 Welcome to success stories with Shankaraya's Academy. Today we have with us Yashini Nagarajan who have cleared this year's UPSC civil service examination with an all India rank of 57. So first and foremost, hearty congratulations Yashini from the Yandere Shankaraya's Academy family. Thank you so much sir. Thank you Shankar. And my first question to you is like how did you know the result? So where are you expecting that result would come and where are you expecting such a good rank? So and what was your first reaction when you knew the result? Sir, how I got to know the result is actually an interesting story. So my interview was deferred for the COVID pandemic. So previously it was in March, then it was later scheduled on the last day. Last day as in erstwhile the last day after that one EWS interview was held but barring that my interview was on the last day. So 30 at July it was afternoon session. After that three more days later my medical examination was scheduled. So my medical examination got over on third of August and on fourth of August I was on my flight back home. So my flight took off at around 10 30 and 11 a.m the results came. So by the time I landed at 2 p.m everybody knew my results except me. So I was like literally on air in cloud nine when the results came. But and the first reaction was sir whether it was expected or not sir in UPAC we cannot expect anything sir it's like beyond comprehension or expectations. However sir we can always aim we can always set targets and try to achieve that. So I also had in my mind that that target of top 50 I had previously I had secured a rank of 834th in UPSC. So I was this time I have to like make it double digit or under 50 that was the aim. So yes I tried for that sir and reaction sir reaction first reaction sir in my journey I have seen many ups and downs. So when the moment finally arrived sir it was more like a CEO of relief and calm rather than outright ecstasy. One thing that I have realized in this span of my preparation as my father always says is to be balanced not to be too excited when we get success and not to be too depressed to the like bottom when we fail. So other than that yeah it feels good sir. And how do you feel now like almost one and a half months down the result has it all sunk in? Yes sir it has sunk in sir and now I am in my last week of my present job I'm presently employed in RBI. So yes sir I'm like just about to resign from this wonderful organization so it feels good sir. So tell us about your family their support in the whole UPSC journey. Sir my father my parents they are both retired government servants my father was an engineer and my mother was an officer in High Court and they have always valued education like they have given it the number one priority. So my father is basically a native of Tamil Nadu and my mother is Nepali from Assam and I grew up in Anachit Pradesh they were posted there. So even like growing up in a remote part of the country they always made sure that that doesn't hamper our education. The education was like it was not a compromise like no compromise on education so all they always tried to make the best facilities available to us and even in UPSC preparation also whatever ups and downs that they were always there they stood firm like as my pillar of support they were always very encouraging sir so kudos to them and yeah except yeah other than that in my family I have a brother also little brother he is doing management in from I am Indore. That's great support of family is any day important in the long journey. So when you do actually decide that you want to try for civil service you have done your entire schooling in Arunachal Pradesh and then you did your b-check to again from Arunachal Pradesh in this education graph like when did you decide that you want to pursue civil service as a career option. So decision to pursue civil service as a career option it came after graduation only until that point I did not know anything about the exam process and I did not even frankly I did not even know anyone who is in the service or even someone who is into preparation so the entire thing came after graduation only sir. So what what motivated you was there any inspiration which pulled you to the civil service journey. Sir as I mentioned sir I grew up in Arunachal Pradesh so there is one story that is very close to my heart so when I was being born my parents are posted in a very remote place. My father is a civil engineer so into road construction so very remote place they were posted in. So when I was being born my mother had to suffer hours in labor pain because there were no medical facilities like good medical facilities nearby. So the desire to change or desire to do something about that that was always there at the back of my mind that's why I always gave like Arunachal Pradesh or Agmatkara as my first preference. Hopefully I should be getting that and during this time and also sir a lot of civil servants from different parts of the country are doing tremendous work in Arunachal so and my father always used to discuss them and their stories so that also acted as inspiration. I'm sure that you will be able to make a lot of changes in the grassroots as you I hope so sir I hope so thank you. Now let's discuss about your preparation journey so you have given four attempts you have given three interviews what kept you motivated through this is a long journey you face the preparation itself it's a long journey so what kept you motivated and how did you cope with the disappointment you know failed the interviews and then how did you cope with the disappointment of this. Yes sir it has been a fairly long journey for me so my first attempt I could not clear prelims I did not think there was any shortcoming on my preparation but it was more on how I approached the exam how I reacted in the exam hall so we'll we'll discuss that later sir the first one prelims I first one prelims I did not clear then after that I have given three main and all three times I've reached the interview and twice made it to the list and what yeah previously I was allocated a real account service but I did not join that as I was already employed in RBI by that time so what kept me motivated sir is the first thing to keep oneself motivated is it should