5. Prelude to entering service

After skipping my M. Sc. Examination once before, when I was preparing for the next time,  an incident occurred which turned the course of my later life. 

My elder brother was at that time a lecturer in Economics at a College in Silchar, Assam. He had a mind to appear for the West Bengal Civil Services Examination. 

At his desire, I had obtained a set of forms and prospectus for him for the said Examination. Going through the eligibility criteria, I found that my brother had already crossed the prescribed maximum age limit of 24 years.  I informed him accordingly; he could not go for it. Studying the syllabus, I found that it suited me well, and I was still within the prescribed age limit for the examination (24 years as of the first day of January of the year of the examination). I also discovered that it would be my last chance if I wanted to appear. I made up my mind, completed the forms, and applied for the examination. In due course, I appeared for the West Bengal Civil Services Examination, 19671. 

When I appeared for WBCS (EX) examination, there were still some months before my M. Sc. Examination. I continued my studies for the M. Sc. with all seriousness. While doing so and waiting for the result of the WBCS examination, I joined a Girls' School at Baranagore, as a part-time teacher, in Mathematics. As far as I remember, the School was located near the Economics department of Calcutta University on BT Road. I served there for a couple of months. Much before this, during the second year of my postgraduate course, I had also taught for some time the son of one Prof. Srivastava (the first name I don't remember), a renowned professor of Physics,  in their flat in Southern Avenue,  Calcutta.

 Sometimes after I had joined the Baranagore School as a teacher, I got a call letter from West Bengal Public Service Commission to appear at an interview. I appeared for the interview at Bhabani Bhawan, Kolkata. Stalwarts like K. K. Sen, ICS, the then Member Board of Revenue, P. K. Rakshit, the noted Professor of Chemistry, Principal Maulana Azad College and the Chairman of the Commission were on the interview board, amongst others. I had obtained more than 70% marks in the interview. 

There was no career advancement institution or coaching centre to guide the candidates for such examinations in those days. I had not prepared separately for this examination or the interview, except for the General Knowledge and the 5-year planning, which formed a part of the compulsory subjects for that examination. I  sat for the examination with the knowledge I had acquired that far in my academic pursuit. Yet, I had secured the first position amongst the successful candidates. The news of my ranking first in the Civil Services Examination was brought to me by some of my post-graduate hostel mates; they came to me jubilantly carrying a copy of the newspaper that had published the result. I was happy that I could keep my record of ranking first in the examinations, untarnished that far.

 I could not sit for the All India Civil Services Examination for the IAS and other All India and Central Services. By the time I knew about IAS and became interested in it, I had already crossed the prescribed upper age limit at that time (24 Years as on the first day of August of the year of examination). 

After I left the engineering institutes, I did not have any particular career in my mind, though research attracted me. I never thought of becoming a Civil Servant. I was not even aware of a profession like Civil Services. It was, possibly, because of my small-town upbringing and my family background, which I have explained. In those days, even in middle-class families,3 particularly in backward areas like ours, people were hardly conscious of available career opportunities, and most did not bother about it. Hardly there was discussion on a career in the family or amongst the friends. Newspapers were rare in many households, the Television had not arrived, and Coaching centres for competitive examinations had not developed. The Career Information base was thus weak.

Middle-class parents were, by and large, busy earning their livelihoods and did not have the time or the mindset to be concerned about what their children did. Children seldom had any guidance for choosing their careers. Children, too, were not as career-minded as they are today. Most of them, like me, did not have any fixed aim in life. My primary objective was to come out of the pathetic condition in which we were living. In the situation I grew up in, I could not think of something big, though I had made some whimsical efforts at later stages (without thinking about our monetary condition). You may call it a middle-class mentality. That, too, would be ornamentation for us; we were lesser than middle-class. 

It deserves mentioning that even in Calcutta, where I  had joined the post-graduate course, I had never heard any discussion about career or civil services amongst my classmates or friends. As for me, I came to know of the IAS and felt interested in it only after my post-graduate hostel-mate, Bijan Saha, had made it after having special coaching at Jadavpur University. Next year, another of our hostel mates Pranab Roy got through to the IAS following the same path. Bijan succeeded at the first attempt, while Pranab needed a second attempt. Jadavpur University, at that time,  had conducted special coaching for the All India Civil Services Examinations for a couple of years. By the time Bijan became IAS, I had become overaged and my door was closed.  I had the merit and the capability, but the situation and the time were not on my side.