It gives me immense pleasure to introduce Abu Mathen George as our guest blogger. Abu is my batchmate from NLS, Bangalore and a very dear friend. He is currently undergoing training as IFS (probationer) in New Delhi. Abu is one of the finest mind I have come across. We are grateful to him for taking time out to write for the blog.
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I cannot but begin my first post on this blog without a salutation to the person who made it all possible, and who is now enjoying the fruits of his hard won labour. Ever since our time together in law school when we used to meet to ostensibly discuss ‘strategy’ I have been constantly inspired and motivated by my good friend Ashutosh Salil’s passion for the civils. Without his constant encouragement, his good humour and endless hours of nonsensical ramblings that would take the edge off an otherwise mind-numbing preparation schedule, I doubt that it would have been possible for me to get through the grind successfully. Let me also congratulate Cyril and Tanvi, the other contributors to this blog for their success. It has been my privilege to know Cyril well and his accomplishment this year is truly extraordinary.
Perhaps most importantly, my long conversations with Ashutosh helped answer the ‘why’ of the civils, and that is why I have chosen this as the topic of my first few posts. For those who have even involuntary trespassed on the minefield that is civils preparation will understand that arming yourself with the right reasons to write this exam is crucial. So without further ado, let me begin.
The Indian Civil Services - Answering the Why - Part I
Whenever someone asks me for help on writing the civils, I am tempted to give the same response that the English writer G.K. Chesterton did when approached for advice on marriage: Don’t! Why on earth would you want to write an exam that drags on for so long, that is outrageously maddening in the knowledge/skills that it claims to test, and is completely random in the results it produces. One often jokes that the Indian Civil Service Exam is really a test of your karma, in the classical Indian tradition. Did you do any good in your previous life? Yes, well then great! You can join the great Indian Civil Services in this life, proceed to amass assets disproportionate to your known sources of income, and become a worm in your next.
Often, when candidates are quizzed about the reasons for appearing for the CSE at the famed UPSC interview, they are suddenly possessed with sudden realization. This is, no doubt, the moment that they have all been waiting for (of course, apart from the moment when they will be interviewed by Barkha Dutt after securing the first rank). The ‘correct’ answer will gain them entry into the job of their dreams. So what is the most favoured answer? More or less, almost all variations of the following themes:
I wish to serve the nation.
I wish to make constructive and compassionate interventions at the field and policy making levels so as to bring the fruits of development to those who have traditionally been excluded from the mainstream of growth so as to serve the larger interests of the country and make India into a superpower.
And oh yes, I wish to serve poor people.
Does anyone recall that lighted thing they put on top of white ambassador cars? Or sprawling bungalows in every district headquarter from Kollam to Kohima? Or fawning men and women for whom the three letters after your name connote the appearance of a living deity?
I exaggerate, but lets get the basics out first: Any good you purport to do in the Civil Services can easily be done many other walks of life, sometimes more efficiently, sometimes with far more impact. Sure, being an investment banker with Goldman Sachs may not be the most conducive way to serve the ‘people’ but one often wonders whether more than sixty years of a glorious and independent civil service has really done any service to the nation at all, especially when one compares it to the last two decades after the initiation of reforms; something that the bureaucracy opposed tooth and nail. Extraordinary work is being done today by ordinary men and women who continuously challenge traditional notions of social service and how it should be performed. The most visible example that comes to mind is that of Aruna Roy, who left the IAS to begin a grassroots movement that transformed how people access information. One of my friends who contemplated writing the civils asked her once why she left and whether she had any regrets. “Let me put it this way,” she replied, “I drafted a law that my batchmate, the Chief Information Commissioner, now implements.”
So why does one really write this exam? Do you believe that your personality type is suited to be a bureaucrat? What does a bureaucrat really do? Let me leave you with these final thoughts, some of which I hope to answer in my next post.
Abu Uwach: Answering the Why - Part II
The Indian Civil Services - Answering the Why - Part II
The Wrong Reasons?