be internal motivation your own inner desire why are you coming here what do you want to achieve and what do you want to do so that inner motivation is one thing that keeps oneself going so that kicks in in very small small things like small small happiness you can find if you are self-motivated you'll find small small motivation also for example whenever I see official cars passing by I'll get that pang of motivation or just opposite to my RBI quarters there is the Chief Secretary of Kerala his home is there his official quarters is there so whenever I see that building again motivation so that if you're self-motivated motivation will find you rather than the other way and you can also do some bit of reinforcement of motivation for example in my summary or on my wall I used to keep small small quotes motivational quotes like hard word beats hard word beats talent when talent does not work hard or work now regret later if you don't work now regret later like that like these are kind of reinforcement tools so that when we feel low we we like recall why are we here in the first place apart from that my as I said my parents they have also always motivated me it was my decision but they stood by it always and motivated I would suggest others also to surround yourself with positive people no need of any toxic toxicity in your life or at this point especially and most important thing sir after the initial one year I I was employed in RBI also so having that financial security and having a job you're already an officer so that feeling of self-worth is also there so that also played a big role in motivating like keeping the motivation going so so you were actually after the first step you were working all along while you were preparing right so how did you manage time how did you manage time so this would be a question to many aspirants who are working who want to start the or know managing the time a lot while you're working this would be a confusing you know thought for many aspirants who want to prepare so what is your take on that how do you manage time sir it is very much manageable UPSC does not have to be full-time preparation like it's not prudent to I think invest years into UPSC preparation like keeping your life on hold going nowhere so that is not desirable also in my opinion so the first problems that I failed after that there were two options either to try for something else or to sit idle for one more year until the next freelance so instead of sitting idle at home what I did I applied for RBI exam I applied for RBI and one EPF also I had I got into both and I picked RBI so RBI yeah with so since like yeah just after four months of failing problems I was employed in RBI and I have continued my preparation as a working candidate only so how I manage time is um so what was the other question sir how did I manage time yeah that's all like I know many aspirants are confused like both want to start preparation also many people are there who are working now want to start preparation like no we can batches and all are there so they're confused whether they'll be able to do justice to their preparation whether they should quit job and prepare so you have somebody who prepared all along while working so how did you manage time what would be your advice to aspirants who are working currently so how we how I managed I was see RBI in RBI my job was in currency management so it is a very high security area where I'm not I was not allowed any paper or books or whatever even internet is restricted so inside that all time there for like good nine nine hours like that so all my preparation mostly I did after office hours only only the newspaper I tried to finish within office and that too during breaks because inside I'm not allowed that so during lunch breaks or tea breaks during that time only I tried to finish newspaper in office and most of my preparation was outside office after office hour every day I tried to find like four five hours dedicatedly and on weekends I would extend it to the maximum and so I could manage it with reasonable leave also for example for mains I got one month 40 days leave I got and for prelims I got hardly 12 days and for interview I think a week so it is very much doable in that and how to go about it is make a timetable make a schedule scheduling is very important so that you don't waste the time at your hand so make a schedule long-term schedule short-term schedule and stick to it and the most important thing is sir to be true to yourself even those who are doing full-time preparation also if you're sitting on the table for 10 hours and not concentrating for eight hours that doesn't make any sense so whatever hours it is very much manageable with job or if you are studying also it is I think even there are many toppers this year who have been working candidates so it is very much doable okay so let's discuss about something about prelims but about the prelims preparation strategy like what difference did you do in each of your problems you gave four problems so in the first problem you got not clear so how did you improve yourself in in each problem that I I know that in the second problems I guess in 2016 problems you were able to score 160 plus in your prelims marks so that was a tremendous you know huge score so how did you you know improve your preparation for prelims yes sir sir prelims the first prelims that I failed said the mistake that I did was my preparation there was as I said there was no flaw in my preparation if I can say so but what happened is during the examination hall I had not changed my sleep cycle with related with relate to the actual exam timetable so when I was in the examination hall while others were like striking their brain heart solving the paper I was struggling to keep myself awake and it's funny also now if I think of it and then I did the mistake of attempting very less questions also and since my mind was not ready fully I did those circling mistakes also so on and all like very stupidly I lost that exam and I missed also by hardly 1.52 marks like that hardly like that so from the next next prelims onward I more will discuss later also sir in that prelims video but other than that I did not do something extraordinary or something I just focused on multiple revisions and