Interviewing the Toppers: Aniket Mandavgane.

1. Name: Aniket Govind Mandavgane.
2. Age/DOB: 22 years. (31.10.1986)
3. Educational Background (with passing year): BE(Mechanical), passed out in September 2008.
4. Exam: CSE 2008.
5. Roll number: 283271.
6. All India Rank: 29.
7. Category: G.
8. Service Allocated:
9. Service Preference (top 5): IFS, IAS, IPS, IRS(IT), IRS(C&E).
10. Number of Attempts: 1.
11. Score:
1. Essay:126
2. GS:320 (169,151)
   
3. Optional 1 (History):344 (167,177)
   
4. Optional 2 (Political Sc.):303 (164,139)
   
5. Total:1093.
6. Interview:200.
7. Grand Total:1293.

Q: Why first IFS and not IAS?

Ans: I think issues like Terrorism, Energy security, Global Warming, Investments, etc. we are facing today, must be handled well. India has an immense role to play in today’s world and its image needs to be projected well. It was my dream to be a part of the elite team that represents India at the world stage.

Q: That means serving India differently?

Ans: Yes, in correct words, that's what I mean, a completely different dimension of service to nation.

Q: Moving on, since when you are preparing or rather planning for CSE?

Ans: I am preparing for UPSC from 2006-07 i.e. my 3rd year engineering.

Q: As a student, how were you in school and college?

Ans: I had secured 90% in 10^th, 77% in 12th science & I've got 65% in my final year of engineering (56% aggregate). Not very impressive yes but still I managed to clear civils.

Q: Were you too an IITian or a student of similar elite institutes?

Ans: No, I did my engineering from Pune University.

Q: Were you actively involved in some sports or extra-curricular activities too?

Ans: Not much, I was the co-editor of college magazine Srujan. I was also involved in quizzing and organized a few too.

Q: And these helped in civils prep to some degree?

Ans: Yeah they did, especially quizzing helped me a lot. It boosted my general awareness, so I didn’t have to study much for the GS papers.

Q: Coming to optionals, how did you select your optionals? When you had engineering background, why didn't you choose science subjects?

Ans: History was a subject of my liking. I had already decided that I'm going to have it as one of my optionals without even going through the syllabus.

For Political Science I went through the syllabus and previous years’ question papers. In it, I found the thinkers part very challenging but then it also overlapped a lot with GS. I found it great to write the answers, so I chose it. I also got guidance from Dharmadhikari Sir, the founder of Chanakya Mandal Pariwar.

Q: Your decision of having history as an optional, was based on a hunch. Is it correct to say that people do well in subjects they like, whatever be the trend?

Ans: Very true, but again I must warn, one should choose a subject as an optional only if you really like & understand it.

Q: Moving from optionals to strategies, what was your strategy for prelims?

Ans: I didn't have different strategy for prelims and mains. I just planned to cover the syllabus and comprehend each and every aspect of it, for both prelims as well as mains. Apart from that, I solved a lot of multiple choice questions for prelims.

As I was doing my BE alongside, I got very little time for preparation. I had to complete my project also. But my friends helped me a lot to overcome this limitation. They used to ask me questions from books, papers, etc. all the time so that I could get the matter easily. Friends are always Lifesavers!

Q: People face a lot of problems dealing with CSE, taking attempt after attempt, some fail some succeed. But you hit all the right spots in your first attempt itself. How?

Ans: Maybe I was always at the right place at the right time. . . Actually it was my motivation, I simply had to do it or else I had to join some engineering firm. My parents & Sir were my motivation. I kept on saying to myself that I am the best and it's not very difficult to be a ranker in first attempt!

Pranayam and meditation also helped a lot in this process.

Q: Please tell us about your daily schedule and your time management.

Ans: I used to attend my engineering college from 10 am to 5 pm, apart from that time I attended lectures at Chanakya Mandal from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm.

Barring that time I devoted the remaining time to UPSC studies. I didn't follow a particular schedule; I just kept myself a target of syllabus to be completed everyday & finished it before sleeping. So the sleeping time wasn't fixed.

I had developed a habit of reading since early age, so my reading speed is quite high. It helped me to complete the syllabus in less time otherwise with 4-5 hrs of study it would have been next to impossible to clear UPSC.

Q: With reference to "the daily target" above, did you read both optionals and gs everyday or alternated between them?

Ans: I used to read both everyday.

Q: With reference to "habit of reading" above, does that mean you read general books too?

Ans: yeah, lots of them as reading is my hobby. It helped me with the essay too.

Q: Should the aspirants too develop a habit of general reading?

Ans: I really and personally urge all aspirants to develop a habit of reading. Reading a variety of books, fiction as well as non-fiction.

Q: Can you suggest a few which can be 'useful' or rather act as starters?

Ans: I feel Jeffrey Archer, John Grisham and Frederick Forsyth are great as starters.

Q: Can you also suggest names of some good non-fictions writers too.

Ans: Thomas Friedman, Samuel Huntington, Francis Fukuyama. The writings of the leaders of our National Movement are very inspiring & they also give you an insight into that period.

Q: For many, a very troublesome aspect of GS mains is Current Affairs and Economy, how did you prepare for these?

Ans: I covered Current affairs from Newspapers only. I read the Hindu, the Asian Age and the Indian Express.

For Economy, thankfully the section was renamed by UPSC as India's Economic Interaction with the world, so it came close to Current affairs and Political Science, so no special prep was necessary. I also used the Penguin dictionary of Economics and special issues of Civil Service Times for it.

Q: Please tell us how to read a newspaper or what to read in a newspaper.

Ans: Start by scanning through the newspaper first and then make notes. Then compare the notes with the events from Chronicle or Civil Service Times. In a week or two you yourself will come to know what’s important for UPSC and what’s not. Then you have to simply ignore the useless matter.