I ended my last post with a few questions about what a bureaucrat really does, and whether one’s personality is really suited to be a bureaucrat. KK commented that my somewhat cynical references to the real reasons (the ‘lal batti’ syndrome) why candidates appear for this exam cannot be divorced from other, more genuine reasons. I agree with him on this point as my ‘cynical’ references were meant more as a provocation to thought as why one wants to write the exam. But more on that later. There are really no absolute right reasons for writing the exam. We must all choose our own right reasons for writing the exam. But I will insist that there may be some wrong reasons for writing the exam. Writing the exam for monetary gain, for example, would fall clearly in this category. Government service offers enough opportunities for illegal gratification but if money is really one’s true aim, there are enormous legitimate opportunities in the private sector for those with the will and creativity. Writing the exam so that one can actively serve the interests of particular groups or sections within the nation, to the detriment of others, whether they may be on the basis of caste, religion or region, I believe is another wrong reason.
This brings me to the controversial issue of the last post: How far should status and privilege motivate one to join the civil services? The Indian Civil Service has traditionally enjoyed huge status on account of the colonial legacy where Whitehall’s writ was executed by the ICS officer on the ground. The notion of the ‘administrator as ruler’ that underpinned this colonial position continues to have a powerful hold on the public imagination. To my mind at least, if the civil service must play a constructive role in pulling India into the 21st century, it must actively seek to break this mould, and this is the most difficult question that both aspirants and civil servants must ask themselves today. Would you still choose the services if it did not perpetuate a semi-feudal ruling elite, but was merely an ordinary part of the executive that was responsible for sensible policy making and effective policy implementation? Would it still be so attractive without its attendant perks, but was merely an agent of change that would empower citizens to depend less and less on the civil servant himself?
The Right Reasons
Undoubtedly, the ‘diminished’ civil servant may not be the ideal person to motivate one for this exam, but here then is the rub: Why then write this exam at all? In spite of all my ‘cynicism’ I do believe that may be some good reasons to give this exam. As I pointed out before, each one will have their own right reasons but here is a checklist of questions that one could ask of oneself before making a final decision. The logic is simple: find out what a civil servant (and here be more specific - IAS, IFS, IPS, etc) does and figure out whether this is the kind of job that you would want to do, and would have a reasonable chance of success in.
1. Is your understanding of a civil servants job based upon perception or
reality? If it is the latter, would discussing his or her day to day job
(even spending some time with an officer if possible) give you a clearer view?
2. What is your defining interest/motivation in life? Is it to make money, for
example and have a reasonably comfortable life, or is it to attain some degree of fame or to contribute to society in some meaningful way, or even to pursue knowledge for its own sake (not to suggest that any of these objectives are mutually exclusive)? Each of these have particular correlation in different fields, just as some of them may find expression within the services? Do you believe that you can utilize your interest while working for government while acknowledging that it may not give you the returns that it would have, had you pursued it exclusively?
3. What kind of aptitude do you have? Is it amenable to working in a fixed hierarchical system where merit may not always be a priority, although there may be other intangible rewards? Do you have an aptitude for ‘hands on’ public interface or do you prefer to work in a more rarified office atmosphere?
4. And finally, what is your death bed story? As morbid as it sounds, I personally rate it as the most important question when deciding whether or not to join the services. When you look back at your life from your deathbed, how would you have wanted to live it? Are you willing to take someone else’s dream and live it as your own, or are you willing to find your own?
The questions listed above are only indicative of what a decision making process could look like. Points 2 and 3, I wish to mark out since they not only help you decide whether to write the exam, but indicate how successful you may be in the service. The government works in a peculiar environment that everyone may not find comfortable. Your aptitude and your motivation, if appropriately suited, will determine your ability to persevere and succeed. Your aptitude will also help you choose the right service, an issue I hope to deal with in a later post.
A final personal note on the last point: I knew that, personally, when I looked back, I would have wanted to spend a considerable part of my life representing this extraordinary country, representing more than a billion people, and being in part responsible for its rise in the global comity of nations. If I can achieve even a small part of that story as a member of the civil service, I will be a happy man.