CSE Interview: IAS Topper Mutyalaraja

Interview took place on 17th april in New Delhi for 35 mins
Raju: May I come in Sir? Chairman: Yes, please. Raju: Good morning, Sir. Good morning, Madam. Good morning, Sirs. Chairman: You are Mr... Raju: (Still in standing position), Matyalaraju Revu Sir. (Chairman is writing something. Other members are keenly watching the candidate.) Member 2: Please take your seat. Raju: Thank you, sir. Chairman: Mr. Revu, You did B.Tech from REC Warangal, ME from IISc, Bangalore. But why did you do diploma? Raju: Sir, After completion of my 10th class, based on my financial background, my father joined me in polytechnic. After completion of polytechnic, we do get jobs. Also, since I will get scholarship, the amount of money spent on me is less. Chairman: That means you will get job after diploma. Raju: Yes Sir, I got a private job. Company is Cain energy limited. Chairman: Then, why did you join B.Tech? Raju: Sir, After completion of my diploma, I wrote ECET and I got state 1st rank. So I convinced my father that I will join REC which is a premier Engineering institute in our state. Chairman: Then, you joined ME because your father insisted on that? Raju: No Sir, It is based on my project guide ճ suggestion.
Sir, infact there are two streams to enter into B.Tech. One through EAMCET after Intermediate and other is through ECET. After ECET...
Chairman: What question I have asked? Raju: Sorry Sir, you have asked me why I joined ME after B.Tech. Chairman: OK. Then stick on to the question. Raju: Sir, I am explaining it. Chairman: Be specific. Raju: OK sir, during my final year I got all India rank 3 in Gate. My guide on knowing this result suggested me to join IISc. He further told that this is the golden opportunity for me. ԉf you miss it you will not get it again! ՠ he told sir. Then, I informed about my career option as civil services. He then convinced me by saying that I can write civil services after M.E. also.
Chairman: That means you are preparing for civil services while you are in IISc? Raju: I beg to differ with you sir. I started my preparation only after completion of M.E. Chairman: You have written that you joined Railways in September 2004. That is of which exam? Raju: Sir, This is based on IES-2003. Chairman: That means you are in IISc. Raju: Sir, I completed my second semester at that time. Chairman: That means you have prepared for IES in IISc. Raju: Sir, I have given IES in my own background i.e., Electrical Engineering. Hence I need not prepare much for this exam. I just gave the exam. Chairman: For how many years you are in Railways? Raju: Sir, I joined Railways on September 2004. Then I took leave for 1 year, i.e., leave on loss of pay. Chairman: What did you do in that year? Raju: Sir, I have prepared for this exam. Chairman: How many months you are in Railways? Raju: Sir, roughly 5 months. Chairman: That means you are in Railways till February. Raju: Sir, I am in Railways till the result of civil services exam 2005 was out. I was given leave for interview preparation in March. Chairman: Then what did you do after the declaration of the result? Raju: Sir, Once the result of out, I came to know that I will get IPS. So, I convinced my director for leave to appear civil services again. My director gave me leave. Chairman: When did you join IPS? Raju: Sir, I joined IPS on December 18, 2006. Chairman: Which part of training you missed? Raju: Sir, I missed foundation training in Mussorie. At SVPNPA, training started on December 18, 2006. So, I haven մ missed any training at Hyderabad. Chairman: How many days you have taken leave for interview? Raju: Sir, 4 days.
