UPSC Interview transcript of Aman Akash
This is the interview transcript of Aman Akash. This is his 2017 interview's transcript. His optional was Mathematics. He got a very low mark in paper-2 of his optional. So, he couldn't clear UPSC that year. I collected his transcript from his Quora account.Let's have a look.
In Aman Akash's words, his interview went like this-
6 March 2018. The afternoon session, 3rd to go.
Manoj Soni board
I reached there at UPSC house with my friend Kumar Ashish who had interviewed the same day. We had met in Mathematics optional class and as luck would have we got the same date, session as well as board.
I was having a fever and common cold. But I had to be at my best.
While waiting I took paracetamol which made me sweat even in the relatively wintery day. After Ashish, it was my turn. I was called at 3:30 pm to wait outside the board room. I was gulping water while waiting outside. Maybe I waited for 15 minutes and I was called in.
Brief regarding my background:- Aman Akash, Bikramganj(Rohtas), Bihar, Sainik school Bhubaneswar, Hansraj college(mathematics hons), mathematics optional, Ex-NDA 129 course, SBI PO, lucid dreaming hobby, NCC A certificate, football goalkeeper, Age: 23.
Me- May i come in sir?
Ch- yes.
There were 5 members , Chairman sitting in middle like the head of the family; 2 members each on left and right side of the table. 4 male members and one lady member.
Me-good afternoon Sir, Maam and Sirs.
Ch- good afternoon.. have a seat ..
Me-thank you sir..(settled down)
Chairman went through my DAF reading points like Bihar,sainik school,hansraj , delhi..
Ch- Aman, where are you now staying ?
Me- sir in January i joined State Bank of India as a probationary officer. I have attended 21 days institutional training at Jabalpur and right now i am undergoing branch training at Seoni(Madhya Pradesh)...{had to give minute details as i wanted them not to ask anything from Mahya Pradesh as well as SBI in depth}
Ch- you have got a very interesting hobby, lucid dreaming...what is it?
Me-(haha my greatest strength)sir, it is a dream which we see while sleeping but dreamer here is aware that he is dreaming therefore he controls his dream.{sir made the gesture to elaborate}
Sir, this real world is nothing but a model made by our brain by taking inputs from external stimulus. Dream too is a model made by our very brain..now this reality and dreams are models made by the same brain. We need to differentiate it. I use my digital watch to differentiate these two but it was taken away during a security check. But never mind, they have given me something (I took out the token given by security personnel from my pocket on which it was written “UPSC 43”. As a magician I showed them 43 and covered the token with palm.) I know this is reality because 43 is again 43( i showed the token again) but in a dream, this number will be different as pre-frontal cortex, part of the brain which controls reasoning and logic ; relaxes, so the number will not make sense. At times token may have a picture in a dream. Thus I will come to know that this is a dream model and as a dream model is based on internal stimulus, I can control it.
(wow everybody listened to me so enthusiastically and were awed by how I used the token)
Ch- how do you use it in awaken world?
Me- Sir, I will reveal a very personal thing. Today is a maiden death anniversary of my papa. Last year i lost him to a heart attack on 6 march at 11:30 pm. Now my wake-up memory with him has come to cease, I can not increase that but through lucid dreaming, I still enjoy the son-father moment.
Ch-(he could not make eye contact to me, may be he respected my emotion but I was totally fine. I was not throwing my pain to gain sympathy there) Aman, you come from Bihar. Land is given so much importance there. Tell me something about the land acquisition Act 2013 and bill 2015.
Me-(happy face, shyam sunder sir in his economics class{vajiram and ravi} has dictated those points so well) i described it well 1. Consent 2. Social impact assessment 3. Ceiling on the acquisition of irrigated multi cropped land( i elaborated these points very well and here board understood that i have the mettle to get the 200+ marks)
Ch- which one is better? And why?
Me- sir 2015 one.. the 2013 Act is more biased toward ownership right where as 2015 one will draw a balance between ownership right and economic development. ( again Syam Sunder Sir’s notes)
With a smile, chairman passed the game to member 1.
Member1: you have achieved a lot. Your achievement column is really interesting. What is NCC? Its motto?
Me:-(here comes the Wikipedia) National cadet corps is a tri-services organisation , comprising of army, navy and air force; engaged in grooming the youth of the country into disciplined and patriotic citizens. Its motto is Unity and Discipline.
M1:- how did it help to develop leadership quality in you?
Me:-sir NCC for me is like a subset of super set Sainik School ( maths hons effect)...(i said the instance happened in school where i acted brave being the school captain....i will refrain from explaining here...it was an interesting incidence ...M1 sir nodded as if he was saying , “you have it in you.”