keeping the brain agile our mind agile so that like and even like the realization that we cannot expect to know everything every question in the prelims there will be good 30 40 questions which we might not have any idea to so how to tackle them and like even elimination also so these things only and I think one mistake that I did previous time was I attempted very few questions I attempted less than 60 questions so that that I think can be fatal so attempting at least 85 questions is it is my personal opinion others may have different view but it is my personal opinion that at least 85 questions one must try yes and what about not making for prelims so you know there are basic books you know you must do for sure like make me go on spectrum changas environment and there are multiple books which is a must read like did you make notes in CRT did you make for this book notes for this book and how did you approach the not making for prelims so note making since I was working candidate it was either I could read or I could write notes so note making I did not do per se I had marked it and what I did what I made summary so for example my entire history my entire Indian history was in three pages so for quick revision I did summary both for prelims and means even for psir also sir all the important names of scholars then theory I had like in one sheet I would make a summary side I feel more than like trying to enhance our notes it is more important that we strive to remember whatever we have read so for that I did not make notes but I made summary and yes sir so note making I did not do but summary I did and it comes very handy before last minute before the exam like just flipping through the those pages like it acts as a memory booster kind of you would remember these important terms just before the examination so that helps note making I did not do what about current was it from newspapers or where you're following monthly combinations what did you do for prelims current affairs so prelims both prelims and means both current affairs I read one newspaper diligently it was the Hindu and one current affair that booklet compilation there are many in the available online so one booklet and one newspaper I did diligently other than that if I have any doubt any government schemes or summary like economic survey and these things I did summary from PIB website and sometimes even PRS website but these are like only references not like regular references from their PIB PRS and some selectively debates selectively if I want to have an in-depth like idea of I'm like if I am confused about the topic so I would listen to the debate other each opposing side to get a clearer idea like debate like big picture yes yes big picture sir if there is a political person in the debate out please go out listen only to the experts like it is important from our point of view so generally big picture yeah so like now that film is approaching the you know the students would be confused whether you should revise the basic books more and more or whether you should solve more question papers and revise them so what would be what would be your advice like uh solving more question papers or revising basic books what is more important sir now I think how many days are two prelims hardly 10 days 10 days you know so sir at this point in time it is my personal opinion that do not go for solving more and more paper if you have solved paper in the past revise them like especially the questions where you have made mistakes or questions that you did not know answer to so those things you revise revise your basic books revise your current affairs at this time the focus should be on consolidating what you already know instead of just running behind materials and trying to cover as much as possible see there are n number of tests n number of reading materials in the market there is no way that one can cover all of them like it's not desirable also so whatever like that's saying sir one bird in hand better than two in the bush so whatever you know whatever is the knowledge in your hand try to consolidate that that would be my advice okay okay so now let's discuss about the mains you have given three main so what were your strategies for mains and what differences you made in each of your attempts in mains certain means especially this attempt sir especially sir in all my mains attempt actually my gs course were always good my gs course were always good only this this attempt as i like to stress on this attempt what i did i identified where all my lacking lagging areas are where all i can improve further so these areas were optional ethics and essay so these i focused most on so optional i was not able to score good marks in my previous optional that is geography so i took a year break actually and i changed my optional why year break also you may ask sir because i was not sure of which optional to take so and the examination process was weighing down on me a bit also so i took a year break i read multiple optionals actually so this would be my advice to those who are looking to change optional or looking to select an optional that i was confused between three or four options so i read social also i read anthro also i read psir also so and a little bit of economics also so after reading i realized that no this is the subject that i can most align with so i went with this so other than that uh yeah ethics and essay i worked on this year sir and as i said my gs was fine but even then i did not like take it for granted i uh at the end i brushed it up sir yeah since you were stressing on ethics and essay like how do you prepare ethics and essay and what were your strategies for ethics and essay uh exclude especially the things so ethics is one big enigma like we can never know what is working or what is not working and especially now that the marks are not out so in my previous time i had caught a mere 18 ethics so what i did this time was uh for example case studies are there they are generally around the same theme there is a tribal who's losing his land or a needy person on the road needs medical assistance like or someone doesn't have enough resources like it is generally broad themes we know so what i did i practiced case studies a lot and i always always um and like beforehand