Interview- (Part-II)

Interview- (Part-II)

Heartiest congratulations to those who have made it to the interview. Those who couldn't, please do not lose heart. Work harder this time around with full commitment. You are bound to succeed.

By VENKATESH
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My interview was on March 24, 2009 in the morning session. After a brief wait outside the UPSC gate, we were all taken to the waiting hall, where six of us sat around the table earmarked for us. It took us another 10-15 minutes to complete pre-interview formalities (giving copies of the Board, Degree certificates etc.). I had a small chat with my fellow table mates. I was informed that I had to go first and it was Madam's board. But then we did not know who the madam was? Since there were two lady members then Ms. Praveen Talha and Ms. Shashi Uban Tripathi. Tea had come and even before I could take a sip, I heard my name being called out. I was waiting outside Ms. Tripathy's room thinking of the morning tea that I had so narrowly missed.

I was soon ushered into Ms. Tripathy's room. This was the first time I felt little tensed. The few steps towards my allotted seat felt like a long distance. I went and stood next to my chair and was greeted with a warm smile by the chairperson. That put me at ease at once. I wished her and other members and took my seat.

Chairperson: Tell us something about your prior work experience? How does a law firm function ?

- I told her about Amarchand Mangaldas where I had worked as an Associate with the Capital Markets team. I explained to her the functioning of the law firms. (Large law firms in the country are usually divided into several teams and the work mostly was of transactional in nature and involved lots of negotiations, drafting etc and it usually did not involve arguing in the court.)

Chairperson: Why is it that more often than not one hears law students and lawyers taking law into their hands? Should not they be upholding it? (I think this was asked in the context of some violence at Ambedkar Law College, Chennai.)

- I said one of the reason could be the false sense of empowerment that came with the knowledge of the law and the working of the Indian legal system. The criminal justice system with all its systematic flaws and pathetic rate of conviction has probably failed to act as an effective deterrent and no one knows that better than the legal fraternity. Hence, the false belief in getting away with violence. ( I don't think I spoke very coherently but this was broadly what I said)

Chairperson: What is the problem with the judicial system ? Why so much arrear?

-I said it was an institutional problem. Our expenditure on justice delivery system is less than 1% of GDP. We need more judges, more courts to bring down the arrears. The Judge-Population ratio in India is 13 per million, that pales in comparison to the western countries where it is usually as high as 250 plus per million. Adjournments also lead and add to the mounting arrear. Our lawyers need to be more responsible while asking for the adjournments and judges need to be very strict while granting them. Lastly I said, that we should resort to ADR mechanisms in a big way to bring down the arrears.

Chairperson: You were a member of the disciplinary committee in the college. Tell us something about that.

-I told her how it was a committee that fully comprised of students only and had the mandate of enforcing the discipline in the hostel. So it was a student's body looking after the discipline in the hostel.

Chairperson: Did it work and which college is this? (I think she was quite surprised to hear students at the college level being disciplined by their peers)

-Yes, it did. Most of the people complied with the hostel rules and those found violating were fined which was almost always paid. This was at National Law School, Bangalore.

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M2: How do you think we could tackle left wing extremism in the country?

-I said we need not see the left wing extremism through law and order prism only. It was also an issue of development since the areas affected most were extremely backward and had lots of catching up to do with the rest of the country........(Interrupted Here)

M2: But the government is spending lots of money there.
-I said, I am sure our government has very noble intention but the delivery mechanisms in those areas have not been very efficient. The consequence of which has been corruption, leakages in various govt schemes and very little development on the ground.

M2: Have you heard about PDS and how to make it more efficient?

-I said one of the biggest problem with the PDS was the identification of real beneficiaries and that could be solved to a great extent if there was complete decentralization of the process and panchayats were brought on board.

There were two more questions he asked in quick succession but I can not recall them


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M4: Oh! what a coincidence I share my birthday with him. (I smiled, everyone else smiled too. I was hoping that the coincidence will probably lead to less grilling...:) )

M4: So u r Salil? Do you know a famous musician who had the same name?

-Yes Sir, I am Ashutosh Salil. Salil Chowdhuary was the music director with the same name.

M4: Do you remember any of his songs? (I did not but before I could say no, the chairperson interjected to say something and to my great relief the member moved on to the next question)

M4: You are from Saharsa? Tell me why is it famous?

-I said historically it's famous because of the debate on the religion that took place between Adi Shankracharya and Mandan Mishra, a sanskrit scholar in a place called Mahishi. Mandan Mishra lost the debate and soon thereafter his wife Bharti challenged the Shankracharya for a debate with her and she won the same.

M4: But its famous for something else also? Tell me the name of a famous personality from there?

