Name: Prabhav Joshi
Board : Shri Vijay Singh (Ex defense
secretary to the govt. of India)
Duration: about 20 minutes
My brief profile
1. BE Chemical Engg (2011), B.I.T.S
Pilani
2. Hobbies: hockey, blogging, badminton,
basketball
20/03/2013
I was the first one destined to go in the afternoon session
from my group. A clerk came up to the table and announced it was time. I
started walking briskly and noticed that I was actually the first from the
entire waiting hall and everyone was looking at me! The limelight made my steps
brisker. On the way I asked the orderly about the board and it was to be
Shri Vijay Singh’s . My heart sank (had
heard his interviews lasted about only 10 minutes, gave less marks blah blah
blah). I put up a smile and told myself to forget all that crap.
I was asked to wait
and sit on the chair outside the chamber. A water bottle was kept there for
poor souls like us. Meanwhile, I struck a conservation with the helping orderly
who asked me not to worry. He also told me in a hushed up voice that there is a
lady member and 5 others. I thanked him
for the strategic information
The bell rang. This time there were no har har mahadev type war cry which I used to make before the mains.
The key was to remain calm and composed. I got the feeling similar to entering
the hockey field before a crucial match.
I was ushered in. It
was an awkward entrance as I took one
step very briskly and other one was markedly slow (was trying to show respect
but it ended up being awkward. Mr Singh noticed it). I was asked to take the
chair after the exchange of pleasantries
Key: Chairman: CM; Member 1,2,3,4,5 : M1,2,3,4,5
Chairman (smiling and making me
comfortable): So, Mr Joshi! How do you
find the seating arrangement in the waiting hall?
Me: Sir, it was quite good.
CM: comfortable? (And then he said
something which prompted me to say what follows)
Me: Yes sir! But sir, I had come about
half an hour early (at 12.45) but was asked to wait outside (on the road). We
should have some arrangement for that..
CM (interrupting and laughing): Oh! We
all also came half an hourly for this interview! (They all burst into laughter
and a brief discussion followed amongst them about the traffic jams etc)
CM: So Mr. Joshi! You are a graduate in
chemical engineering from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science!
Me: yes sir.
CM: you graduated recently in 2011..
what have you been doing since then?
Me: Sir, I prepared for UPSC mains for about a year and since
then I have written GATE (graduate aptitude test in engineering) and secured an
all India rank of 36. I have interview calls from oil companies like IOCL, GAIL
in my hand.
CM: oh! So you shall easily get one of
these jobs…
Me: yes sir
CM: so are you still interested in
civil services?
Me: yes sir
CM: why? And tell me the reasons apart
from social prestige etc. These jobs are also very prestigious.
Me: Sir, basically after graduation as a
chemical engineer one has two options. The first one is to go into engineering
research and design, which I feel is an interesting and challenging one. But
during my college days I realized that research is not my cup of tea. The other
profile is ‘operations.’ Sir, here the plant is already built and you just have
to operate it. You just have to operate the machine. I find the civil services
much more challenging than these. And then there is a factor of job
satisfaction also
(Then he asked something which sounded like asking me whether
I was inspired by some district collector of my home district. I told him about
the illustrious Dr. Samit Sharma and his now fabled generic medicine project (thanks
to which everybody in Rajasthan is now getting FREE medicines). He might have then asked one more trivial question
which I am unable to recall). CM directs Member1 (M1) to begin
M1: So, You are a graduate from the
PRESTIGIOUS Birla Institute of Technology and Science!
(My smile broadened as I nodded)
M1: Tell me about the first law of
thermodynamics
Me: Sir, the first law of
thermodynamics deals with the law of conservation of energy
(I stopped and looked at M1. It seemed he wanted to listen
more. And at this moment I turned blank. I did not know what to add more. And
this is one question which I am expected to answer even from my death bed as a
chemical engineer. And then, suddenly I found some words.)
Me: Sir, it says du=dq+dw. Where du is
the change in internal energy, dq is the heat supplied/withdrawn and dw is the
work done
(M! looked satisfied now)
M1: ok. Tell me this. We are 4/5 people
sitting in a room like this one. Suppose the chamber is closed. What will
happen to the internal energy taking into account the fact that we all are
respiring?
Me (after pondering for a short time):
Sir, if we take the room as the system there shall be no change in the internal
energy. However, if we take the air as the system, then its temperature shall
increase due to the heat released during respiration (basically I gave a
satisfactory and comprehensive reply)
M1(phrased a long question which meant
the following): ok. Tell me the difference between management and
administration
(I was caught! I tried blurting something which I myself felt
was wrong mid way and stopped it by saying sorry sir I don’t know. CM came to
the rescue and ordered M2 to start asking now. M2 was the lady member)
We had a discussion on the geographical spread of petroleum
and petrochemicals industry. I explained her well.
