I believed I shallfail. But, as luck would have it I passed. I could write the main exam, But Icould not study the way I wanted. After interview I failed. It was verydifficult decision for me at that time as to what should I do. By the time theresult was out I had already appeared the prelim exam for 1996. My father askedme to give the exam properly. My wife also asked me to sit down and appear theexam properly, means doing one thing at a time. That time only she was gettingscholarship money. With that it was difficult to arrange. She also had to takeup tuitions. Finally I appeared the main exam. This time it went o.k. exceptmathematics paper. I feared UPSC results. Anyway all is well that ends well.With God's grace I secured 10th rank. I attribute it to encouragement providedby my wife, father and father-in-law. It was sincere hard work that finally sawme through this examination.I believe Civil Service is not just a job but strictly a service. One gets lotof opportunity to make positive impact on lives of people directly. One dealswith lot of challenges. I am very happy with this, though I know I would havebeen better had I been a professor may be abroad or at IIT. But, I don't repentfor that. I think I can utilize my knowledge for the betterment of people andcountry at large.

RAHUL BHANDARIALL INDIA RANK - 3CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : PunjabMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI was born in the land of the Golden Temple - Amritsar on 13th September, 1973.I've lived on this earth for 24 years. I hail from an intellectual background,my father is Asstt. Registrar in GND University, Amritsar and my mother is asenior lecturer in Botany. I started and ended my schooling at KendriyaVidyalaya, Amritsar Cantt and then went on to acquire a B.Tech degree inElectronics and Electrical Communication. This was the only time I stood 2nd inmy life, but coming 3rd in the Civil Service Examination gave me the maximumamount of pleasure for which I shall always remain greatful to God. Prior tojoining the academy as a probationer I was working in Punjab CommunicationsLimited, Chandigarh as Engineer (R&D) and subsequently joined DOT throughEngineering Service Examination.My interests pertain to reading, listening to music, watching movies andexploring new places.

As regards my physical characteristics. I am 5 feet 11 inches tall, am atypically Punjabi young man - well built and robust (Gabroo Jawan! as they sayin Punjabi) and enjoy trekking (especially if it's the Pindari Glacier).I fell in love and got married on 20th February, 1998 to a batch mate of mineRakhee Gupta who isalso an IAS Officer. So it was a logical conclusion to our relationship.

BINOD KUMARALL INDIA RANK - 4CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Police ServiceCadre : Not yet allottedMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI was born in 1969 in Patna. I did my schooling from Patna and B.Tech from IIT,Delhi.Ever since I was born, I wanted to be an IPS Officer, mainly because this isthe most challenging, adventure fulled service in India. I have always beenfascinated by the outdoors and the charm of a uniformed service. Themaintenance of law and order in the primary role of the state and I want tocontribute to this. As the role of the state is curtailed in future, law andorder will still remain the core function of the state.Coming to the mitty gritty of the examination :For preliminary examination, my subject was Physics. I prepared the mainssyllabus and that was sufficient. General Studies needed no preparationwhatsoever. For the main examination, my subjects were Physics and Maths -mainly due to aptitude for both. These papers are getting tougher andunpredictable and should not be chosen unless one has aptitude and is willingto work twice as hard. Very extensive reading is required in both subjects,with lots of practice.General studies is potentially a very scoring paper. Due care should be takenfor this paper. For the essay, the fact to remember is to write good english(or any language you have chosen), essay should not be confused with generalstudies!The interview is largely a matter of work. The extent of arbitrariness can beganged from the fact that I had scored 60 marks last year and this year managed180. I doubt if my personality has altered that much!Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Adminitration is a nice place - I havemade plenty of new friends, and shall cherish them throughout my career.

MAHENDRA PRASAD AGRAWALALL INDIA RANK - 2CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative Service

