Kanishak Kataria reveals how he became the UPSC CSE-2018 topper
The results of Civil Services Examinations 2018 were declared on April 5 by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) and IIT-Bombay alumnus, Kanishak Kataria, bagged AIR 1 in his first attempt. UPSC also released marks of recommended candidates recently, and Kataria scored 1,121 marks. Talking to the Indian Express, Kataria shared his experience while preparing for the tough exam, his preparation strategy and focus.
'Focus on learning part, rather than thinking about the results'
Talking about what kept him focused, Kataria said, "When I started preparing for UPSC, I was clear that I wanted to give a maximum of two attempts at it." "My family was supportive of my decision and always asked me to focus on the learning part of it rather than thinking about the results which also became my strategy moving forward," he added.
Was working as Data Scientist when decided to prepare
In 2010, Kataria secured AIR 44 in IIT-JEE and subsequently completed his B.Tech from IIT-Bombay in Computer Science. He was also a Teaching Assistant there. He moved to South Korea in 2014 to work with Samsung Electronics as a Software Engineer and remained there till February 2016. He is currently working as a Data Scientist at QPLUM in Bengaluru, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Kataria wanted 'to make the system better in India'
Although Kataria's father, Sanwar Mal Verma, is also an IAS officer (currently posted in Rajasthan), he developed an inclination towards civil services when he compared his life in India and abroad. Earlier he had told BBC, "To make the system better in India, I decided to get into it." However, he never expected to top the exam.
Cannot sustain the materialistic happiness, says Kataria
While talking about leaving a well-paid job, Kataria said, "I cannot sustain the materialistic happiness as I wanted to do something where I could make an impact and be satisfied with what I do." He had seen his father worry about people's benefit and added, "I realized if I am able to improve the life of a needy, I would consider myself successful."
Read NCERT books for building foundation, says Kataria
Meanwhile, coming from an engineering background, starting from scratch was the only option Kataria had. He decided to consult a few people and adapt according to his own understanding. "I first began by reading NCERTs. These books are lucidly written and provide a foundation for any subject. Only after clearing one's basics does it make sense to refer to advanced books," Kataria said.
'Know how much to read and from where to read'
For extra help in Geography, he referred to the Internet and, also read Indian Polity by Lakshmikant. "For history, I also referred to the spectrum book. It gives a concise version of all the events," he said. Kataria doesn't believe in reading as much as possible and said, "It is important to know how much to read and from where to read."
'Mock tests helped me to know about new topics'
While preparing for prelims, mock tests were Kataria's priority. He said, "My focus was not to just attempt the mock tests correctly but they also helped me to know about new topics." "I used to read the topics, if I had read about it earlier then it gave me a revision and if not then I studied about it," he said.
Kataria decided not to focus on marks while preparing
Moreover, Kataria did not think about marks while preparing. He said, "For prelims, I prepared notes and started to study mains only when we came to it. This focus and clarity of thoughts also helped me remain calm and objective during interview round too."
Kataria was asked about big data, its implementation in policy-making
Talking about the interview round, Kataria said that he believes that clarity of thoughts is a major factor on which an aspirant is judged. "They wanted to test what was my understanding of my core subjects including big data and its implementation in policy making," said Kataria. His opinion on India's terror strategy was asked as Pulwama attack was in news during that time.
Katarina was determined to work for society irrespective of result
According to Kataria, his intention of working for the benefit of the society would have not died even if he would have failed. He said, "No matter whether it is through the public or private sector, I would have still done something in the field of public service only. There are many companies which help the government, I would have opted for them."