itself i tried to have these scenarios and what are the possible options could be there already like one play from your own pocket then pros and cons of that second um ask the institute to like reimburse pros and cons of that ask your seniors leak to the media like that so pros and cons of that so these things i had a like ready made points ready for that so whatever scenarios i could think of case study similarly for essay also for essay also like again the broad themes we know education women uh your cyber security or digital um digital literacy or finance uh media again constitution democracy so these broad areas we know so again for that 13 minutes i would brainstorm on each such topic whatever points come to my mind then i would try to structure them so for every uh topic i had this structure ready like uh in the real exam one on health care and education was us so i already had this uh structure ready that in education i would go like primary secondary tertiary and the problems in that like that i would go like that i already had a frame of answer ready and one one important thing that i did in essay was previously i used to score this time i don't know but until now i used to score very average marks in essay so one reason big reason for that was that i was very scared of these abstract philosophical types of essays so i would try to avoid them so but this time what i did this time i tried to tackle them i practiced i practiced uh philosophical essays also these random quotes are like uh i i try to do them also uh i referred to gauravagarwal sirs and kanisha katharya sirs blog so basically we just have to expand them on any line temporal line or sectoral line um like uh sorry economical or political cultural like that we just have to expand it and i try to practice the same so in the real examination when these these days one part of the like two sections section a was almost entirely philosophical so uh we should not be scared of that rather we should like try to prepare prepare that beforehand so this time i prepared and i was like i was um satisfied with the attempt like with the essay that i wrote and and yes sir for both uh i'm sorry sir yeah for both for both ethics and essay i tried to keep a quote also ready like random reference of quote for example quote related to education quote related to women um quote related to justice so i tried even quote related to terrorism so former un secretary had said bullets don't kill terrorists like or malala said bullets don't kill education does like that pen is my tear like that so uh these kinds of like sectoral uh topic based quotes also i kept ready like so that that would be my advice also instead of collecting random quotes like what we need based on that you collect yes and how did you prepare current affairs for mains was was there anything extra you did for main current affairs was there were problems current affairs so problems and mains both same source same uh same type of reading only sir the only difference that i did was for prelims the focus would be more on the fact for example if now electoral reforms are being talked about so which article is it which committee said what so that would be the more important thing however from the mains perspective it's the same news same material only but you should focus more on what are the pros what are the cons what are the way forward so that was the only difference the difference is only in the approach but materials and all are the same so let's discuss about your optional you have done your graduation in electrical and electronic engineering but then you picked geography initially geography was your first option now move into political science so what was the reason why did you pick geography and political science after after having a background in electrical and electronic engineering yes sir so most of the engineers would agree with me when i say that compared to our electrical sorry engineering subjects it felt humanities would be much more manageable so and since we are coming to a generalist job which deals in public which has public dealings so i thought again humanities would be a better option why i picked geography was as i said sir that was the mistake i did if i can stay in hindsight i had no idea about the exam process everybody was joining that my friends were joining that so i also went along and joined but later on so that is why it's very important to identify what you want to like study in depth for that if you have if you have like if you continue with if you want to continue with your graduation subject or you have a literature subject or something subject of your interest in mind then go ahead with that but if you have doubt in your mind then my my advice would be first you if you have doubt in the humanity subject first advice would be you read the gs when we read the gs then we'll get to know towards which subject we have a bent of mind then after that then you even then if you are unsure then you look at previous year's question paper or the ncrt's on or little notes and then you decide make an informed decision because we it has to be like your optional has to be your best difference that is my advice because sir in general studies in general studies sir the mark difference is not much mark's difference is not much generally everyone's force around the same only but in optional it is that makes the greatest difference so like you know you said you switched from geography to psia so there would be aspirants who are you know currently preparing with geography they would also be eager to know like why did you switch from geography and whether they should also switch from geography etc so what is your take on that why did you speak this so first thing why i switched was one that it was not an informed decision so i felt like i am liking this subject more of the subject and second thing was that i was not scoring i was like i never crossed 250 that that too actually should be the first year so historical reason aside the most important reason was that i was not scoring so two means with geography i am not able to score more than 250 and last means like while others were scoring 330 i was unable to cross 250 and my gs marks were always good sir always over 400 420 gs marks but like here optional mark like