Capping dreams with success
S. Aswathy, one of the top performers in the Civil Services examination, explains how her approach in preparing for it paid her handsome dividends.
Like S. Aswathy, who did Kerala proud by winning the third rank in the last year's Civil Services Examinations, there are thousands of IAS dreamers on our campuses.
Between dreaming and turning it into a reality, there is a lot of hard work, perseverance and a determination to succeed.
IAS is never beyond the reach of our students. That is what the 2003 IAS experience has taught Kerala. There are eight from Kerala, including Ms. Aswathy, currently being trained at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration at Mussoorie, Uttaranchal.
It is, in fact, a record of sorts. A record, as the IAS topper says, our students are easily capable of breaking again and again.
As a school student, Ms. Aswathy had dreamt of IAS. "I had thought it was too big for me," she said, reminiscing her way to success, during a conversation from Mussoorie over phone.
Ms. Aswathy did not give a serious thought to it until she did M.Phil. in economics from the Central University, Hyderabad, in 2001.
Her experience is good enough to ring the IAS bells on our campuses. She did not under go any specialised courses. Ms. Aswathy said she was guided by S. Narayanan, a retired professor of economics in Thiruvananthapuram.
"That helped me a lot," she said, "because preparing for IAS was quite unlike other competitive exams. Though in three phases, the exam lasts for a year."
Ms. Aswathy started preparing for the IAS only eight months before the prelims. She first concentrated on prelims, though there are experts who advise on focusing on the Main from the beginning. "A year's preparation before the prelims is good enough," she said. But it depends on how strong the student is in his elective subject, she added.
Ms. Aswathy said she had no fixed schedule. There were days when she spent the whole time with the books. And there were days when she touched none. Yet, on an average, she spent about five hours a day preparing for the IAS. And it was intensive.
"It all depends on your strategy. You'll lose if there's no focus," she said. Strategy? Yes, selection of one's optional subjects matters a lot, she said.
In spite of having been advised against it, Ms. Aswathy selected Malayalam and Economics. It was a bold decision. Her confidence made the difference. "I was comfortable," she said.
She used to read
The Hindu, besides a local daily. For her subject, she said, the centre pages of the Business Line helped her a lot.
She subscribed the Civil Services Chronicle and Competition Wizard, and depended on the library for general magazines. But she never kept away from popular fiction. "And whatever I read till then helped me for the exams and for the interview," she said.
Ms. Aswathy has this advice to our students: "If at all anything pays, it will be hard work and perseverance. Focused preparation is a must. And one must choose the most comfortable optional subjects for the main."
Coaching, according to her, helps, but only to an extent. Beyond that, it all depends on the strength of the candidate. Support from friends, family and teachers also matter. Our students and parents, she believes, are reluctant to think beyond medicine and engineering. It is, in fact, the bane of Kerala. Our students can do better in IAS if we are ready to shed this prejudice, she said.
For Ms. Aswathy, who had once nurtured the ambition of becoming a journalist, IAS is not a mere job. "It's a challenge. It's an opportunity to prove myself."
But she knows the success in IAS is not the be-all-and-end-all of life.
The real test, she said, is yet to come. And slowly, she is picking up Oriya to equip herself to work when she is posted to Orissa by June 2005.
ABDUL LATHEEF NAHA
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