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Name: Naga Sathish Gidijala
Board: Alka Sirohi mam
Optional: Agriculture and Geology
Civils Optional: Geography
Hobbies: Watching movies and Cricket, Internet browsing, Watching news channels in TV.
Attempt: 1 for IFoS, 3 for Civils mains
Qualification: M Tech CSE IIT Roorkee, B Tech ECE, Andhra University.
Present Job: Jobless…hehe… left my job an year back in Feb 2013
Past Jobs: Software Engineer, Cisco Systems, Bangalore – 2.5yrs Exp. Software Engineer, Informatica Business Solutions, Bangalore – 1 year exp.
Achievements: Best Student in college, ISTE; Best boy in School
Rashtrabhasha Visharad Degree from Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha
From: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh
So again I got Alka mam board for IFoS interview. In 2012 civils interview, she terrorized me with a pressure cooker type’s interview. This time i was better prepared to face her. My knowledge base back then was very limited as it was my very first attempt at Civils. This time I was more matured in my preparation. I knew anything could be asked and all i had to is to maintain my composure. There was a sense of Calmness within me and confidence too, instead of usual nerves. Facing interview 2nd time makes u lot more relaxed as you know what is going to come. I was prepared for a Rapid fire GK round as soon as I learnt that it’s going to be Alka mam’s board. However, this time board was too cordial and the discussion was more like a panel discussion unlike last time when it was a quiz.
Many suggested me during mocks way back in 2012 that i should listen keenly, think for a minute or two, frame answer in mind with proper words and then reply in a slow sedate manner (like our DD news anchors…oh wait…I’m not saying about that Goa Film festival anchor… :D). However, it is very unnatural of me. I am always a lively character who speaks my mind out. I listen keenly, but rest of the steps i really don’t do. I am more of myself, energetic, lively, quick, use simple English yet showing immense respects to the members and quickly accepting my ignorance incase I don’t know something (which can be as trivial as it can get). I don’t know my interview marks yet, but I am sure it is the interview that cud have given me good rank after very tough Geology optional this year. Even if I get less interview marks, I wouldn’t mind as I loved the way I responded to the questions with Composure and Energy… I was happy n satisfied immediately after I left my interview room n that’s enough. To me, Interview is more about expressing yourself rather than Answering Questions perfectly with hi-fi Vocab….So here goes my transcript… 🙂
CP: When you watch news channels why to even read newspaper? What are the deficiencies of news channels?
Me: Madam, there is no positive Reporting in the News channel.
CP: What do you mean positive reporting? You mean Good news turns a bad news and a bad news turns good news in News channels?
Me: Madam, there are some very good programs like MNREGA, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan etc, by government which are often ignored by news channels.
CP: Ok. What else?
Me: Madam, news channels sometimes try to sensationalize things unlike newspapers for better TRP ratings.
Ok. Got it. You are on right track. What else?
Me: Aaa… (Thinking) Madam, News channel debates sometimes tend to get heated due to various political parties sticking to their stands even though they know that they are wrong.
Ok. Good. This is nice for a Good start, Sir please carry on (pointing to next member)…
M1:
What do you do in free time?
Sir, whenever I get sometime I usually spend watching cricket or movies or news in TV. When I really feel like taking break from daily work life, I usually go and visit nearby waterfalls which refresh me. I love waterfalls sir.
Which waterfalls did you visit recently?
Sir I went to Hoggenkkal Fall sir. It’s near Karnataka Tamil Nadu border. It comes under Tamil Nadu but closer to Bangalore sir.
Did you observe anything special near the waterfalls?
It is a wonderful fall where various streams of Cauvery converge in a gorge and is famously called as Niagara of India sir.
Anything more interesting?
Sir, One very interesting thing I observed in Hogennekal was Head massage sir..
What? What do you mean by head massage? (With lots of interest)
Yes sir, there all lots of licensed massagers along the whole length of waterfalls who do massage expertly. Not just to head, but for the whole body.
Oh is it? This is very interesting.
Yes sir, they charge some minimal amount of 100 or 200. In fact they are given license by the Tamil Nadu tourist dept. only sir for doing massage.
That’s very nice. Where else have you been?
Sir I have also been to Doodhsagar waterfalls very recently. It’s around 10km trek on the tracks to reach the waterfalls sir. I thoroughly enjoyed trekking on the track sir. In fact, I have seen this waterfalls in the Chennai Express movie and I went there sir.