Cadre : Uttar PradeshMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI was born in 1972 in Gorakhpur (UP) in a middle class business family. Most ofmy relatives are involved in business. My parents did not want that I shouldjoin the business and so they paid special emphasis on my studies. They had adesire that I should join the Civil Services. My schooling was done inGorakhpur. I did my ICSE from St. Paul's School and AISSCE from N.E. Rly.Senior Secondary School.After my schooling I appeared for the JEE examination and was able to clear it.I landed up in IIT Kanpur in Chemical Branch. After one year I changed toMechanical. I finished off my B. Tech with a C.P.I of 9.2. All the four years Ihad Civil Services at the back of my mind. The load in my B. Tech years was somuch that I was not able to prepare for Civil Services. So after my B. Tech Ijoined M. Tech program at IIT Kanpur in Mechanical Department withspecialisation in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences.I gave my first attempt soon after completing my B. Tech. I was not wellprepared for the exam. I took Mechanical as my option in Prelims. I anyhowmanaged to clear the Prelims. Soon after the prelims result, I startedpreparing for the mains. I took Mathematics as my second option. I could notdevote much time for the preparation as I was doing my M.Tech too. I did notget the interview call in this attempt.Soon after the Mains exam I decided to replace Mechanical with Physics. Thisdecision was necessary to score good marks in Mains exam. Mechanical isconsidered to be a very low scoring subject. In the next attempt I started thepreparation very soon. I covered the whole Physics course before the Prelims.Since the performance in the prelims was good, I started my preparation for themains just after the prelims exam. My performance in the mains was satisfactoryand hence I expected an interview call in this attempt. I got the interviewcall and finally got a rank of 86 and I was allocated Indian Customs andCentral Excise Services. I accepted the offer but applied for an extension ofone year to reappear in the exam to improve the rank.In my final attempt I was much more confident. I devoted a lot of time in thepreparation for Mathematics as this was a subject in which one can think ofgetting marks over 400. I also laid emphasis on my preparation for the Physicssubject. The performance in mains was up to my satisfaction. I startedpreparation for the interview. I read two newspapers daily. Main emphasis wasgiven on topics which were related to me like my home state, my hobbies,academic qualifications etc. After I got the interview call, I formed a groupwith my other friends at IIT Kanpur and organised regular Mock InterviewSessions which proved to be too helpful. The Chairman of my interview board wasMr. K.K. Madan. I was satisfied with my interview. Finally I was able to makeit to Indian Administrative Services. I was allotted UP cadre.I thank my parents for there constant support and also to my friends andseniors at IIT Kanpur without whom it would have been difficult for me to comeout successful in the exam.Finally a word or two for the aspirants. This exam is not just a test of

knowledge and intelligence but also of patience. One should not be demoralizedby temporary setbacks. Also one should have faith in God as this exam alsorequires a bit of luck.

PAMU SAMPATH KUMARALL INDIA RANK - 5CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Assam-MeghalayaMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI hailed from Bhima Krosu Palem, a small village in East Godavari district ofAndhra Pradesh. My parents were teachers in a primary school.I got my schooling at A.P. Residential School, Upper Sileru. Later, I havestudied special Diploma in Electronics at Govt. Institute of Electronics,Secunderabad. After that, I have completed B.E. (Electronics & Communications)in 1993 from C.B.I.T. (Osmania University).I started preparing for the Civil Service Examination immediately after mygraduation. I got I.R.T.S. (rank-472) in my first attempt (1994 CSE). CentralSecretariat Service (rank-593) in the second attempt and finally I.A.S. in thethird attempt.My optionals for the examination are Geography and Telugu Literature. I havechosen these subjects because of interest and availability of guidence andmaterial.I was lucky to get very good friend circle in Hyderabad. We have all studied ina cooperative manner. My success is a direct result of my friends constantsupport and guidence.My suggestions for the future aspirants - be confident on yourself and putsincere efforts to reach the goal.

RITA SINGHALL INDIA RANK - 6CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Uttar PradeshMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESBorn in Canada, I spent my childhood in Saskatchewan, and received my primaryeducation there. My family is an academic oriented one. After completing theirPh.D's from Michigan State University my parents moved to Canada to teach.Graduating from Ghaziabad, I then joined the M.Sc. program in Maths at IIT,Kanpur. Academic excellence was a quality always promoted at home - I owe myown accomplishments in this field to this fact. I topped the University duringgraduation, and was the topper of my batch at IIT, Kanpur, receiving theGeneral Proficiency Prize for the best outgoing student in Maths.

In 1992, I renounced my Canadian citizenship - this was a resolution of anidentity crisis I had undergone ever since returning from Canada, since one ofthe best ways to establish a dialogue with the country's socio-cultural ethosin a constructive manner seemed to me to be a career in the Civil Services,that is what I decided to work towards.My subjects for the UPSC exam Was Psychology & English Literature - both weresubjects I had always wanted to learn. I was strongly advised to take Maths,but I would have been repeating most of the UPSC syllabus - the idea was not anattractive one.My first move was to gain a level of understanding of my subjects - a widereading was required. Later, the attempt was to apply theoretical principles tothe contemporary Indian scene. For General Studies my reading list includednewspapers like the Time of India, Economic Times Magazines included Outlook,Mainstream, India Today and Newsweek. I also joined Vajiram & Rao, Delhi, forinterview & Psychology coaching. This was helpful in so far as it acquainted mewith the orientation of the exam.Selected for the Indian Information Service (238th rank) in 1996, I took anextension and tried again.What I found important about the process of preparation is maintaining abalanced perspective - My extra-curricular interests & hobbies were not ignored- Judo, playing the violin & readingg were interests I continually followed.Above all, one must provide for career alternatives since the whole process canbe unpredictable. I had received admission from a number of US Universities totheir MBA programs. If I hadn't passed, I would have gone back. Luckily, I didnot have to make that decision.