M2: do you read ?
Me: NO mam (categorically)
M2: oh absolutely nothing?
Me: mam I read the hindu
M2: oh! How do you find it ?
Me: its very boring!
(Upon this, she burst into laughter. She said she finally
found someone who did nt like
the ‘THE HINDU’. I felt like giving her a high five! Then a discussion followed
on why I read ‘the hindu’ despite it being boring and how would I keep myself
well informed as a civil servant If I were to stop reading the newspaper after clearing the
exam)
Then she asked me
about chemicals used in chemical weapons of mass destruction
M2: I hear that there are many chemicals
which can be used in/as weapons. Some of them can be made in our kitchens!
Me: yes mam! A petrol bomb is very easy
to make! (I excitedly chipped in)
M2: oh! Not only that..
Me: yes mam we have this gas called
phosgene. And we have these chemicals (weapons
) used by the US armies in the Vietnam war called defoliants which caused the
leaves of trees to fall. This helped US armies (helicopters) to get a view of
the enemy armies hiding in the forest
M2: oh so they can be pretty dangerous!
Me: yes mam. But the real danger from
chemicals (industries) is environmental pollution
(we discussed a little.
And then M3 was asked to take charge)
M3: so you are from the reputed Birla
Institute of Technology and Science!
I smiled again.
Then he asked for my comments on something apart from the academics
at BITS (don’t remember the wordings as such)
Me: our physical infrastructure is not
as good as the IITs (I know BITSian junta wont spare me for saying this, But I
had the condition of the hockey ground in my mind. I now feel I should have
spoken about some of the outstanding features of BITS Pilani)
M3: have you seen BITS’s library?
( I was shell shocked! And then somehow managed to smile and say..)
Me: yes sir! Its very beautiful!
M3: did you use to go there for reading journals etc?
Me: not often sir (at this point I wanted to tell him that it was only the lovebirds who used to go to the library but somehow resisted the temptation)
Then he asked me about the hockey India league and what I
thought about it. I gave a monologue, straight from the heart.
M3: ok. What are you other interests?
(I was startled at this as I did not know regarding which field he was asking. I blurted environmental engineering and went on to explain the Deptt. of Science and Technology , Govt of Rajasthan sponsored project I had done about gainful utilization of the marble slurry )
M3: There is a shortage of sand these days. What alternatives have been found for use of sand in the construction industry.(the question seemed poorly framed to me. I politely replied that I did not know. My friends say that the answer could be fly ash. If it were so, the question was terribly framed)
Now M4 takes over and asks about blogging (my hobby). Usual question followed like the number of followers, kind of posts I write, the website on which my blog is hosted. I told them that I just write about my personal experiences and that there are only 14/15 followers. (Now, I think this was too defensive a strategy to use. Should have prepared an issue from one of the old posts and let the discussion run on that topic)
Now finally, it was the turn of M5. M5’s question was
probably based on my reply to chairman’s question regarding why I wanted to
pursue civil services. The central theme of my answer was that civil services
were much more challenging than an ‘operations’ profile
M5(in a thoughtful voice): you said you like challenging roles. But in civil services about 30-35 years of your life shall be spent in reading files and papers. It’s a very mundane and boring job. How shall you manage then?
Chairman( interrupts): and its much boring than reading ‘THE HINDU’.
(and everybody starts laughing. I too join them)
M5: no no sir! I am not joking. It’s a very valid point. (and he reiterates the question to me)
Me: Sir, if such a work can bring a smile to someone’s face, I don’t have any problems with the boring nature of the work
M5: oh no no! Not that kind of work.. Stuff like passing someone’s leave application, passing someone’s TA/DA bills etc
Me: Sir, to be very honest I won’t enjoy such kind of a role, but I also understand that I cannot have everything according to my wishes
Chairman seemed to be very happy at this point. He said it
was a good answer (or did he say it was a VERY good answer??). He was about to declare
my interview as over but the lady member (M2) interrupted and asked me to tell
her more about the marble slurry project. I explained it in detail.
M2: then what happened? What was the final result?
Me: Mam it was technologically feasible
but economically not L
M2: oh! That’s the problem with all
these waste utilization projects
Me: yes Mam
At this, the chairman declared that the interview was over. My feeling was: arey Sir gappe ladane mein itna maza aa rha hai.. thodi der aur batiyaate hain naa!!
Overall, It was a very pleasant experience. I was smiling most of the times; not because XYZ coaching walla had told me to do so but I was genuinely pleased at the way things were going! The best thing was the chairman’s compliment in the end. If what we read in psychology as ‘recency effect’ is a valid phenomenon, I should be handsomely rewarded
PS : I ended up with a measely 160/300 in this interview :(
