There’s no doubt that becoming an IPS or IAS is a big dream for several people, but only a number of people crack the difficult UPSC exam. Among the 761 candidates who passed the exam, Apala Mishra secured AIR 9 in the UPSC CSE this year.
In her third and final attempt, she completely nailed her interview and secured one of the highest scores with 215. In her 40-minute interview round, she was asked a number of questions.
Here are some of the questions she was asked during her interview round:
Question: Firstly, she was asked about the meaning of her name.
She responded: “The name Apala belonged to a female sage of the Rigveda era. This name was given to me by my mother as she is a Hindi professor and has a lot of attachment to literature. The literal meaning of my name is beautiful.”
Question: Since her family belongs to an army background, she was asked about the positive aspects along with the challenges faced in the army.
She responded: “There are several challenges in defence. However, with time, all such challenges are improving. The biggest challenge in the army was for women, but now they are also getting fair chances. Along with this, India is becoming self-reliant and more weapons and other equipment are being made in the country itself.”
Question: She was then asked about her opinion on the different languages in India.
She responded: “There are several languages that are spoken in India. This is itself a speciality of India as it showcases unity in diversity.”
Question: Next up, she was asked about the saree she was donning during the interview and also asked what did the border of her saree represented.
She responded: “The border of this saree has Warli Art which comes from Maharashtra’s Sahyadri. The artwork done on the border reflects a normal life.”
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Question: She was then asked to recite a poem of any sort.
She responded: “I wrote this poem for my brother who is a record major in army: When I think of you, I think of my country too. When I salute you, I salute my country too.”
Question: Lastly, she was asked about her views on the struggle.
She responded: “The struggle should never be seen as a struggle or a difficult phase, it should be seen as lessons and how one should always move forward.”
With her extreme confidence and intelligence, she totally crushed the interview round!
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