-I took the name of Mr. B.P.Mandal, the parliamentarian and the chairperson of the very famous Mandal Commission. (Mr. B.P. Mandal was from Madhepura which was recently carved out as a separate district from Saharsa)

M4: No, no there is someone else?

-I ticked my brain hard but could not think of any one so I said, I do not know.

M4: So you have been part of NCC? What is a Horse......(Don't recall the exact word)
-I do not know sir.

M4: You should know. You have been part of NCC.

-Yes sir, I should. I am sorry I Do not know.

M4: Do you like Economics?
-I just follow it from the newspaper.

M4: Which newspaper do you read?
-The Hindu (Later I was told that there were people who said Hindu and they were told it's The Hindu not Hindu. Don't know how much truth was in that?)

M4: Good. So what was the Sensex yesterday?
Sir, I Do not know. (Later i realized that the question was asked because there had been unusual movement in the index. I should have been prepared.)

M4: You should know, you just said you read the newspaper.

There was one more question that he asked (do not recall it now) which I answered. He was not very sure about my answer but fortunately M3 intervened and seconded my answer and the Chairperson nodded too.

I was beginning to get nervous now. Had failed to answer many of M4's questions and he did not look very happy with the ones that I had answered. The thoughts of terrible marks kept crossing my mind.......


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M3: You left your job to write civil services. Do you realize that the amount you were making there would probably be your salary in the services at the time of retirement.

-Yes sir I do. While I recognize the importance of money, it definitely is not the most important thing in my scheme of things. It does not hold great attraction for me.

M3: Why Civil Services?
Sir, the yardstick that I have chosen for myself in respect of a job is:Is this a job where I am able to go to the bed with a sense of satisfaction, that through my work it has been possible to make little difference to someone's life. If the answer is yes, then the job is worth aspiring for. And I believe that the probability of the aforesaid question being answered in affirmative is much higher in civil services than in a corporate law firm job.

M3: Then he asked me few basic legal questions (e.g. What is Res-judicata, About Arbitration, How is the New Arbitration and Conciliation act different from the old one? Difference between Conciliation and Mediation etc.....)

M3: You have said you hobby is reading? What do you read?
-Yes Sir. I usually read non-fiction.

M3: What was the last book you read?
-The White Tiger

At this point, the Chairperson interjected : "But the White tiger is fiction"?

-Yes, Ma'am it is. I said, I usually read non fiction but do read fiction also whenever I find something interesting. (Both Chairperson and M3 smiled after hearing that)

M3: Which is your favourite book?

-Sir, it is difficult to pick one. However, Life of Gandhi by Louis Fischer is a book that I enjoyed reading.

M3: Do you think Gandhi is relevant?

-I said he is. His core values of honesty, truth and non-violence are as relevant as they were in his time and they will continue to be relevant in the future too.

M3: But he was against violence. So what do you do if a country attacks us. Going to war will be violent and against his principles.

-No doubt he believed in non violence but he also abhorred cowardice on the part of people. In fact, during the second world war when the threat of japanese aggression was looming large, he said, he would be the first to pick up arms against the japanese aggression. Thus while non violence was his creed, it was not an absolute concept from which no deviation was possible.

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M1: He asked me something about International Humanitarian Law and Geneva Conventions. (I did not know the answer too well)

M1: Is the process of appointment to the Higher Judiciary alright?
-I argued against judges arrogating to themselves the power of appointing judges and said India was probably the only country where it was being done. I argued for restoring the old system of the executive appointing the judges, with some checks and balances.

There were two more questions that he asked but I am not able to recall them now.

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Chairperson: You said, service was what motivated you to write the exam. But was that the only consideration?

-It was not the only consideration but it was definitely the most important consideration. Social recognition and prestige that came with the services were important considerations too.

Chairperson: Suppose there is a law and order problem, how will you go about it? will you implement the illegal orders that came from the top?

-No I won't. I will go strictly by the letters of the law and will refuse to implement illegal orders.

Chairperson:There will be lots of pulls and pressures in the job. Will you listen to your political masters?

-I will indeed listen to them since they are people's representatives and they must be heard on their suggestions/complaints etc. But I will act on my own, independently of them, as per my own conscience. My loyalty will lie only to the Constitution and to the laws of this country and not to the political bosses.


Chairperson: You may go now. (Did not hear that and when she did not see me rising from my seat, she repeated that again and then I realized that my interview was over.)

Thank you ma'am.

I was in such a great hurry to leave that I picked up the sheet and the pencil that were lying on the table, thinking that they were mine. At this point M4 says, hey where are you going with the sheet and the pencil? They are UPSC's properties. Every one burst into a laughter. I quickly apologized for inadvertently attempting to take away the UPSC property and left the room with a smile on my face.