Did you observe any wildlife there? (I actually never interested in observing animals & at that moment, no animal came to my mind too. So, I honestly told)
Sir, I dint pay much attention to wildlife there sir. I just saw some monkeys there sir. Nothing much. (With a kind of weird helpless smile on my face)
C.P: Don’t underestimate monkeys Sathish. In fact they are going to become very important in the coming future.
(I immediately got the idea) Yes Madam: Absolutely. There is this Lion-Tailed Macaque which almost became extinct. It’s endemic to Western Ghats.
C.P: Yes. You are right. (Nodding her head in concurrence with others n me)
M1 again…
Which other places Sathish?
Sir, I visited couple of falls in North east. They are Elephant Falls and Seven Sisters… (He interrupted and said)
Did you see elephants there? (I was like what!!!)
Sir, Elephant Falls name is because of the shape of the falls sir.
No no Sathish. Elephants stay very close to Waterfalls always. So be very careful next time you visit any falls. They are very important Fauna there. They are very dangerous
I simply said…thank you sir, will surely keep this in mind. 🙂
He passed it on M2:
Can you tell me how can you use your CS knowledge in Forests?
Sir, There is this whole new field of “Forest Informatics” which is a whole new subject which deals exclusively with the Computer Science and its applications in Forest Management. (Mam kept noting these good points which I’m raising n I could sense that she felt happy on listening to this particular word “Forest Informatics”). There are many technologies like GPS, GIS, Data Analysis, Remote Sensing, Aerial Surveying etc. sir where computer science plays very huge role. For example, some crucial decisions like how much minerals are available? Where are they available? What is the impact of exploiting them? etc. etc. can be taken based on the data that we get and the analysis we do on such data with the computer science tools sir. So, in all these areas, my expertise as a CS engineer will surely help me sir. One more area is the Clearances for the projects sir. As today, government is moving towards e-governance in each field, in forests also various initiatives on e-governance are possible. There also my knowledge as CS engineer would be helpful sir.
(I personally was very satisfied with my answer, n other members too were happy)
Can you instantly tell me some CS model right now which can be useful for Forests?
Definitely sir. Sir, I was working in a company called Informatica, which used to work mainly in integrating various types of databases and establish flow of things and take decisions accordingly. Like, if I change one parameter, where and all factors get modified and how prudent will be my decision can be analysed sir.
Ok. That’s great. So, you want to integrate such model with the Forest information right?
Yes sir. Absolutely. This is one such model which will be perfect for Forest management.
Nice. If there is one weak link in this model or one thing on which you want to avoid taking decision based on this model, Can you tell me what it would be?
Sir, there are 2 major factors on which I can stop taking decision. 1 is the human factor. If I feel that, the people living in that forest region are going to get impacted, their livelihood is threatened, and then I would avoid taking decision. 2nd is the Environment and Climate Change. In the global perspective, protecting Environment is a major factor now sir whose impacts are felt not just where the deforestation takes place, but across the whole globe. Hence i avoid deciding if it threatens environment sir.
That’s nice. What kind of information can you obtain from Forest Range officers for this model? And how do you obtain it?
Sir, I can train Forest range officers in obtaining some information like Flora and Fauna which are rare. Like beforehand itself i will show them, for example how a lion-tailed macaque would look like and train them in identifying them. If they see it somewhere, then they would definitely give us some info based on which we can plan our conservation things. I am not sure if we can obtain scientific data like Temperature, precipitation etc. from the on-field forest officers’ sir. I would better get such information from the satellites than the manual information sir.
Ok good. Passed to M3
M3:
Sathish, you mentioned about e-governance earlier. Can you tell me how e-governance impacted you as a citizen of India and your personal experience with such initiatives?
Sir, personally I used many e-services sir. For example, earlier I used to write letters for RTI and wait for the reply and if it doesn’t come, write again. But now, I just apply RTI online, I track its progress and I am getting reply in my email itself sir. This made my life easier. One more example is couple of day back I was trying to get passport for my dad. I no longer need to go to passport office to know what documents are needed and what is the procedure. I simply logged in online, submitted documents online and applied online, booked appointment slot of my convenience and i can directly go now at that slot. So e-governance has in my personal opinion made the interaction between the Citizen and the Government lot more hassle-free and easy accessibility. (Yes, I forgot about Corruption and Reduction of Delays etc. 🙂 but does it matter?)