Member 2: How was your IPS training? Raju: Sir, training is good and we are enjoying every aspect of training. member 2: What are you learning in training? Raju: Sir, our training is divided into two parts. Indoor and outdoor. In indoor, we have subjects like police in modern India, criminology and law subjects like IE Act, CrPC, IPC and other subjects. Member 2: You are in IPS for 4 months. So I can ask some questions. Raju: Yes, sir. Member 2: Do you aware that the confession admitted to police is not allowed as witness. Why? Raju: Yes sir. Confession admitted to police is not allowed as witness. Since there is always a possibility of getting the confession in the way the police like, law doesn մ allow it. Member 2: What is Res gestae? Raju: Sir, All the circumstances leading to the same transaction are allowable as evidence. Member 2: You are on the line. Could you explain more? Raju: (after 2-3 seconds), If some people wanted to commit dacoity and in the process if they theft a vehicle, eventhough theft of vehicle is not connected with dacoity but it is admissible as it forms the circumstance leading to dacoity. Member 2: Could you tell me the section which deals with Res gestae? Raju: Sorry sir, I could not remember the exact section. Member 2: Then how sections you were taught in IE Act? Raju: Sir, In our academy our sirs are not teaching according to sections. They are teaching the sections which are more useful for the police at first. Member 2: Do you aware of RTI? Raju: Yes. Sir. It is Right to Information Act. Member 2: What are the provisions in RTI? Raju: Sir, According to provisions of RTI, every government department has to nominate one officer as information commissioner to give information about duties, responsibilities and functions of various officers working in those departments... Member 2: Then what is the benefit to common man? Raju: Sir, Common man can know the functions, duties & responsibilities of various officers. They can know the status of their applications. This also increases transparency and accountability of officers. Hence reduces corruption. Member 2: How can you say that people will get required information? Raju: Sir, There is a provision in RTI that any one who refuses to give information or delays 30 days for giving information, they are liable for cut in salary. Member 2: How much salary cut? Raju: Sir, I think it is 250 Rs./ day. Member 2: It is not cut from salary. It is separately cut. Raju: Thank you Sir. Member 2: Can you tell me what is the maximum limit? Raju: Sorry sir, I don մ know.
Chairman: Your hobbies are meditation, motivating others and Indian Mythology. Don մ you think that all are inward looking? Raju: Sir, Whenever possible I play cricket in addition my hobbies, which is a team game.
Member 2: Tell me which countries will reach final in the present world cup? Raju: Sir, I think Australia and Srilanka. Member 2: Already two countries reached semifinals i.e., Sri Lanka & Newzealand. What do you think about other two? Raju: Sir, I beg to differ with you. Actually three countries i.e., Srilanka, New Zealand and Australia reached semifinals. 4th team depends on the outcome of the today ճ match between England & South Africa. Member 2: Do you know about fly ash? Raju: Sir, Thermal power stations produce fly ash while generating electrical power. Member 2: Which state is using it more? Definitely it is not Haryana, My own state. Raju: Sorry Sir, I don մ know.
Member 3 : (X-A) (X-B) has highest X power of 2. Do you agree? Raju: Yes, Sir. Member 3: (X-A) (X-B) (X-C) has highest X power... Raju: 3, Sir. Member 3: Then, tell me. What is the answer for (X-A) (X-B).... (X-Z). Raju: (after 3-4 seconds), It must be Zero. Sir, because of the presence of the term (X-X). Member 3: Whom do you think a greatest mathematician of all times? Raju: Sir, Srinivasa Ramanujan, because even though he lived for only 33 years, he contributed more to mathematics in the areas like Numerical methods, Solution of algebraic equations, number theory like prime numbers etc.
Member 3: Can you tell me the formula for prime numbers? Raju: Sir, exactly I don մ know but recently IIT, Kanpur professor along with his students wrote a software program which gives whether a number is prime or not within less time. Member 3: You are an electrical engineer. Tell me where prime numbers are used? Raju: Sir, they are used in coding. Member 3: I am asking a question in your engineering only. Tell me how prime numbers are used in coding? Raju: Sir, exactly I don մ know. But to the best of my knowledge, if the code length is prime, decoding and encoding are easy. Member 3: You are on the line, but not exact answer. Member 1: Your hobbies are meditation, motivating others and Indian Mythology. What you do in motivation? Raju: Madam, many of classmates and Juniors came to me for clearing their doubts in subjects as I am the toper of my class. I usually listen to their problems regarding their understanding of concepts as many have problems either in one or many subjects. I tell them that every subject is easy if knew the concepts clear and we should like the subject what we are studying... Madam: Do your response same for all? Raju: Madam, I usually spend more time with those who are very much lagging. I take classes to clear their doubts. Madam: Then do you call it motivation or strategic learning? Raju: Madam, strategic learning may be the correct term. Madam: What is the difference between these two? Raju: Madam, motivation is a general term which includes not only academic motivation but also others like psychological, etc., Madam, I don մ know exactly the meaning of strategic learning.
