JUNAID AHMAD from Nagina, District Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh) has cracked UPSC Civil Services Exam 2018 with 3rd Rank in his fifth attempt. Last year, he had qualified with 352 ranks and for that he is presently undergoing training at National Academy of Customs in Faridabad. He had completed his primary schooling from St. Mary School, at Nagina in Bijnor, High School from Minto Circle in AMU and passed his intermediate from AMU and completed his graduation from Sharda University. His father, Javed Husain is a lawyer and mother Aisha Raza a homemaker. In an interview with MOHD NAUSHAD KHAN, he said he would like to say to the aspirants of UPSC that no doubt UPSC exam is very tough but if they follow it passionately with 100 per cent commitment then success can easily be achieved.
First of all Congratulations, I would like to know how preparing for UPSC came to your mind and what inspired you to go for it?
I had no such plan till my graduation until I started to think about job and planning career. I was of the opinion that whatever career I am going to choose should help me to lead a meaningful life and Civil Services helps to achieve that because you live with the people and try to solve their problems and the satisfaction one can have is that from the civil services and that was the only reason that I thought of choosing UPSC as a career to serve the people.
So what was your success mantra that helped you qualify UPSC exams?
As we all know, this exam is very tough. But if one does hard work and is passionate about goal then one can achieve success. I did hard work with total commitment and patience because it is very important in civil services as it takes four to five years and therefore patience is necessary. For me, hard work and patience are important factors for success.
There is a general perception that UPSC is a very difficult exam and a really hard nut to crack. So, large numbers of students don’t even think of preparing for it just because of the perception. And those who even try give up soon midway. What would you like to say to them?
No doubt, civil services exam is one of the toughest exams and approximately 10 lakh students fill the form for this exam. It depends on how a student perceives that exam. If you pursue something and do hard work then it gives the result. If I take myself as an example, I had not very solid background like that from IIT, IIM or from any other institute of national and international repute. Even my percentage was average. Despite all this when I decided to prepare for this exam I gave my 100 per cent and I never thought what will happen if I am not selected and had also not planned any other option if I fail to qualify. I was only focused on civil services exams and nothing else. I would like to say to the aspirants of UPSC that no doubt the exam is tough but if you follow it passionately with 100 per cent commitment then one can easily achieve success.
What according to you should be the strategy and planning for preparing UPSC exams?
The first thing to do is to understand the exam. There is a lot to study and if you are not able to pick up the direction then a lot of time and energy would be wasted simply without any gain. Hard work without any direction is simply a waste of time. The previous UPSC syllabus and question papers should be minutely observed and should try to get hold of the demands of the exams. The earlier one is able to understand it the better is it would be for him to qualify this exam. Selection of books and how to study that is very important and it can be explained in a detailed lecture and for that, a separate session will be required. The key point is to understand the exam and choose the direction accordingly.
Generally, people ask a question from those who have qualified UPSC as to what should be done but I would like to know from you what the aspirants of civil services should not do while preparing for UPSC exam?
When one makes up his mind to prepare for this exam, he wants to learn everything under the sun. First of all the material required should be concise accordingly. The study material should be very restricted and that should be revised regularly instead of jumping here and there in search of new material. Learning many books may not be very fruitful but learning one book and revising it multiple times can be useful. The students don’t give due importance to earlier syllabus and question papers. When we start preparing, we think of becoming an expert of the subject or getting a PhD in that which the students should not do. The idea is to have a general understanding of the subjects and we should give equal time to each subject. The students generally consider that there are different stages of this exam which is wrong; all the exams are interlinked to each other; all these stages should be given equal importance and one should not learn one stage at the cost other stages. Equal importance should be given to prelims, mains and interview as well. These mistakes should be avoided.
Do you think students should keep from social media during their preparation?
Too much of it is harmful but a little bit of it is useful. Not only social media, even one had to restrict his social circles to some extent. During preparation, a lot has to be covered and the solid base has to be made. But despite all this, there is a productive use of the internet like study and opinion building. Once can have a look at Facebook when one getting bored and even there too one can find good articles. It depends on how these mediums are used productively or simply one may pass time in trivial issues.
What according to you should be done for the educational empowerment of Muslims?
It is the responsibility of the government to provide schools and institutions and they are doing at their level. But Muslims should also stop making excuses of schools and institutions and even infrastructure. Unless and until the community takes initiatives, things will not be solved and we cannot think of educational empowerment. It also becomes the responsibility of the parents, community and community leaders to make sure that the community is focused on education and primary and secondary education is very important.
The trend now is that after passing high school or secondary school, the students are engaged with parents to own business and do not think beyond. Education should be given priority and all stakeholders within and outside the community should play their part sincerely and honestly to make a difference. The community leaders should provide scholarship, give support system and build institutions and help needy students. If you talk of civil services then there is Zakat Foundation of India, Jamia Millia Islamia, Haj House of Mumbai are playing very important roles in creating awareness and helping financially and the results can be seen by one and all. Such types of initiatives are also required elsewhere for the educational empowerment of Muslims and upliftment of the community in all walks of life.
To whom would you like to give credit for your success?
The credit, first of all, goes to the Almighty for helping me achieve success and honour. After that parents always supported me in my endeavour and always stood by me in failures and encouraged me always. Also, there is a great role of teachers and friends because whatever we learn or read, their support matters a lot. The credit goes to all of them.
During your preparation, was there at any point of time you realised that it is not your cup of tea and you were on the verge of giving up?
Yes, on many occasions. When there is a failure, the feeling then is very unusual. I have qualified in my fifth attempt; the earlier four attempts I had failed and when you fail, you sometimes think of giving up. But then it is all important to note how passionate you are to achieve your goals and that invigorates and helps to try again and again to achieve success. After failure, I used to take a couple of days break and start afresh because I was passionate about my goals. I have always learned from my failures and never allowed failures to come in on the way to my passion. Whatever I am today is because of what I have learned from my failures. So one should not be afraid of his failures but try to learn from his failures.
What was your first reaction when you came to know that you have cracked the civil services exam?
The first thing that came to my mind was to inform my parents. I called up my parents and shared with them about my result and they were happy to know that. It was for a short duration because success made me realise my responsibility because of people’s expectations grows accordingly when you achieve success. I began to feel more responsibility.
Do you think Muslims can perform better in education or all other fields when there is a sense of security?
When there is financial security and other security as well then one can concentrate fully on his education and what one is trying to achieve. If you don’t have the basic necessities like home, food, clothes and other essential things, you cannot remain focused on your studies. If basic needs are fulfilled, the community’s interest in education will further grow manifold.
What you have thought of achieving after 10 years from now and have you made any target to achieve?
I am only graduate now; so I will try to learn more. In administration, my priority would be to improve the accessibility of bureaucrats because they are not very accessible. I would like to change that perception. In the next 10 years I would like to bridge the gap between the bureaucracy and the people and will try to work on that.
What would you like to say to the youth of this country?
I would like to tell the youth that you are the energy of India and you are its strength and it is important for them to channelize their energy and potential. It is important that they should have a goal in life. It is not important that everyone should become IAS or IPS. One should nurture his talent and move forward and they should also get full support from their parents.