NEELESH KUMARALL INDIA RANK - 7CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Police ServiceCadre : Not yet allottedMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESEducational Background :Till XII, Kendriya Vidyalaya at Rae Bareli, Srinagar (J&K), Bangalore andAllahabad.Passed out from XII in 1990. Jointed SCRA, Jamalpur in 1991, did Mach. Engg.and passed out in 1995.Work Experience :Trained for 1 1/2 years in various railway units and workshops and took upassignment as Assistant Mechanical Engineer in Diesel Locomotive Shed,Bangalore.Regarding Civil Service :Subjects : Maths & AnthropologyAttempts : 3Mode of Preparation : Prelims subject was Maths, didnot require much

preparation same with General Studies continued preparation for mains subjects.Mains : Prepared maths question were 70 in paper 1 and 7 in Paper II.Anthropology : Did coaching at Vaid's and practised by writing sample answers.General Studies : Had gone thru notes of Vajiram and Rao and used standardbooks.Interview : did coaching at Vajiram and Rao'sMessage : Work Hard

MANISH KUMAR SINGHALL INDIA RANK - 8CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Madhya PradeshMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESI was born in a well to do family in village - Jarha in Rewa District of M.P.My father was an engineer in M.P. Government and my mother a house wife. Ireceived my preparatory education in my village, where my mother stayed with mygrand parents. My elder brother, who was then studying in Raipur Engineeringcollege persuaded me father to send my to Raj Kumar College, a public school inRaipur.This had a tremendous influence over me and in my career. I excelled in studiesand sports at the school. I topped my board exam. and was a member of schoolfootball, cricket and hockey team from class IX onwards. I was made a setleader in school and was also the school captain for Hockey.In the meantime my brother qualified for Indian Forest Service in 1985 whichmade me think in terms of a career in Civil Services for myself. My father'suntimely death in 1984 was a shock. Then I learnt that he always wanted one ofus to be in the IAS or IPS. This made my resolution for taking civil serviceexam. strong. My cousin - Sanjay Singh introduced me to the competitivemagzines and I developed a keen interest in General Knowledge.I took my class XII-ISC board and secured good marks to qualify for admissionto BITS, Pilani, Engineering was to be a platform for me to try a shot at thisexam. I did my B.E.(hons.) Instrumentation from Pilani and graduated in 1993. Iwas not interested in going abroad or do a software job because I had alreadymade up my mind for civil services.UPSC does not offer instrumentation as an option so I decided on Electrical andElectronics along with Geography. Geography use to be my pet subject in school.To stay in Delhi University, where I felt UPSC atmosphere existed. I tookadmission in Law and secured a hostel seat.As geography was a new subject for me I joined a coaching institute. I startedworking on electrical and electronics on my own, but I did not feel confidentabout it. So, after my prelims result I choose Anthropology as my secondoption. For General Studies apart from the basic books, I retied on newspapers

- The Hindu. My first attempt took me too the interview stage.During my second attempt in 1995, the syllabus for Anthropology was reviseddrastically. Due to lack of preparation here I could not make it to theinterview even.In 1996 I worked hard and consulted D.U. teachers for Anthropology. Also forGeography my teacher guided me very well. Due to the effort of these teachers,my hard work and by the grace of god. I got through this time.

PEEYUSH KUMARALL INDIA RANK - 9CIVIL SERVICES EXAMINATION 1996.Service : Indian Administrative ServiceCadre : Andhra PradeshMY TRYST WITH THE CIVIL SERVICESHi friends!.

As I pen down this brief resume one thought that comes to me is that my lifehas been a strange mix of successes and failures. Another thing that I realise,particularly after coming to academy is that I have been quite an introvertwith very limited interests and hobbies.

I was born in Allahabad on 19th September, 1973. My father is genius inmathematics. He topped in Master of Mathematics at a tender age of 19 fromAllahabad University and became lecturar in Mathematics at GorakhpurUniversity. Later, he joined the Indian Police Service, 1978 batch, UT Cadre.My mother is a house wife. I have one brother and sister, both younger to me.My brother is doing his MBA and my sister is doing fashion designing from NIFT.

