Bengaluru has woken up to a cold chilly morning today. The winter season has been unusually chiller this time, apparently due to a cold front coming from North India. But it’s not just the external environment that’s getting cold, some of us have been experiencing chills even within our internal environments. This too has its genesis in North India..
The Dholpur house based out of New Delhi has been brimming with the UPSC CSE Interviews since last week. Out of around 14627 who took the UPSC Mains exam in 2024, 2845 students have qualified for this last but pertinent stage. In the ongoing Interview Guidance Programme 2024 we have come across a plethora of students from diverse backgrounds.
Whereas some will be appearing for their first ever CSE interview, others have had past experiences. If some have been managing their preparation alongside a job, others have been full-time aspirants throughout. While some have the so-called exceptional DAFs, others have been on the conventional side. But is there a single metric based on which a candidate can be judged?
Can the DAF itself be taken at face value?
While having a good DAF does raise the expectations of the interviewer, yet that itself cannot be regarded as an end in itself. For the DAF is meant to represent a human being afterall, whom the author William Paul Young considers as consisting of a universe within themselves!
So how could it be possible to confine this magnanimous entity into a mere few pages of text? I believe it is not.
While the DAF is indeed a “Detailed” Application Form, it is brought to life by the human being who gets to sit inside the panel room in the Dholpur House for those 20-25 minutes.
This very human being is the culmination of a lifetime of invaluable experiences, of values, of interactions, of agony, of pain, of love, of joy, of adventure, of courage and so much more. Unfortunately, the most intriguing part is that the seemingly mighty Dholpur house and the Board within, more often than not makes the candidate forget their own lifetime itself.
Nevertheless, one has to pick the self up and remind themselves of their individuality. For every life is unique, it is a lived reality by the candidate, and no Board member in the world, irrespective of their stature can take that away from the individual.
At this juncture, the final stage, let us take that leap of faith. For we owe it to ourselves, our own body mind and soul, for pushing us this far.
The trick is to not lose the battle with our own selves, our own mind till the very end moment. One might perceive the interview going haywire, diverging from one’s expectations. But one must NOT LOSE HOPE till the very end. A single question is all it takes to turn the tide in our favour, which can bring out the best in us.
For all this, a little belief in the self would be the need of the hour..
Wishing all the warriors the best for their UPSC CSE interview! 🙂