Madam: Which books you read in Indian Mythology? Raju: Madam, I read Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Madam: Since your hobbies are motivating others and Indian Mythology, tell me how Krishna motivated Arjuna? Raju: Madam, When Arjuna refused to fight with friends, teachers, Krishna told him that it is the duty of the king to protect Dharma and fight wars for protecting it. We should not move away from our duty. Since soul is immortal and of which is born, death is certain, of which death happened, birth is certain. Hence you should not think that you are committing crime. Also he motivated him by saying that we should do our work only. We should not think about the results of our actions. Otherwise, attachment to the results will occur which is a major reason for unhappiness.
Madam: Do you practise it? Raju: Madam, It is very difficult to practise.
Madam: Why? Raju: Madam, for example, if we are about to play a cricket match, we will think about the winning of the match which is actually the result of the playing that match.
Madam: One last question. What kind of training our team got during our last year world cup? Raju: Madam, exactly I am not able to recollect it. But it is like ҷe can do it this time Ӽ /span> Madam: Sorry, It is not last year world cup but it is 2003 world cup. The team was given psychological training. Raju: Yes, Madam Member 4: You studied your B.Tech. from REC Warangal and M.E. from IISc Bangalore. Do you proud of your institutions like IISc? Raju: Sir, I am proud that I have studied in a great institution like IISc, which according UNESCO survey conducted in 1997 was in 18th place among world universities. Recently a Chinese university conducted a survey in which IISc was placed at around 250th position. Member 4: Do you think that 250th position is a good position? Raju: Sir, even though it is not a good position, the position depended on the parameters they have taken into consideration like no. of nobel laureates present, no. of research papers presented, etc. Member 4: Who are nobel laureate present in IISc? Raju: Sir, now there is no nobel laureate in IISc. Earlier Sir C.V.Raman worked in IISc. Now, there are two internationally reputed professors working there. Member 4: Last year government proposed to stop B.Tech entry into IITs. Do you support that? Raju: Sir, I support it. Sir, due to hectic schedule, the professors of IITs are not able to concentrate much on research. Once the B.Tech entry is stopped, they will get more time for research and quality of research will increase. Member 4: Don մ you think the quality of B.Tech students will reduce as IITs are known for better professors? Raju: Sir, those students who are earlier eligible for entry into IITs, they will join NITs. Since they are the core students I don մ think the quality will reduce. But the professors in other institutes should get sufficient training to reach the level of IIT professors. Member 4: You agree to that proposal. But the government has withdrawn the proposal due to very good argument against it. Can you tell me? Raju: Sorry sir, I don մ know. Member 4: What do you think is responsible for reduction in research? Raju: Sir, IISc is not able to retain those students who completed M.E. and other courses there. One reason is brain drain, Sir. Second one is that research is not attractive in India, Sir. For example, in our batch out of 230 students who completed M.E. only 2 joined for Ph.D. in IISc. At the end of our M.E. we got campus placements. The minimum salary is around 6 lakhs/ annum. It is attracting most of us. Those who are really interested in research, they are going abroad as they will get more money and research is attractive there. Here, a Ph.D. student gets 12,000 - 15,000 Rs per month. Also material considerations have risen these days, sir. We have to include some compulsory courses in morale & ethics to stop this. Member 4: Instead of choosing job or research, why did you choose services as career option? Raju: Sir, The incident that took place in my village in November 2000, when I am in 3rd year of B.Tech, has changed my career options. Nearby Engineering college students came to our village for picnic as our village has excellent beach. 7 of them drowned in the Bay of Bengal and all of them has taken sand into their lungs in addition to water. Since our village is an island, there are no transportation, medical & meagre educational facilities, it took 2 hours to reach nearest town which is 16 Km away from my village. By that time, 6 out 7 were died, Sir.