i was not getting anywhere with that so last year sorry previous time when i saw 96 marks in paper one geography so that is the time when i decided that i am definitely going to make the switch so if others are also with the subject i so only because i changed it's not like recommendation that you should also there are many candidates this year also who have cracked with geography every year there are students cracking with geography last year also i think someone scored 300 plus but i could not do it so try to identify your strengths and your weaknesses and then only decide on future course of action okay so now that you have cleared with psir political science so what all will be your advisor to people who are preparing with psir the do's and don'ts of psir option so psir this was my first time with psir and with the mark i'm definitely like i'm sure that psir has made a mark but in absence of breakup of marks i'm not sure what to advise actually but what i have done is i have tried to keep my source minimal i had only couple of notes and that only i revise thoroughly and whatever test series question banks answers that i revise thoroughly so main thing i i'm so sorry for the disturbance yeah so main thing i did was minimal notes and multiple revisions and try to make interlinkages for example in psir first paper is generally western thinkers and second paper sorry uh first section is generally western thinkers second section is indian thinkers so if we are talking about kothilya then we can say that javarlal nairu had said that he is a modern so indian makya valley like that so trying to make interlinkages like that or if we are learning a theory on international affairs so the same when we are writing international affairs answers so quoting that theory or for example there are many renowned writers who write on subjects so quoting their names so it adds substance to your argument that see i am only not saying that this fellow has also said for example guha ramchandra guha is there he writes and so one thing that i did was i used current affair knowledge extensively in this for example just before mains prime minister modi had gone to russia he had announced a new line of credit to russia's far east so if you are writing actist policy so we can always write that act is now not only limited to our immediate neighborhood but we are reaching even up to far east russian far east or like their statements like prime minister modi statements or defense minister statement foreign minister statement uh those are used extensively and certain thinkers like raja mohan or sham saran their articles keep coming in the newspaper it's not like no rocket science we are all reading it so their arguments and even some interesting things also you can add for example yogindra yadav had written an article why congress should die or jaffer lot writes a lot on india's right wing so these these things i quoted ramchandra guha had written on the issue of left in india left politics in india he had written that how they should rebrand themselves as socialist and then revamp themselves so these ideas are there uh so those things also i used extensively in my answer so it looks interesting also you're not just sticking to that pure text because psir is a very dynamic subject so yes i'm so current affairs i substantiated like my arguments with and statements of these people okay so this is about india's you have given uh three upsc interview how was the experience so the last one of the covid interview you gave the interview so how was the interview experience how was the total you get the experience interview experience you know all your items so interview experience actually every interview had every interview was different only questions were also like mostly situational so interview experience but one thing i realized is that with every interview i have evolved as a more mature or stronger or wiser person and uh this was a covid interview also and yeah every time i got fair marks on this and this was a covid interview so it was this was very different uh as in like with full shield mask gloves and panel was also seated afar initially i was like leaning to the edge of my chair and like speaking like shouting literally then finally we settled on a like moderate voice modulation because like they were very far away so i also did not realize how much like my volume should be but other than that every interview experience was different sir generally um generally for example some commonalities are there some points in my that that strike out like my uh geographical exposure are natural to this Tamil Nadu and then now presently working in RBI Trivandrum so these comparison questions cultural or these things these are like these are all kind of the expected questions for me but other than that many questions there are situational for example once Basisar had asked me uh that time i was geography optional also what would happen if we tilt the axis or it's axis 180 degree or those kind of questions um yes sir yeah so this year did you get any interesting questions because it was a covid interview also which board did you get this year and any interesting questions this year which you got in the interview back in the week sir this year i got Bharat Bhushan sir's uh board and interesting question it was mostly related to my uh job in RBI uh in wake of covid central banks roles have been have become more enhanced also and how going forward the covid pandemic will change the world mostly related to that and international affair i'm sorry sir yeah so the question was that uh any interesting question that i got yes sir so one question uh uh so going forward this time i was sufficiently confident sir so one question uh Bhushan sir had asked uh that this this is a pandemic time uh this is a post pandemic era so going forward what do you think will uh define global partnerships so i said sir first thing uh economy economic resilience will define global partnerships right so for example now china china's economy has rebound so that is most strong economically more strong so it would flex its muscle politically also and militarily also then he said that uh don't you think technological availability will also play a role in forging partnerships so i said that sir i would