Why write civil service exam?

The reason why civil service is something commonly asked in civil service interview. Many a times the aspirants recite the lines they have learned over and over again. We will leave the interview for a while and reframe the question. Why do aspirants really write civil service exam?

I am listing the whole set of answers that come to my mind. When i write each pointer many faces of my fellow aspirants come to my mind.

1.       To serve the country: Yeah, the energy of youth comes out in different forms. Many aspirants feel that they can change the country by being in civil service. To thrash the corrupt politician , to remove the poor of hunger, to bring equality...the list of dreams for an aspirant are  abundant and filmy!. But rarely does all the dreams transform.

2.       To make money: I could see that many aspirants were completely frank in private conversations to declare that the only reason to write civils was to become rich. They had grown up seeing the IAS officers in their states (especially bihar, UP etc) amass huge hordes of wealth after being in civil service and “serving the nation”. So now they see the IAS study as an investment which will return them rich dividends in future. They spend lakhs of rupees in coaching centres in delhi (for accommodation and fees it will need few lakhs) with the dream of earning big.

3.       Confused: Yup, many after graduation are confused about what to do. So civil service coaching becomes a fashionable option. CAT preparation is more or less equally fashionable.

4.       To get something: The UPSC preparation makes the aspirant cover a lot of topics. The civils syllabus (prelims plus mains) prepares a candidate capable of many exams like bank, clerical posts, police, ib exams. Many aspirants see this as a way to secure ‘a job’. This is actually a very good thought. The aspirant can get a job and then jump on to the next best thing. This way of thinking of getting best and becoming better is adopted by many these days.

5.       Status and Power: There are some guys who are filthy rich in our country. All they lack is power and status. So they would sent their kids with loads of money to study for civils. A majority of these aspirants after having glorious life in city returns to ‘dad’s ways’ to secure a good happy living.

6.       Unknown reason: Hehe! There are many aspirants who are yet to have a reason. The reason can be simple as defeating boredom after being fired from a IT company or just the excitement to know a new field. There aspirants join and start coaching but leave it for good very early.

What ever be the reason, in case you have made your mind ready for civils, then jump into it fully. You will need to immerse in the exam process for atleast 5 months.