Having seen the Indian bureaucracy from close quaters both my brother andsister decided to join private sector. However, the same fact influenced myquite differently. From very early, I wanted to join the IPS following myfather's line, who has always been my role model. It was on his insistence,however, that I opted for IAS.

My early education was very irregular, on account of my father's transferrablejob. Infact, before joining DPS Mathural Road, in 7th Class I had alreadychanged as many as 11 schools. Thus, it is not difficult to guess that I wasmediocre student, finding it diffcult to manage 1st division. Only subject thatI loved was mathematics (following father's line, perhaps) however, I didmanage 1st class distinction in both X & XII after school I appeared in most ofthe prestigious engineering college but could not clear any.

I, than, took up B.Sc. (Hons.) Statistics in Hindu College, DU in 1991. It wasinfact accidental that I cam up with Statistics. I was interested inmathematics. I was advised that Statistics is applied in nature and as such has

greater scope. That was the turning point in my life with my deback inEngineering Entrance Examinations. I was very desperate and devoted myselfcompletely to Statistics. Three years of hard work and my apptitude for thesubject paid dividends. I topped DU Statistics with record marks of 92%.

After graduation I took up M. Stat at Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi. Thiswas the time when I started serious preparations for Civil Service Exam. withoptionals Anthropology and Statistics. This was the tought period of life,since itself was quite demanding. In my first attempt CSE-95 I got 143rd rank(IRTS). I also topped Indian Statistical Services - 1995, without interview(since I got IRTS, I decided to forego ISS interview).

I took one year exemption, by this time my M.Stat was over so I could devotemyself completely to CSE-96. This time things worked and I got 9th rank. Iscored 450 in Statistics paper, which to my knowledge, is all time record. TheCSE can be simple examination provided you ar very comfortable in atleast onepaper.

My hobbies are playing Chess and Vedic Mathematics.

Mr. Sorabh Babu Maheshwari (23) achieved 1st position among the successfulcandidates of the Civil Services Examination, 1999-2000. He has done B.E.(Mech.)" Planned Studies, Hard Work and INNER motivation are the Keys to Success "We publish below an exclusive interview he gave to Competition SuccessReview.CSR: What is the secret of your success in the Civil ServicesExamination?Sorabh Babu Maheshwari : There are myriad of factors responsible; to sum upGod's grace, family's support and encouragement, planned studies, hard work,inner motivation can be cited as the main factors.Q. How much time do you think one requires for serious preparation for thisexamination ?A. Atleast one year of serious dedicated preparation.Q. Which journals and newspapers have you been reading for the GeneralKnowledge and other papers ?A. Competition Success Review, General Knowledge Today, The Hindu, TheHindustan Times, Frontline and a regular reader of India TodayQ.What is your impression of the Interview Board ?A, Questions posed before a candidate are very well framed and answers to themshould be made taking into consideration all possible views and a balancedapproach is expected from a candidate.Q. What is your advice to the future aspirants ?A. The path towards this coveted service passes through many ups and downs. Tocarry oneself along these pulls and pushes requires strong inner motivation and

decision to aspire for Civil Services should come from within.Q . Competition Success Review, the largest selling youth magazine in English,has been extremely helpful because...A. ...it helped in providing ready, easy-to-use material thus saving time.Topics, which are unique to this magazine e.g.,IAS Topper Talks To You, Essays,Personality. Tests proved extremely helpful while preparing as they give goodinsight into these issues.Q. What prompted you to choose Civil Services as your career?A. the unique blend of service opportunities which Civil Services offers.Diversity of job, being a party in policy implementation, biggerresponsi bilities, social esteem and to do good to common masses were somefactors which made me to go in for Civil Services.Q. How did your parents, family and friends contribute to your success ?A. A larger part of success is attributable to them. Without the constantsupport, encouragement and boost up by family members and friends at times,this day was not possible.Q. Had you not been selected in the Civil Services Examination, what would havebeen your reaction ? Which other service career would you have gone in-optedfor?A.This year. I did well in Written Exam ,and Interview and was confident ofgetting good rank. In adverse situation of not getting selected, though sad Iwould have gone for another attempt after finding out my lacunae.Q. How would you visualise your success ?A. Combined effort of everything went in my favour. I dedicate my success to myparents and elder brother and now find myself at a platform with even biggerresponsibilities and challenges as never before.Q Whom do you attribute your success to ?A. To my eldest brother especially who has been a constant source of motivationthroughout my life span. Without whose support, I could not have achieved this.Q. What Were your Optionals for the Civil Services Examination ?A. Mathematics for Prelims; Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering for Mains.Q. What was your criterion for the selection of Optional subjects ?A. Having studied Mechanical Engg. in my graduation for 4 years, I found it anatural choice and I felt quite comfortable with Mathematics.Q. How did you prepare for your Compulsory papers?A. I made a list of topics to be read, then gave them a priority based on theirimportance and started from the top giving due time to each of them. Thisapproach was mandatorv for me as I am already in job and did not have ampletime.Q. Competition Success Review is the largest read youth magazine in English.How do you visualise the role of this magazine in moulding the careers of theyouth ?A. Since my childhood, Civil Services ,specific issues particularly the columnof 'IAS Toppers Talk To You' inspired me a lot to go for Civil Services as mycareer.Q. How did Competition Succeess Review help you in your preparation for the