like to humbly disagree there i think that technological partnerships will be an event of or as a post factor thing like it would be a result of partnership not the decider of partnerships because even if a country has technology trust is necessary first trust should be there that would lead to partnership and only as a result of that we would be trusting in their technology if we trust in their technology then only we'll be imbibing it for example take the case of who are we know although it is the best uh best like it is best place to implement 5g at the moment but because trust is missing so based on that technological partnerships is not happening so that i felt that even that then after that Bhushan sir also he commented that yes yes that that is an important aspect that to uh to have technological partnership first we should have the trust like that so i feel if you if you are logical and if you can give your correct reasoning you can confidently put forth your view also in front of the board and one more interesting question i was asked was like since i have so many uh geographical uh exposure i was asked this question how many languages i know like that so this is asked in rvi also so i know english hindi nipali asamis and bangali i can understand tamil moderately and malayalam has i have been in relentless pursuit to learn that but malayalam has so far not been my top of tea because i keep mixing malayalam with tamil and it has gone haywire so that is an interesting question sir okay so this the interview experience it's the because you you shared with us it's a show the you know the expertise and maturity of shown in the interview which would have definitely you know reflected in the box also i i hope i guess marks are yet to come up yes i i hope so sir yeah so now it's a few general things right retrospectively thinking uh you know what were the three mistakes you feel you have done during the preparation because you took almost four attempts so uh what were the mistakes you committed that you know that was acting as a hindrance in clearing the exam so first thing was picking optional correctly and that that would be my only regret also that i took too long to rectify it every time i was reaching the interview stage and i thought to continue with that only i could not muster the courage to study to start afresh so first advice would be if you think you can do better with the mid term correction go for it do not do not think that it is not possible nothing is impossible if you are resolved then second thing would be sir revision and practice revision and practice are very important like especially answer writing practice we get to know our flaws beforehand and we can work on it and third thing would be wasting time sir um just just after uh when i joined the job just the first uh attempt after that i could not manage time that was the peak of demonization time also and i used to be in office till at least 10 p.m 11 p.m like that but even then i could have worked better i could not i could not manage time so uh then that that that is an important point that whatever time you have at hand try to make the best use of it the time will never be perfect we cannot just keep waiting for it rather we should try to make perfect whatever we have try to strive for that yes sir so experience life experiences yes sir we cannot stop and keep waiting for the right time that would keep me through that now like uh how did you manage stress like where you stress in the long journey of ups and if at all you had stressed how did you manage stress like where you're having hobbies before ups could you continue with the hobbies uh while you were preparing and no did you use social media and all while you were preparing for ups so how did you manage stress in the preparation yes sir so stress is very natural sir i think if it is not there then there is something wrong like even if i'm not able to achieve a target or something that stress moderate stress shouldn't be there it keeps us like abreast and awake so yes how did i manage stress how did i manage stress so one thing is that again i kept myself engaged i'd being in work i did not have the luxury of time to waste so keeping engaged did uh like empty my empty mind devil's workshop so that that part was taken care of i had only four five hours to prepare so that i prepared well other than that yes i kept my hobbies also going not regularly but whenever i could driving is my hobby traveling is my hobby like swimming so whenever i got time whenever i felt like there is a need to unwind i did and once as i said sir the attempt in which i could not score anything in which i could not get anything get any service i could not make it to the list after that i took a year break i felt that this continuous process is getting too much for me so i took a year break and i again explored all the other optionals that i have when the market mark sheet came i saw 96 only in paper one so after that i throw all the other optionals i have i took a break i went traveling also so now that i was earning again these things were taken care of that additional worry was not there so yes sir purchasing hobby to unwind and again my parents and more more than that sir that resolve was there that only this much in paper one and i am having good marks here so there was no resounding no thought of quitting but how i can like improve i knew where all i can work upon so that that only i strive to like fix them so it's all about the determination perseverance it's with you yeah and what about social media where are you using social media so there is this you should stay away from social media but using social media so different tool of thought what is your take sir social media facebook and whatsapp i was not there since at least i don't remember two and a half years i was not there these are unnecessary information sir unnecessary information overload who is doing what getting what job going where these unnecessarily add to our burden only like we are studying here and someone is roaming around somewhere human psychology will be effective so it's best to keep away from these things other things like any and others other social media like for example telegram telegram is very good to life on we can meet like like there are