My Interview...
Thursday, The 31st of March 2011, Afternoon, Dholpur House, UPSC Office… the spacious hall with a high dome… And comfortable teak chairs to recline back and look at the dome of the Dholpur House!!!
After sometime (just 3 hours later) an attendant came to call me to the interview room. I went and waited there with resilience and optimism. Finally, the Chairman called for the next candidate.
Just opened the door and a pleasant welcome from the Chairman Sir before I could wish him. Wished him, the members on the right and the Lady Member (Member 3). I was offered a seat and sat down quietly, relaxedly (I was the last one to be interviewed….. had to wait in the waiting hall for the hour I waited earnestly for years).
Chairman:
Chairman: I cannot pronounce your name….is it Hepshiba Rani Korrrrlaaaapathhhhi…..?
Me: Sir, Hephsiba Rani Korlapati
Chairman: Can I call you Rani
Me: Yes Sir
Chairman: So, you have finished Masters in Geography in last June. What are you doing these days? Are you sitting idle at home?
Me: Sir, actually after mains examination, I got a call from IIT-Delhi to join for research, for Ph.D. programme.
Chairman: You are a humanities student from Delhi University, how did you get a call from IIT?
Me: Sir, IIT-Delhi has Department of Humanities and Social Sciences and I applied for Policy Studies area. The topic I proposed to study was “The impact of urban policy and governance reforms”.
Chairman: Did you join there?
Me: Sir, I requested for some time.
Chairman: So, what are your priorities in an urban area?
Me: Sir, my priorities would be to enhance the service delivery mechanism and make services more accessible and effective.
Chairman: How can you make their more effective?
Me: Sir, we have institutions and infrastructure already in place in most of the cities. All we need to do is to make them more workable, more efficient and effective.
Chairman: List out the services you want to provide.
Me: Sir, I would work to provide the Basic Services for the Urban Poor. They include sanitation, education, especially school/primary education – and education not just for mere numbers but qualitative education which will be beneficial in the future development of our country.
Chairman: So, what will you do under sanitation, provide toilets?
Me: Yes Sir, providing toilets will be the first step. And separate toilets for men and women. And mostly women who suffer from this problem.
Chairman: I agree, women suffer the most. So, what should we do?
Me: Sir, we need to improve the accessibility in terms of spacing the toilets, spreading them across the cities. And we do have Nirmal Gram Puraskar awards to promote this idea of sanitation.
Chairman: Tell me one initiative in this regard.
Me: ______________
Chairman: What do you find when you move around?
Me:________________hmmmmmmm
Chairman: You are staying in Delhi. You should know this.
Me: __________ Sir, Sulabh complex.
Chairman: Yes, Yes. What do you know about this?
Me: Sir, they are well spread out throughout the city. They provide separate toilets for men and women.
Chairman: How are they maintained?
Me: Sir, I think they are maintained by the User Pays principle.
Chairman: What is your opinion? Should the users pay for this service?
Me: Yes Sir. But it should be a very minimal charge.
Chairman: What will you do if you don’t get into civil services this attempt? Will you go for research? What’s your priority?
Me: Sir, Civil Services is my priority. I would love to pursue higher studies too Sir.
Member 1
Member 1: You told you proposed to work on urban policy. What exactly is your emphasis?
Me: Sir, actually I proposed to assess the impact of urban policy and specifically JNNURM policy with Vijayawada city as the case-study, which I believe has transformed the city. JNNURM has been hailed as one of the biggest reforms-linked development programmes of our country. I have followed it closely as my father works in the Municipal Corporation. It is a successful programme in the city and proposed to assess the nature of policies – both in content and implementation and add a third dimension of impact assessment – wherein the physical and social impact would be assessed at multi-levels – at the level of individuals, communities, groups and the overall city. And it is a case-study of Vijayawada city. The city won the Best City Award under JNNUURM this year in December.
Member 1: You said that your father is in the Municipal Corporation. What are the problems there?
Me: Sir, there are several problems. Finances/lack of funds, personnel/inadequate staff, and the multiplication of tasks. I find multiplication is a severe problem because the same work is done again and again. There is separate department to build houses, another department to lay roads and a third one to dig the drains. It amounts to both time and economic cost overruns Sir.
Member 1: So, what is the major source of revenue in Municipal Corporations?
Me: Advertisements/hoardings form a large share, Sir.
Member 1: What about property tax?
Me: Sir, I am sorry. Property tax constitutes the major proportion as a source of revenue Sir.
Member 1: Do you know how it is levied?
Me: Sorry Sir, I don’t know.