interview?A. Supplements like 'My Personality Test', 'Facing The Interview Board','Improve Your Personality' and 'Group Discussion' give quite an original viewof the personality test and help us in assessing our deficiencies beforehandand taking corrective measures.Q. What is your opinion about Competition Success Review?A. Competition Success Review is indispensable for aspirants to Civil Servicesand other competitive exams. It is helping, candidates a lot. It is a part ofstudy material.Q. What is your opinion about General Knowledge Today?A. More information ' i less space is the buzzword for General Know1cdgr Today.It provides quite handy, ready-to-use facts, database and information and assuch is quite useful during revision hours.Q. What do you think is the better way of preparation between selective,intensive study and wide, extensive study ?A. Wide extensive study should be followed by selective intensive study.Q. Is the pattern of the examination appropriate for selection ? Would yourecommend any improvement?A. By and large, the pattern of examination is good. Efforts, however, shouldbe made to reduce the shell time of the whole process in line with other exams.Q. Do you feel that there should be no restriction on the number of attempts ?A. Current policy of restricting attempts checks non-serious candidates andprevents flooding up of the exam. This should continue. ,Q. With the resumption of Essay paper in UPSC examinations, we are giving foursenior essays every month. Is this focus oriented, analytical, feature helpfulfor the TAS aspirants ?A. Definitely yes. Best way to prepare for Essay paper is through carefulreading of these well-crafted essays by top slot authors. It sharpens thewriting ability and boosts confidence.Q. How do you think Competition Success Review could be more useful to thecandidates appearing in the Civil Services and various other competitiveexaminations ?A. At present, it focusses only on General Studies aspects. Recent trends andpractices in various Optionals should be published to make candidates moreaware. Some more model question papers should also be given.( Courtesy: Competition Success Review. )For a better score in the General studies paper, you need to prepare at leastfive of the sections listed below very thoroughly:

1. The Indian Polity (Including the Constitution of India)2. Indian Economics (Including a brief on all the five year plans sinceindependence)3. Science & Technology in India (Including newer developments worldwide)4. The History of Modern India (Including social reforms prior to independence)5. Statistical data evaluation6. Current events (Including awards, books, authors, places in news since last

year)7. Thoughts of Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore

As the exams are due next month itself, we will not advise you to change yourstrategies now. However, following is the area we would suggest you to read atleast once before the D-day.

Indian Polity:· Q: Briefly mention why and how the Chapter on Directive Principles gainedprecedence over the chapter on Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution.(about 250 words)· Q: How the President of India can be impeached? (about 250 words)· Q: Both the Governor and the President derive their authority from theConstitution. Who in your view has been empowered with more constitutionalpowers? Site relevant articles and areas (about 250 words)· Q: The emphasis in modern India should be on a collective federation ratherthan division and separation. Discuss this statement in the context of IndianPolity.· Q: In 1956 the states Reorganisation Act was passed. After nearly fourdecades, how far has the linguistic basis of reorganisation contributed tonational integration?

Indian Economics:· To accelerate the reform and modernisation process of the tax system, whatare the new proposals, which the government has introduced since last 5 years?· Critically analyse the government's policies on disinvestment of the PublicSector Enterprise shares?· Give a brief description of the inflation scenario during the past financialyear? Suggest measures to control the escalating inflation?· What new approach has been adopted by the government in the TelecommunicationSector?· Task ahead is tougher than what it looks. Discuss with reference to theeconomic reforms?

Science & Technology:· Discuss the impact of gene mapping success on human lives? OrDiscuss in brief the "Human Genome Project?"· What do you understand by the WAP technology in terms of telecommunication?· After the string of recent successes, India's missile programme has added anew dimension to the nation's capability. Briefly assess the missile programmein the country?· What are wetlands? What is their significance? What are the major drawbacksconfronting the wetlands in India and suggest measures for their remedy?· What are Jet streams and El Nino?