Is there any scheme for Computerisation of Land Records?
Yes sir, there is one scheme being implemented by govt. to computerize the whole land records and the ownership rights sir. Most of the black money today gets generated in these land dealings sir. Hence govt. is trying to computerize them. But I do not exactly remember the name of the scheme sir.
You somewhere said black money. Can you tell me what is Black money?
Sir Black Money is the one that is not accounted for. That is the money that is on which Income tax is not paid. For example, if I am exporting, I would decrease my bill amount and pay lesser tax and the gap between the money I quoted and real expenditure goes into black money.
Sathish. You are right. But usually for exporting, bills will be inflated and the other way round for imports.
I quickly concurred with him and said “yes sir, the unaccounted money I meant. Thanks for correcting”
It’s alright. Can you tell me what do you call the way we convert Black money to White money?
Sir its Hawala.
Hawala is our local Indian name. Can you tell me the exact official word used world wide.
Sir, it’s round tripping. I know round tripping is used to do such things. But I am not sure sir.
No No. Please think more…
Sorry sir, not able to recollect.
Its money laundering Sathish.
(I was literally kicking myself and said “Yes sir, money laundering”)
Ok you watch movies. What is the latest Movie you saw?
Sir, I saw Vikram’s ‘I’ sir.
Oh. It is a horror movie right?
No sir, it is a Revenge story directed by Shankar.
Who are your favourite Directors?
Sir, in Telugu I like Raghavendra Rao movies. Then in Hindi … thinking… (I wasn’t getting any name)..(I remembered Chennai Express again and said) Rohit Shetty sir…
Then all of a sudden whole board started laughing as if I cracked the biggest joke of my life(:-o) and member too laughed heartily and said…what about English?
I just watch Sci-fi movies sir. Don’t much care about directors.
Ok. Nice. No issues. Ok. You watch Cricket too. AP has produced many great cricketers. Can you name them?
Sir Mhmd Azharuddin…. MSK Prasad….that’s all sir (How I forgot VVS n Rayudu.. :'( )
CP: Don’t you know Mr.Jayasimha?
No Madam:
He is a very famous cricketer of his time from your state. You should have known him?
Sorry Madam: I don’t know him.
Passed it back to CP:
CP:
Can you tell me what is “some complex Hindi word (Nisarga something)”?
No Madam: (I dint even know that it was a Hindi word, I thot it was some scheme or something lol)
Its “Natural resources” in Hindi Sathish. As you are a Rastrabhasha Praveen, I just wanted to check your Hindi skills. Anyway good that you showed interest in learning Hindi by studying Rashtrabhasha course.
What is the difference between Ecology and Environment?
Madam, Environment is anything that is outside a particular organism or body. For example, for a microorganism in our blood, its environment is our blood itself. For we humans, Environment is the biosphere and the atmosphere in which we live in. So, basically it is something that is outside to the body. On the other hand, Ecology refers to the study of 3 factors that is biotic, abiotic and the energy factors. For our Earth, we receive this Energy from the Sun Madam:
Can you tell me how an LED works? (I knew this was coming even before interview. But just forgot to read it like we always do saying “Anything can be asked in interview” 🙁 )
Sorry Madam: I do not remember.
Oh common Sathish. Everyone must know how it works. I am not an Ece Grad, still I know it.
Sorry Madam: I don’t remember mam.
Then mam explained it herself to me telling how it works on how different colors are produced due to frequency variations. I was totally blank and all I could do is to thank mam.
Ok Sathish. Can you tell me what a Semiconductor is?
Madam there are two types of semiconductors like n-type n p-type depending on how we dope them;
No No… we’ll go to types later. Tell me what exactly semiconductor means.
Madam: Semiconductor is the material which has its behaviour between a conductor and a resistor. Its resistance can be varied based on how we dope it.
Ok. Can you tell me few materials used to make semiconductors other than Silicon and Germanium?
Madam: Gallium
Yes. Gallium and its compounds. Can you name some compounds of Gallium.
No Madam: I do not know.
Ok. Thanks Sathish. That’s all. You may leave now.
I thanked mam and the other members and left the room.
I was just thrilled about my overall performance… I was quite happy all along the interview with lots of energy, smile and enthusiasm. But ultimately the results matter after all… and thank god I got a good rank…My journey from ECE to IIT to IFS has been an incredible experience and this interview of mine has just stirred my whole past…..:D
Looking forward to entering the Jungles with a bang……
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