Post Mains Reflections

Two weeks after the exams it does not feel like it was a strenuous week at all.

Appearing for nine 3-hour long exams in a span of six days had seemed tiring, exhausting and grossly unfair. Just two weeks later it all seems to have been fair and just!

Probably explains why nobody talks about altering the scheme of exams when asked about it later in the interview!! (More often than not the last question asked to interviewees is whether they had any suggestions to make to alter/improve the scheme of the examination). By the time the interview takes place the mains exam would be too distant an occurrence in the past to even remotely feel like a bothersome experience.


There is a complete feeling of ennui these days and coupled with the fact that I’m not even reading the newspapers with any regularity, I have now got too much time on my hands...he he. Oh But yes I need to read about Budhism, the Mauryans and the Guptas… the topics that kind of interested me when I was going through those phases of Indian history earlier. (My fascination for the Mughals continues)

I have to confront the question of starting to work again pretty soon.

I really can’t be sure of an interview call. Actually no body ever can be. But just about everyone who writes the mains is mildly expectant unless otherwise it turned to be an outright disaster :-)

I did not do the papers too badly, probably did it significantly better than my 2006 attempt. But one can never tell with these subjective papers. A great deal depends on who corrects the papers as well.

The Public Administration paper for one was way too general ...just about anybody could have written it ...and way too unpredictable...I like the unpredictably part of the UPSC question papers ...takes the wind out of the sail of the dedicated Delhi based coaching institutes ...he he

UPSC is always mindful of the fact that exam has to be made unfair to everyone, which makes it fair to everyone in a weird sense ...like it is said ...’Life isn’t fair, but it is unfair to everyone, that makes it fair’!!