I remember June 3, 2010 when he took a leap of faith,
decided to leave his well-settled job and march towards a path, where the
chances of success are low but is surely a life changing experience.
He was my flatmate during his 2 years of stay in Mumbai.
When he left for Delhi ,
I always used to think that he is going overboard with the thought for
appearing for exam which is one of the toughest in all measures.
I recall the discussions and his 4 lines of conflicting
thoughts to ponder, 1) continue with his current corporate job, 2) go for MBA
and restart with the corporate life again 2 years later, 3) do masters at one
of IITs for which he tried to work with one of the profs at IITB for 2 week,
and 4) clear the CSE exam and take a government job.
He happened to prepare for the CAT exam also once. I also
appeared for the exam along with him. While he was decent-to-good in English
subject, he was very average in other sections. We also joined one of the CAT
preparation institutes. He was definitely not the one who used to put some
extraordinary hours either in work or in studies - I m pointing towards being
not extremely hard working. He was quite smart on arguments over any general
issues (not that we used to discuss national issues everyday).
In Delhi ,
journey started from Rajendra Nagar - one of the hubs for aspirants, where they
(he along with 3 more friends) took a 3 BHK flat. For them it was slightly
early start to preparation, seeing that the prelims exam was still 9-10 months
away. The electives were broadly decided before arriving in Delhi (Public Administration and Psychology
in his case). Whenever I (and other common friends) visited Delhi , we used to spend a night at their
home. It used to be a refreshing change for them from everyday's monotonous
schedule. A small dining place called "Omellete", across the road,
used to be favorite hangout place. Fights with neighbors, mess by domestic
dogs, altercations over the house issues, were some of the funny incidents,
which would be cherishable for life.
Days went by, seasons changed but there was no end to the
slogging. The popular The Hindu newspaper, NCERT Books, vajiram notes, Test
series, class discussions and post test analysis became part and parcel of
their life. Some tests went fine while others not so much. Frustrating part of
these test series were that many times the test copies were not checked, so you
don’t actually come to know about the performance. Nevertheless, these were
still good test practices.
After some 9-10 months of labor, the prelims exam came by,
which ended up being a piece of cake. I believe, the inclusion of CSAT in the
prelims makes the preposition slightly simpler for engineers and MBAs. Soon the
result came, and all of sudden time appeared to be short for the Mains
examination. Time flew and the big day was around the corner. And ofcourse it's
normal to feel nervous about the final day. Having too much anxiety, pressure
to perform, 16-17 months of labor, the feeling of having too much on stake,
still managing to keep the nerves under control was a big ask. While some
relief perspired as exam days came by and went, the usual uncertainty about how
the exam went prevailed. Result for the level 2 came and stage was set level 3.
The board was of Madam Alka Sirohi and there was chance to redress in the
interview suit, first time after the IITK campus placement interview. The
interview went well and we soon got to read the interview transcript (The
transcript link: http://rishigarg85.blogspot.in/2012/03/candidates-were-allowed-to-enter.html).
People/aspirants spread all sorts of rumors for the potential result dates. May
4th, 2012, around 23 months since the dawn of studies, it became a fact that he
is a civil servant. Probably the happiest day of his life till that point. He
joined IRS, while still deciding to give another attempt being in the service.
Unfortunately, the other 3 friends couldn’t get through the exam as the
unpredictable nature of the exam and the competition took the toll. Two of them
reappeared again. Clearly, the civils
exam is a bad habit, which doesn’t leave you easily.
While the epic period of 2 years of struggle came to an end
for him, the second time it was more chillax, less burdensome and clearly less
tense. With most the static course already in mind, the dynamic part i.e. the
current affairs was more of focus. It was largely online based study in the
second attempt. The exam days arrived again. While the prelims again was not an
issue to worry, and mains remained the tricky exam to pass through. In the
meantime, he had already joined the NACEN institute in
Why I think some people have reservation against the profile
of civils’ job is, 1) corporate job looks lucrative initially ... atleast; 2)
selection process/exam appears too difficult, 3) conception that post joining
the service, one would have to spend life in non-metros; 4) service would
involve lot of transfers, among others; 5) service would involve lot of
sycophancy and licking of ministers. There are "n" numbers of factors
which go in for one to secure even a rank, leave aside getting to the top 100.
Truly, you are an inspiration!!!