Member 1: What should be the criteria according to you?
Me: Sir, it should be a multiple criteria. The very base or the space and location, the building materials used in construction and the level of income of the people.
Member 1: Income tax is already levied
Me: But income directly affects the kind of accommodation one owns Sir.
Member 1: Due to multiple criteria, there are several problems like false reporting and corruption.
Me: Sir, tax collection is one thing and to counter corruption is on a different front. Both have to be tackled Sir.
Member 1: Tell me one thing – even after a two-hour rain why does Vijayawada get flooded completely?
Me: Sir, Vijayawada is on the banks of river Krishna and the river is in its last reaches when it reaches Vijayawada.
Member 1: It is because of the drainage system.
Me: Yes Sir, specially the 1 Town area. Other factors include congestion, old buildings, unplanned layouts.
Member 2:
Member 2: So you are from Telangana.
Me: Sir, I have both identities – of Coastal Andhra and Telangana. My father belongs to Krishna district and my mother is from Khammam district. These districts are adjoining to each other.
Member 2: What is the third region?
Me: Sir, Rayalaseema.
Member 2: There is a very sensitive issue in one of the regions. What do you know of it?
Me: The demand for a separate Telangana state is the issue. And this demand is a reflection of a deep sense of deprivation of the Telangana people in Andhra Pradesh. The benefits of development have not percolated to the interior districts of Telangana region though the region is well ahead owing to the city of Hyderabad.
And Sir, Hyderabad exerts the maximum pull from all the three regions and there was continuous growth in investments and development due to high concentration of intelligentsia, industry, investments. And this development has been limited to the 3 districts which constitute Hyderabad – Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Medak. While political leaders maneuver…
Member 2: Is there any background to these developments now?
Me: Yes Sir. The movement started in the very early phase after the state of Andhra Pradesh was created in 1956. It was created as a separate state in 1953 on the basis of language. In 1956, states were re-organized. (The member stops me abruptly)
Member 2: Andhra Pradesh had another capital earlier. What was it?
Me: Sir, Kurnool was the first capital of Andhra Pradesh.
And in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there was a huge agitation for a separate state of Telangana. Government employees and students, unemployed youth led the movement and the movement has crept to the grassroots level Sir.
Member 2: What do you know about Red Corridor?
Me: Sir, the naxal-affected districts in our country are referred to as the Red Corridor. It covers about 160 districts lying in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal – where the movement actually began, Bihar, Tamil Nadu.
Member 2: Not in Tamil Nadu. It ends with Bhadrachalam in Andhra Pradesh.
Me: Sir, 2 districts in the North West Tamil Nadu.
Member 2: What is the stand of Communists on Telangana?
Me: Sir, Communists support the formation of the Telangana state. In the 2004 elections, they joined with the Congress party which promised Telangana in its manifesto. But, they do switch sides, in support or against.
Member 2: Ok. Well! What do you think is the biggest contribution of the Nizam rule?
Me: Sir, it is the cultural integration. Hindu-Muslim Unity, Sir. The cultural heritage of the Nizams was the biggest contributions of the Nizam era Sir. Sir, the Nizam empire extended from Hyderabad to the Bay of Bengal, and there was remarkable unity among the people in the Nizam rule. For a fact, the cosmopolitan character of today’s Hyderabad can be seen as a legacy of the erstwhile Nizam rule Sir.
Member 2: Not your college?
Me: Sir, yes our college also. Popularly known as Women’s college, Koti, it was established in 1924. It caters to education of young women in Hyderabad.
Member 3:
Member 3: Hephsiba, you have a very unique name. What does it mean and how did you get this name?
Me: Ma’m, Hephsiba means My Delight In Her. It was my mother’s teacher’s name.
Member 3: Why is Japan in news these days?
Me: Japan experienced an earthquake which generated a tsunami, Ma’m. Japan lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, Ring of Fire as we call it in geography. The earth is essentially made up of 12 plates which are in motion. And when the plates slide past one another, it leads to tectonic movements.
In the case of Japan, an earthquake occurred off the coast of Japan which generated a tsunami.
Member 3: What is the exact place where the earthquake took place?
Me: Ma’m it was underwater off the coast of a place called Tohoku. The earthquake occurred at a depth of 32kms and about 70 kms away from the coast. And waves rushed into the mainland, rising to a height of 10 metres. The intensity was 9 on Richter scale which caused great damage to the coastal regions.
Member 3: What is the impact of the disaster on the Japanese economy?
