Civil Services Exam 2011-12 IAS Topper Interview with Ms.Rakhee Mayuri

UPSC-Civil Services Exam 2011-12 IAS Topper Interview with Ms.Rakhee Mayuri

An Exclusive Interview

Name: Rakhee Mayuri 

Rank: 135^th  Rank

Roll No: 062096

 Brief Bio data

Name-S.Rakhee mayuri

Native-Nellore, Andhra Pradesh

Rank in CSE-135

No. of attempts-3, in which went up to interview stage in first attempt, didn’t clear prelims in second attempt.

Education background-Schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, in Bhutan and in Bilaspur [chattisgarh]

Degree-B.Tech {electrical},Raipur [chattisgarh]

Got married when I was in fourth year of Engineering. I have a 7 year old daughter

Your Interest in CSE

My Inspiration is the recipient of first kalpana Chawla award,the then kanyakumari Collector. She had successfully curbed the menace of Sand Mafia in the district

Subject Selection

I took up Geography and Public Administration, which were totally new subjects for me. I chose these subjects keeping in mind, the following points--

1. Both are very popular optionals, which means availability of course material would not be a problem

2. Finding the right teacher to guide me would be easier.

3. I knew that I had to manage my time more efficiently than any other aspirant, because I had a daughter to take care of .Hence, I tried to choose the subjects which would overlap with General Studies as much as possible. Geography that way was a good optional for Prelims [old Pattern].

4. Public Administration was a natural choice, because I wanted to know about the Civil Services as much as possible.  That spirit of enquiry, I knew would help me understand the subject better

Coaching if any

First Attempt

Prelims-self study

Mains-Test Series for geography from Shabbir Sir, who is a faculty in Vajiram and Ravi[new delhi].He  went on to become my guide and mentor.

Public Administration-Self Study

Interview-Took guidance from Shabbir Sir.

Third Attempt

Prelims-IMS Institute, in Chennai [they had started a new batch for CSAT, but were too slow, as I had an engineering background. So, was not much helpful to me] Joined Chronicle Test Series [very helpful]’

General studies-Self study, but joined the currents Affairs class at Ganesh IAS, Chennai.

Mains-

Geography-self study, but took guidance from Shabbir Sir

Public Administration-pawan Sir [Sriram IAS, New Delhi].Took guidance from Ganesh Sir[Ganesh IAS, Chennai]

General Studies-Self Study

Interview

Joined Vajiram and Ravi, New Delhi IAS. Pawan Sir took my interviews and gave very relevant feed backs.

Preparation Strategy:

1. Time Management

Before starting the preparation on a long term, short term and everyday basis, I would plan out when to read and prepare a timetable. I tried to stick to the timetable as much as possible.

My husband is in Merchant Navy, so stays away for 3 months at a Stretch, So, when he is away; I have to take care of the baby alone. Because I had to send my kid to school, prepare her lunch and dinner, make her do the homework, along with taking her to drawing classes, I was totally occupied during morning hours. So, I would study at nights after my baby went to sleep  .Sleeping for 3 or 4 hrs and getting up very early would take away  my tiredness, and I had 3 or 4 hrs of quality time to study.

Also, I knew that I couldn’t study during Saturdays and Sundays, as my kid would stay at home, since she had no school. Hence, I made sure, that whatever time I got to study, I study relevant topics, with full concentration.

My In laws and parents were of help during exam time when they would take over most of my responsibilities.

2. What to Read

I read only and only the syllabus of UPSC and tried to relate as many  topics given in the syllabus. No other source of topics. For general studies, practicing previous year’s questions made me understand the trend in this exam.

I have a habit of preparing notes, which became helpful during revisions.

I would revise whatever I studied the very day. I would keep repeating what I studied in my mind, the whole day, while doing other daily chores.

For Mains, I prepared all the topics in the Question-Answer Format, along with preparing 2, 5, 10, 15, and 60 markers in each and every topic. For Essay, I prepared 10 to 20 topics, some previous year’s essays along with some of the probable ones, and got it checked by Shabbir sir.

For Interview, I attended a few seminars, gave Mocks, but most of all, I worked on my strengths, and tried to give honest and balanced opinion. I also discussed my Bio data with all my teachers, and met civil servants and tried to prepare as many questions as possible .I then practiced giving answers to those questions, while standing in front of a mirror.

 .

Managing newspaper reading

I would make notes out of newspapers, In question Answer format for Mains, and writing down all opinions possible for interview. I then revised it atleast 3 times before my exams. It’s important to read newspapers within 2 to 2.5 hours.

Dealing with stress

Playing with my kid, listening to her talking was my greatest stress buster. I always knew that I have a beautiful life, with or without clearing Civil services Exam. This helped me taking Exams in a very cool manner. This is not to say, that I took the exam lightly

 Book List

 Prelims

CSAT-

Aggarwal’s Quantitative aptitude.

Kaplan ‘s GRE for Verbal Reasoning

Vajiram and Ravi s Yellow Books.

Tata McGraw Hill[Author-Arun Sharma]

General Studies-

Geography-Indian Geography by Khullar

Physical geography by Savindra Singh

Polity-D.D.Basu

History-Ncert modern India and Vajiram Notes.

Newspaper cuttings

Chronicle Magazine

Mains

1.geography

·        Shabbir Sir’s Notes ,Revised it several times

·        Kurukshetra, for topics such as Climate Change, Food Security.

·        Internet

·        Included current examples taken from newspapers in my answers.

2. Public Administration

·        Internet. I would pick topics from syllabus, and search Internet .

·        Second ARC recommendations.

·        Pawan Sir Notes.

3. General Studies

Polity-D.D.Basu,tried to make questions out of it.

History-NCERT modern India,IGNOU notes.

International Affairs-From Newspapers

Statistics-Spectrum’s statistics

Current Affairs-Newspapers, Chronicle Magazine

Total Marks Scored

SUBJECTS	MARKS
ESSAY (PAPER-III)	107
GENRAL STUDIES (PAPER-IV)	133
GENRAL STUDIES (PAPER-V)	127
OPTIONAL-I(GEOGRAPHY) (PAPER-VI)	167
OPTIONAL-I(GEOGRAPHY) (PAPER-VII)	166
OPTIONAL-II(PUBLIC ADMIN.) (PAPER-VIII)	168
OPTIONAL-II(PUBLIC ADMIN.) (PAPER-IX)	098
WRITTEN TOTAL	966
PERSONALITY TEST	205
FINAL TOTAL	1171

Any other TIPS you would like to share

Civil services preparation is a long term plan. its important to arrange for the finances, support from the family ,which will help us to prepare without any hindrances. Along with this, the aim of preparing for this examination should never be forgotten. It means that we need to be honest to ourselves and to our goals.

   Its important to keep assessing ourselves, and a good teacher, who can assess us and teach us how to correct our faults .For me, Shabbir Sir from Vajiram, Pawan Sir from Sriram IAS and Ganesh Sir from Ganesh IAS  gave me crucial inputs at the right time.

Its also necessary to have an alternate career plan, and work towards it. This, because civil services is a competitive exam, and our rank depends not only on our own performance, but also on  how others perform on that particular day of exam.

One thing I was very particular about was my writing speed. Whatever our language of writing is, practice to write fast, and in a reasonably good handwriting at that speed.

I would be more than happy to answer any queries, my mail Id is-rakheemayuri@gmail.com