Chairman: You are telling about an incident in your village. In that case who will respond first? Raju: (3-4 seconds silence) Chairman: Whether it is Block development officer, Doctor, or Police. Raju: Sir, It is the police to respond first. Chairman: Then, you are in IPS. Why did you come? Raju: Sir, even for police it took 2 hours to reach that place as there is not enough transportation facilities. Chairman: Thank you. Raju: Thank you, Sir. Thank you, Madam. Thank you, Sirs.

Interview Experience: Remya J. CSE-2006 17th Rank

Panel: Dr.Bhure Lal
Here is a rough transcript of iview
Lasted 35 minutes….
C’Person: Welcome, Remya, Sit Down.
Me: Thank You Sir
C’person: So you are an MBA?
Me:Yes, Sir
C’person: Are you working now?
Me: No, sir I am self-employed.
CP: I see, what do you do?
Me: I run an online business.
CP: Oh, do tell me about it
Me: (Explained the details)
CP: I really need to learn about these online things. Can I join you? (Laughs)
Me: definitely Sir.
CP: So, Remya, your Optional is Public Administration, tell me about the 73rd and 74th amendment acts.
Me: I explain
CP: You say you write on womens issues as a free lance journalist. What are the provisions in these acts for women?
CP:Speaking of reservation for women, what is your stand on the issue?
Me: I am personally against it(explained my reasons)
CP:do not let the ladies hear you(laughs)
CP:So ,if not reservation, then what else can empower women, how would you go about it?
I explained a three-pronged systematic approach for the same.
CP: What are the three categories of the ration system?
Me: APL, BPL and I do not recollect the 3rd, sir
CP: It is antyodaya…do you know what antyodaya means?
Me: The poorest of the poor
CP:explains the term in detail.So what in your view can be done is a state like Punjab which is very different from a place like yours(kerala) .
Me: I explained the low sex ratio in Punjab, causes of the same and ways to tackle it.
CP:Is kerala self-sufficient in food grains?
Me: No, kerala is a consumerist state, food grains are grown only on a small scale.The main crops of kerala are cash crops like cashew, rubber,pepper etc.
M1:Who is the president of India?
How is the president elected?
What value do the votes of the MP’s/MLA’s of different states have in the presidential election?
Does the value of the vote of an MLA from UP and Kerala have the same weightage?
How can the president be impeached?
How is the vice-president elected?
M2: Kerala is so forward on most indices of human development, but there are temples where women are not allowed,why?
I spoke about the problems at sabarimala, where recently a controversy erupted on the issue.
What kind of music does Mr.Yesudas sing?classical or Hindustani?
Why do Christians in kerala have a grudge against him?
M3: name 3 women leaders of the world.
I named ellen Johnson sirleaf, Portia simpson miller and Helen Clarke
M3: what about women in our neighbourhood?
I names Khaleda Zia
M3:the developing world has had so many women leaders.why is it that a powerhouse such as the USA doesn’t have a president yet?sociological reasons?
M3:there is a view that prostitution must be legalized.what is your view?
I mentioned that I had written many articles in the media regarding the topic and I was against legalization.i mentioned the failure of the experiment in Sweden and reasons for the same.
M3:What is the reason for high unemployment is kerala? How would you tacke it as a govt official?
M4: What are the indiced of underdevelopment? What is HDI?components of HDI? He explained the additional aspects of underdevelopment to me.
M4:What are the qualities you would look for in your subordinate as an officer?
I mentioned two qualities:sensitivity to needs of beneficiary and efficiency
M4: suppose you have two subordinates: one efficient and corrupt, other inefficient and honest, wich one would you keep and why?If you had to deal with both, then how would you do it?
CM: ok, Remya.I hope you are not planning to become a politician…
Me: Not at the moment, sir..
Everybody laughs..