Me: Japan is completely devastated Ma’m. The physical and social infrastructure was completely damaged. In the case of Japan, the nuclear reactors are also affected. In a country which depends on nuclear and does not have access to alternatives like wind or solar energy, this is a direct hit on the power sector. A hit on the power sector is a hit on the entire economy as a whole.
Member 3: Do you think it has an effect on the world economy?
Me: Yes Ma’m. Japan is one of the three largest economies of the world and it has a direct impact on the world economy. For example, Japan will not be able to pay the same prices for imports like she could pay before. Therefore, even the world economy gets impacted.
Member 3: You have mentioned watching tennis, playing badminton and Photoshop as your hobbies. What is Photoshop?
Me: Photoshop is a new entry into the Oxford dictionary Ma’m. Photoshop refers to editing images on the computer Ma’m.
Member 3: What do you mean by home-making?
Chairman asks: Are you married?
Me: No Sir.
Chairman: You are into home-making without marriage. Explain.
Me: Ma’m refers to all activities one does at home. Ma’m, we are 5 siblings at home and I am the 2nd daughter. Assisting my mother in domestic work at home has been my favourite past-time since childhood.
Member 3: Ok. That you call as home-making. In south India, people generally watch movies a lot.
Chairman interrupts: Not only in South, movie-watching is an all-India phenomenon. All of us watch movies. You people in South Indi
Me: Yes Sir.
Chairman: Prove that you South Indians are crazy for movies.
Me: Sir, all Indians watch movies. In the case of south India, it is a bit more undoubtedly. In the south, almost every street is named after a theatre Sir. In Vijayawada, we have Apsara theatre sandhu. To prove our craziness, if there is no theatre in a street, we first build a theatre and then name our streets. Sir, 40% of the total theatres in our country are located in the four southern states Sir.
Chairman: Prove that you South Indians are crazy for movies.
Me: Sir, all Indians watch movies. In the case of south India, it is a bit more undoubtedly. In the south, almost every street is named after a theatre Sir. In Vijayawada, we have Apsara theatre sandhu. To prove our craziness, if there is no theatre in a street, we first build a theatre and then name our streets. Sir, 40% of the total theatres in our country are located in the four southern states Sir.
Member 3: In the southern states there is a trend of film stars entering politics – be it M.G.R., N.T.R, Jaya Lalitha...
Me: Chiranjeevi Ma’m.
Member 3: Yes. How can you explain this?
Me: Ma’m, I can give an insider’s viewpoint on this. Movies have a greater appeal on the largest population. People love watching movies, admire film stars and movies are into the lives of the people. And film stars generally have huge popularity. When a film star enters politics, the entire fandom gets transformed as voters and they become politicians.
Member 3: Is this trend effective?
Me: Ma’m. I can say this was effective in the case of Andhra Pradesh. When N.T.Rama Rao came to power, he stood for the Telugu people. He promoted the identity of the Telugu people beyond the Telugu land beyond too, for example TANA. TANA is the Telugu Association of North America. He also implemented the benefits he promised in the manifesto. In his case, I can say it was effective.
Member 3: You mean to say that film stars can be efficient politicians.
Me: I don’t agree Ma’m. Not in all cases.
Member 4:
Member 4: I don’t have many questions for you. Just one question. Recently the Ministry for Human Resources Development has released a working paper on “Sensitization of Working Women”. Are you aware of this?
Me: No Sir.
Member 4: Okay, can you explain me the difference between Sensitization and Empowerment in general.
Me: I can attempt to explain Sir. Sir, Sensitization refers to making one aware of one’s own space, their position in the society, to discover one’s own self. Empowerment refers to moving to a better level. Like, sensitization is the first step. One needs to be sensitized to move ahead. And Sir, women have to be sensitized. As a home-maker, not just working women but even homemakers have to be sensitized. They need to know their talents to break the barriers to come out of homes. And Sir, home is just a smaller version of an office administrative setting. An effective home-maker can be an efficient manager undoubtedly Sir.
Chairman: No, no… women at home are empowered. At my home, they are empowered. And laughs. All the members join the Chairman.
Chairman:
Chairman: I have one final question.
Me: Yes Sir.
Chairman: If you have to select a movie star as a politician, whom will you select?
Me: Sir, it will be a coalition of film stars Sir.
Chairman: Then, whom will you select as Prime Minister?
Me: Sir, I will shoot a movie with a Politician first and make him the Prime Minister Sir.
Chairman: Big laugh.
Everybody laughs.
I'm giving you the highest marks today. You may go now.
Thank You Sir. Thank You Sirs. Thank You Madam.