M1:- should we go for smaller states? What is your opinion? Is not Jharkhand doing well.
Me:- if it is conducive to have smaller states based on economic viability, administrative convenience then yes. But big NO if it is to satisfy the political ego. Jharkhand is not doing well and i can say on the parameter of a number of president’s rule imposed there.
M1:- who is your favourite author? ( my other hobby was watching sci-fi movies)
Me:- sir i watch movies , i don’t read novels. ( answered with a smile)
M1:- then what is your favourite movie?
Me: inception( everyone laughed saying oh lucid dreaming.....consistency in personality traits...)
M1:- tell me the reason behind the establishment of sainik school? What is the NDA result from your school?
Me:- sir in 1960 , the then defence minister V k Krishna Menon wanted to reduce the class and regional disparity in armed forces. With this aim, sainik schools were established. My school is performing below average sending 5 out 30 students to NDA whereas there is Sainik school gorakhal(UK..uttarakhand) which sends around 45 out of 60.
M1: thank you Aman and passed the baton to member 2
M2:- what is Rohingya issue ? what so much of backlash from Myanmar?
Me:- sir, Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army ; having linkages to terrorist outfits in Pakistan conducted an organised attack on army and police bases in Myanmar. In response to it , govt. there came with operation clearance to crush it leading to mass exodus of people in-filtering India and Bangladesh.
M2: should we give them shelters in our country on humanitarian grounds.
Me:- (here comes the military in me) sir , the safety, honour and welfare of my country comes first always and every time. Their influx is causing ethnic disturbances in North East India and creating pressure on our limited resources. So they should be repatriated back to Myanmar (took the stand of the govt. ) Also, we must understand that Myanmar is an infant democracy so it has its limitation. That is why we supported them when everyone voted against them in the UN. Let us give the Myanmar govt some times and once they get stronger, they will accommodate rohingayas as democratic govt tends to be inclusive.
M2:- are you aware of nuclear doctrine? Tell me the salient points?
Me:- ( laxmikant me padha toh tha) sir i may not clearly remember. ( he said .. i know you have the knowledge , just point them out); 1. No first use 2.non use of nuclear weapon against non-nuclear country 3. However, if a country attacks us or our bases in a foreign land with chemical and biological weapons , we can retaliate with our nuclear weapon. Also, we can use it against non-nuclear countries in certain circumstances.
M2:- are you sure that we can use it against non-nuclear countries.?have you read it somewhere?
Me:- i have read it. ( stern eye contact)
M2: what do you think about India-Pakistan situation ?
Me:-( itna wide open question); sir, peace with Pakistan is illusive. Their very existence is based on the anti-India stand. Therefore, our efforts should be to keep the conflict with in management level. Also as i have read in NCERT that govt of Pakistan is like a cycle with two wheels representing army and democratic wing. When they fail to come to a consensus with each other , it's difficult that they will be able to appreciate the good relation with India. ( its not a pessimist view rather an honest analysis of the scenario)
M2:- have sainik schools been able to achieve the aim of reducing class and regional disparity?
Me:- yes sir, i do not come from a military background but due to sainik school i was able to join National Defence Academy. That’s the different thing that i got injured in training suffering paralysis in right hand and chest where doctors were like, “ Aman, be ready for an extreme . you may never recover or recover in 5 years or 3 years.” In such uncertainty, i resigned the academy and came out. I took private treatment at Gangaram hospital and surprised everyone. I recovered in 7 months.
M1:- he intervened and asked ..which service you were selected for ?
Me:- sir i qualified for Air Force . As i could not clear Pilot Aptitude Battery Test so i was given Indian Army.
Baton passed to member 3.
Member 3:- Aman , you did maths hons and took optional as mathematics. You are consistent in your life. Now, tell me the future of SAARC?
Me-( maths bolte bolte ye kya aa gaya) sir , SAARC will not be able to survive due to trust issues with countries like Pakistan. Apart from it, there is an alternative available in form of BIMSTEC.
M3:- you talked about rohingyas and Myanmar. How many years Myanmar was in military rule?
Me:- (bhai ye kya puch diya?) sir, Myanmar got its independence in 1948 and democracy was established in around 2014 so, its 2014-1948= 66 years. ( maths bro)
M3:- (looked happy and pleasantly surprised ) thats quite a long time .. how come a country lived under dictatorship for so long in the modern era?
Me:- for reforms, two things are necessary 1. International support and 2. Mass support. Myanmar lacked both for quite a long time.