For mains, read the editorial & op-ed pages & try to form your opinions & draw your own conclusions.

Q: Coming over to coaching institutes, first tell us why should one join a coaching? How you made the decision and the coachings you attended?

Ans: I think a good coaching institute is necessary to give you an orientation & an insight into the subject. I did all my coaching (prelims, mains and interview) at Chanakya Mandal Pariwar, Pune set up Dharmadhikari Sir who is an ex-IAS. It is his personal guidance that helped me in achieving this great success.

Q: Now a ritual of sorts, which books you referred for GS, History and Pol Sci.

Ans: Oh... please, it’s the standard list, nothing different. We can certainly save on this.

Q: Please tell us about your family background.

Ans: I have a great spiritual background. My dad stays at Varangaon in Bhusawal Taluka in Jalgaon District of Maharashtra where he manages our ancestral temple. While in Pune, he is an investment consultant. My mom is a Kirtankar. I have a younger sister who is studying Arts from SP College, Pune.

I stay in Pune with my maternal grandmother.

Q: Is there any significant event that motivated you to join civil services?

Ans: I listened to a number of Dharmadhikari Sir’s lecture on Radio and read his articles in newspapers. These motivated me a lot.

Q: Moving on to the interview, can you please give us a brief outline of your interview?

Ans: My interview was with Lt. Gen. Nirbhay Sharma Board. I was asked questions about Pune, freedom fighters and social reformers from Pune, Water problems & problems due to international students in Pune, etc.

Then a lot of question about India's foreign policy, Gujaral Doctrine, India-China relations, Role of IFS, etc.

Favorite period in History, Why?

E. Shreedharan and Konkan Railway Corporation, The problem of land acquisition in Hyderabad Metro Rail.

CAD/CAM: its uses & applications.

That’s all.

Q: Any interesting question or happening during your interview you would like sharing with us?

Ans: Actually the start was itself very interesting and unusual. They asked me to tell them all the questions that I was most expected to get from them, according to mock interviews. Then they asked me whether they should ask only those questions or something else? I told them to ask something new as the answers would be spontaneous.

Q: We would like to have your frank opinion on some issues that are bothering the civil services aspirants for quite sometime now. You may deny your comment, if you consider it inappropriate.

a. Criticism of UPSC for unnecessary secrecy, justified or not? (No cut-off marks, no model answers, no scaling method, etc.)

Ans: Studying is our job. If UPSC likes to make it tougher, the tough gets going. It shouldn't bother us – ‘Karmanye vadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana . . .’

b. Is IAS a hyped service or someone needs to have a different bent of mind for not following 'the crowd'?

Ans: I don't think IAS is hyped, it is a great service, I truly respect it but I personally want to join IFS. So, nothing against IAS.

c. Faulty reservation scheme, dividing India?

Ans: ha ha, true. But faulty is the keyword, reservations are not bad per se but the implementation is certainly faulty hence hasn't produced desired results in 60 years.

d. Science versus Arts debate, are science subjects penalized in CSE?

Ans: I don’t have any data to comment on that. But I didn’t opt for science subjects. That says something....

e. Do you agree with the view that there is a basic difference in the approaches of coachings in delhi and pune? (Money making vs. nation building)

Ans: I cannot comment much on that as I haven't been to any coaching in Delhi but from what I've heard from my friends and seniors I agree with your views. As far as Chanakya Mandal is concerned, we truly exist for nation building

Sup-q. Then please tell us about Dharmadhikari Sir.

Ans: Oh ... he is a gem of a person. He gives so much to the students. During our mains course, he personally sent the mock papers n checked al the papers himself without sleeping for so many nights. If you know him, then nothing lesser can b expected of him. He was an excellent officer & is an excellent Guru & makes great officers of youngsters with a touch of patriotism.

f. A debate arose after CSE-2008 Mains results, First-timers versus Veterans, what’s your say?

Ans: I am not aware of the debate, can u please enlighten me? (details. . .)

. . . With no offence meant to anyone, I feel that every attempt is a fresh attempt and only paper writing and our studies matters. But again I am not qualified to comment on it.

g. (On Interview) some say be neutral at all cost, don't criticize the govt., some say be tactful, criticize intelligently, what's your say?

Ans: I feel that one should be true to himself. Being neutral is like having no opinions, it shows indecisiveness. You should have your opinions on everything or at least the attitude to learn about new issues and form opinions and draw conclusions.

h. Is CSE a subjective and unpredictable exam?

Ans: Yes, to a great extent. But you can reduce the subjectivity by giving your best & putting in an extraordinary effort.

Q: Reverting to the main interview, Is State PSC a good backup plan? What was your backup plan?

Ans: State PSC is a good backup plan, same was true in my case. I, being an engineer, was easily employable but still I needed a backup but I was going to think State PSC only when I had exhausted all my 4 attempts or exhaust myself in the attempts. Thankfully, God saved me from it.

Q: Sum up your tryst with UPSC in a couple of lines.

Ans: Excellent journey, a quest for knowledge. My whole body has turned to eyes n ears. I notice many things & know about them because of studying for UPSC which I might have otherwise ignored. The Journey is a treasure hunt and an immense learning experience.

Q: Give a small motivational message to the student community especially the newcomers.

Ans: Success is not a result of spontaneous combustion. You have to set yourself on fire & sustain it. That journey towards perfection & excellence is the real success.

Q: what is your opinion about this interview? Is something lacking or are there some areas where we can improve to make these interviews more informative and useful?

Ans: No, this was an excellent interview, my best one. Could u send me in entirety please, it will help me a lot!

(Thank you very much Aniket for your precious time. We wish you all the very best for your future.)

Photograph used with the Permission of Aniket, Photo Source Sakaal Times.