CM: You will make a very good leader…
Me: Thank You sir…
They also quizzed me on the technical details of Kyoto protocol, global warming and about commonwealth games when it is to be held and whether I took the view that sporting events such as this are a waste of public money for countries like India
Do write in with all your opinions
ThanksRemya J

Success story of K.Nandkumar CSE-2006


The 2006 competitive examinations for India's civil services is notable for the number of young people from non privileged backgrounds who feature in the merit list. Again, for the first time, none from India's elite metros appeared in the top ten.Topping the Union Public Services Commission examination is Revu Muthyala Raju, a farmer's son and a member of the so-called Other Backward Classes, whose amazing story we will chronicle later in this special series. No less incredible are the stories of the other toppers. Like K Nandakumar, a lorry driver's son, whose success story we chronicle today.There is, prima facie, something condescending about such headlines; an unstated presumption, almost, that a lorry driver's son topping a competitive exam is a freak show of sorts.K Nandakumar's parents don't think so; they see their son not as some freak of nature, but as a young man who knew what he wanted, and went after it, surmounting obstacles as chance, and circumstance, threw them in his path."He was always a serious student," mother K Lakshmi says. "During school days he never used to go out to play. He used to go for tuitions from six to eight in the morning and again from five to eight in the evening. During exams, he studied till midnight and beyond. And in between, he was in school -- so there really was no time to play."Amusement, as we know it, was limited to a weekend game of cricket, of the limited variety -- limited, in this case, not by the number of overs, but the amount of time Nandakumar could spare for such frivolity: exactly an hour a week.Nandakumar's academic curve is typical of the no-pain, no-gain formulation that increasingly defines the Indian student. Up until the 12th standard, he studied in the Namakkal Government South School, an institution where the medium of instruction was Tamil.With 1,018 marks out of a possible 1,200 in his Higher Secondary exams, he went to the Pollachi Mahalingam College for an engineering degree.Economic constraints, and the feeling that he needed to pitch in to help his father run the household, led to a six-month stint with a private company in Coimbatore. During this period, he attempted to work days, then study nights -- but when work, and the resultant fatigue, began impacting on his studies, he quit to focus on the Indian Administrative Service exams.

The first time he sat for the UPSC exams, he failed. On his second go-round, he ranked 350th -- a result that parlayed into a job with the Indian Railways.Though his sights were set on the IAS, it wasn't easy spurning the job that had come his way -- his background just did not give him such luxuries.Father M Karuppannan, of Mamarthapetti village in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district, had stopped his own education at the SSC level, and went to work in the paddy fields of his native village.That proved a dead end, so Karuppannan had joined a local lorry service, as a 'cleaner'. During that stint, which lasted two years, he learnt to drive and got his license; he then parlayed that into a job as a driver, and with a relatively steady job in hand, married Lakshmi. The couple had two children: Nandakumar, now 26 and Aravindkumar, now 20.The household ran on Karuppannan's income; as the two boys moved up the academic rungs, expenses escalated and the family finances were stretched impossibly thin.Given this, Nandakumar could not ignore the bird in hand that was the Railways job, while dreaming of the IAS job he hoped to land some day.So he joined the Railways, and began the required training. Nights, he shrugged off the fatigue, and studied for yet another attempt at the big one.This year marked his third -- and, to his mind, final, attempt. When the results came in, his first reaction was relief; that of his parents, pride.He had ranked 30th all India; in his native Tamil Nadu, where he had taken the exam in his mother tongue, he topped the charts.Lakshmi, seated in her home in Tiruchirappalli, where the family moved from Namakkal three years ago, now anticipates her son's homecoming. He has not, she says, managed to get leave for a trip home, after the results were announced; hopefully he will come sometime in June, and the family will celebrate.