groups of study groups are there there are channels institute channels are there a lot of resources and materials are there so telegram is the only social media that i used and sometimes instagram like and that too i had a timer like these apps free apps you can download that minimizes your time spent on each app because internet phone i was using extensively for internet so i could not afford to waste time on these social media sites for searches and all those things google was a good companion and other than that yes sir yes sir so social media away from social media during your except telegram yes sir okay and now let's discuss a bit about your rb experience also you have been working in rb for almost four to five years now so how is your whole rb experience and what's all will be your tip to aspirants who are preparing for rba also sir rbi is a wonderful wonderful job like it's a wonderful organization it nurtures talent like it there are a lot of training opportunities like rbi provides for even in india or in foreign like every month i'll be having some training like that and even rbi has as you know as the central bank it has a very diverse its rbi's role is very wide it has from currency management to banking supervision to forex dealings even india's agent in the imf so it since rbi's role is very wide the exposure that rbi gets is also very diverse so it is a very good option like even reputation to world bank is also there so it is a very good option and what i did what i did it was as i said i gave rbi exam just one month after the result of prelims scheme so whatever i knew whatever i had read for civil service that came in very handy so this should be true for all the civil service aspirants out there that came in very handy and one more thing i did was i did previous year's paper practice of rbi question paper so my advice to rbi those who are aspiring for rbi would be like one thing do previous year's question paper second thing whatever like whatever economy or banking related you have learned for civil service that would help but focus more on the theoretical part rbi questions have some reference to theory and curves and those things at least that time it was and third thing would be newspaper newspaper newspaper reading is very important and focus more on like economic and banking news also i think in some free websites also they give banking and finance news separately so you can follow that and fourth thing would be one one paper is there this paper english paper it requires typing also keyboard typing yeah that time it was there but i'm not sure about the exam process now that time when english paper was also there so for that pressy writing and essay writing you can practice and practice on the keyboard if that exam is still there so these are the things i did and rbi is a wonderful career and it encourages you in whatever endeavor you pick okay okay that's great that's great so like what would be your advice to you know the new aspirants who are about to prepare or about to start preparation or just start the preparing and as a you know senior aspirant who cleared after multiple items so those aspirants who are continuously trying and you know they're not able to clear the exam so what would be your advice to these two categories sir for the first category actually for both the category first thing would be to identify your purpose why are you coming into this field what is it that you wish to achieve so first thing would be finding your purpose second thing would be then those who are not able to do or those who are see even when we started preparation it was like okay we'll finish it in one year and like that but it might not always happen like as you wish it to be right so be prepared for any exigency and don't listen to anyone who says that you cannot do it very odd like normal people are clearing and i can clear you can also clear so do not listen to anyone who says that you cannot do it you know if you can do it or not and you know what you must do for achieving it secondly whatever if you are repeat if you are repeating the exam so most important thing for you would be one not to lose hope and next would be to identify your mistakes and work on them it doesn't make any sense to keep repeating the same mistakes and expect different results so identify your mistakes work on them and then start fresh like with a fresh bent of mind there is there is nothing that you cannot do if you are like determined to if you're determined you can do anything that's that would be my advice that's a great advice which everybody can you know follow meticulously in this preparation journey so shangarize academy is really happy that we could also be a part of your preparation journey and so it would be great if you can share some of your experiences with shangarize academy so with shankar i took interview guidance programs sir in this attempt also and in my previous when i was previously going to interview also that time also i took interview guidance and mock interview so mock interviews do do help sir it did help maybe if not questions if not all the same also but it helps you prepare like how to present yourself and how to like how to answer the question like it doesn't not like what you should answer but how you should answer so that way mock interviews and the interview guidance program was very helpful i gave one mock interview with shankar sir also i had given one with shankar sir also and rajita madam also i was taking guidance from yes thank you again intervandrum center also yes intervandrum center also they were always ready to help so you're happy that again we could provide you with some assistance in this journey so thank you so much yashini once again all the very best let you be able to serve the nation to the best of your abilities and i'm sure that you're going to make many changes at grassroots level let you be an inspiring IS officer all the very best and thank you so much for spending time with us thank you so much for your kind words sir i hope i can do something i hope it would be for the best or for the betterment of at least if one person if it helps i would be very very satisfied so i'm very thankful for your kind wishes sir and thank you shankara iyes for guiding me for being a part of the journey