M3:- what was the roles of tribals in Myanmar.
Me:- (interview na hua Myanmar ho gaya). Sir , i am not aware of it.
M3:- Aman, what is the status of triple talaq bill? Many are supporting it , some are opposing it..how do you see it.
Me:- (happy like never before...ab karta hu impress).. sir the bill is right now with a parliamentary committee. (explained the salient features ) I totally support the bill.
M3: go on.
Me: sir , we defeated these women in 1986 by bringing milder legislation to nullify shah bano case. These women had to fight for 30 years to get some favorable verdict from the court. If we bring milder legislation once again, i am afraid these women will have no more power left in them to fight for their cause. Apart from this, we have criminalised sati, dowry, time for triple talaq. (everyone was like you have guts to tell things straight forward)
M3: what is shah bano case verdict?
Me:- section 125 of crpc will be applicable to all religions and women on divorce can ask for monetary compensastion from their husbands. ( thanks to my newspaper notes).( members looked impressed here)
M4:-
(lady member)...Aman , you recently joined the SBI. How do you see public sector banks?
(lady member)...Aman , you recently joined the SBI. How do you see public sector banks?
Me:- mam, public sector banks are service oriented. We are the vehicle through which govt implements welfare programmes like jeevan jyoti bima, suraksha bima , jan dhan yojana. If we are compared to private banks which are profit oriented, we are doing much better as we opened 19 crores account under jan dhan yojana together, private banks opened merely 66 lakhs.
Lady member: why is this NPA problem with banks?
Me:- at higher level i can quote the finding of the economic survey. In the 2000s we went for indiscriminate lending seeing the growth prospect . but it got derailed due to land acquisition , social impact assessment, red tapism. Thus , companies failed to earn a return and failing to pay back to their banks. Therefore, its a economic hazard rather moral hazard. At the retail level, i have personal experience. We under pressure of cross selling sell those products which are not demanded by customers like during loan, we force them to buy insurance schemes. Here they feel cheated and go for wilful default.
lady member:- you are a probationary officer. Tell me the steps you will take to improve the condition of your female colleague.
Me:-( i hit the jackpot here) mam, despite the office getting closed at 5 we have work culture to stay up to 8 pm. It creates trouble for my female colleagues. Therefore, i will make sure that they are allowed to leave the office on official closure time and ensure that they reach their homes safely. ( hearing it mam became so happy that she literally giggled and told that YOU WILL BE GOOD ADMINISTRATOR).
Lady member:- what will you do for your female customers?
Me:- mam, i have seen them being hesitant to stand in line with male customers. We have enough resources so, i will create a separate window for women exclusively.
Lady member:-you studied in Bhubaneswar. Have you been to konark temple.( i said that once we went there for school picnic). Good ..tell me something about it.
Me:- temple is in shape of rath(chariot), with wheels and when sunlight falls on it, it represents the time of the day. Also, the temple is closed . one can not go inside of it.
Lady member: what is the other name of it? And why?
Me:- sun temple. As sunlight falling on wheels represents the time of day depending on spokes being in light and shadow. ( mam passed the baton to chairman).
Ch:- Aman, you were in NDA. So you must be aware of an officer like qualities( i said yes those 15 OLQ). Tell me one which you don’t have.
Me:- (by god tricky one), after few seconds......sir it is stamina, precisely physical stamina. As i played from goalkeeper position so i was trained for reflexes, unlike strikers who went for a run.
Ch- it is good that you take a stand and you stand very firm. Now , you have opted for IFS as the first choice. Suppose you are an ambassador of India to Pakistan and as you said that peace with Pakistan is illusive. I will ask you three questions based on 3 scenarios. Give pro, con and which decision you will take.
Status quo with Pakistan
Me:- pro: terror and talk can not go hand in hand.
Con: Pakistan will move towards china to balance its interest.
My decision: maintain the status quo. ( everyone was cheering me here. Chairman was smiling and said so... you are with your original stand.)we are strong to handle china and cut off a tie with Pakistan.
Ch :Hot pursuits
Me: pro. Motivates our soldiers and deter enemies.
Con:- Pakistan retaliation causing war.
My decision: go for hot pursuit. We know how to defeat Pakistan in wars.
Ch: full fledged war leading to balkanisation of Pakistan.
Me: no sir, then conflict will be beyond management level.
Ch: Aman, it was a pleasure talking to you. Your interview is over now,
Me: thank you sir. ( stood up) . have a nice day mam and sirs.
THE BEST 45 MINUTES OF MY LIFE.