She is used to Nandakumar being away from home. When he was studying for his engineering degree, she says, he stayed in the hostel and only came home during holidays.The mother paints a picture of a son focused, to the exclusion of all else, on studies, on the relentless march to his self-appointed goal of becoming an IAS officer. Even when he was in hostel, she says, all he did was study. He didn't like movies; he only had a small circle of friends.Lakshmi is most happy for her husband. "He grew up facing great difficulties and I too come from a poor background. Thus we know the value of money and have always saved. We never waste money. All our life, we have saved to educate our sons."Even now, the grind that she has been witness to, part of, for 27 years is far from ending: Karuppannan continues to drive his lorry, going wherever the load takes him, returning whenever he is done with his deliveries. There is, Lakshmi points out, the younger son still to worry about.Aravindkumar is currently in his second year, working towards his own engineering degree. One year's worth of education costs Rs one lakh (Rs 100,000), she says -- and that is about all her husband can earn.To put food on the table, Lakshmi invested in a sewing machine, and works from home. "I make about one hundred rupees a day, and that takes care of the household expenses," she says, with the smile of a woman who is proud of pulling her freight in the partnership she has with her husband.They have a small two-room house -- but, she points out, it is their own. "My husband will continue to drive his lorry till our second son finishes college," she says.

The mother meanwhile is busy planning how to "settle down" her elder son. "We will find a good girl for him; we don't want dowry or anything, just that she must be a good girl, a good wife for my son."He will agree to an arranged marriage," she says, almost as an afterthought. For her, it is inconceivable that her son, who in all his 26 years has shown no thought for anything other than his academic goal, would have a mind of his own on this subject.She still cannot get over the day she heard the news. "He always used to say he would become famous -- but when he called me (on May 14) and told me the news, my first reaction was to tell him he was lying."Once she realised that her son had found the pot of gold at the end of his particular rainbow, she and her husband rushed to share the news with their relatives, friends.The first real intimation of what Nandakumar had achieved came when Ashish Vachchani, Tiruchi's District Collector, visited their home to felicitate the couple on their son's success.Close on his heels came Murthy, an IAS officer who had previously served in Tiruchi and who was now in neighbouring Karur district.To Karuppannan and Lakshmi, for whom a 'Collector' is only a remove or two from celestial beings and just as unapproachable, to have two such persons visit their humble home was exhilarating; those visits brought home to them, in graphical fashion, the fact that her son was now the equal of these exalted beings.Aravindkumar, happy though he is for his elder brother, has no intention of following in those footsteps; his ambition is to graduate, then find work as an engineer.

His elder sibling, Aravind says, is a "jolly fellow" who would help with studies, who taught him chess and yoga. Nandakumar's success has, he says, given him cachet with his own friends in college, some of whom plan to write the UPSC exam."I have given them my brother's number, so they can ask him for tips," Aravind says, with more than a hint of pride.For both Aravind and Nandakumar, their parents are "our gods". "We are proud of our father," Aravind says. "He is very hardworking and very thrifty."At the centre of all the attention, Nandakumar is a bit bewildered by it all -- especially his sudden, unlooked for fame.There is no secret to success, he says, seemingly puzzled that someone would even ask. "It was hard work and nothing else," he says. "It was a group effort. We are five friends who studied together."The friends went together to trawl through the market, looking for books relating to the civil services; they then pored over their finds. Newspapers were devoured cover to back page, with meticulous care."For current affairs, they usually ask questions about the last one year, so you have to read a lot of newspapers," Nandakumar points out.Like his younger brother, Nandakumar too believes that if there is a "secret" to his "success", it is his father."I am lucky to have a very friendly father," Nandakumar says. "He is very understanding. I can discuss anything with him. More than a father, he is a friend.""He always allowed me to express my thoughts freely. Because of his job, he has had exposure to people and places all over India; maybe that is why he has given me so much freedom to express myself."Down time with his father is a rare commodity since he is always behind the wheel of his lorry, travelling to wherever work takes him."My father doesn't even have a mobile; when he gets somewhere, he calls, and that is how we stay in touch." Nandakumar recalls how, when he passed the UPSC and got a job with the Railways, it was over a month before he could share the news with his father.


Courtesy: Rediff.com