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With
Ms. Deepa Gupta, Scientist-C in the
CGWB, Bangalore
Ministry of Jal Sakti, Govt. of India
The “Geo Dialogues”- A special
conversation series of Exploring Geology with Geoscientists/Geologist. In this blog, you are going to read the views
of Ms.
Deepa Gupta, Scientist-C in the CGWB, Bangaluru, Ministry of Jal Sakti,
Govt. of India. She secured AIR-1 in
the UPSC Combined Geoscientist
Exam-2019 in Hydrogeologist category. There are many laurels in her account like qualified CSIR JRF and IIT GATE exam etc. She did her
B.Sc. (Hons.) Geology and M.Sc. Geology from BHU, Varanasi. During her education, she also did fieldwork in
Vindhyan, Siwalik and Gondwana Supergroups. She visited Sukinda Chromite mines
and Daitari Iron ore mines in Orissa to enhance her understanding of economic
geology and the exposure of mine activities.
Here is Exploring Geology (EG) interaction with
Ms. Deepa Gupta (DG) after her
success in UPSC GSI Exam-2019.
EG- Deepa Gupta ji,
Congratulations on your success in UPSC GSI Exam-2019. How was the feelings
after securing AIR-1 in UPSC Combined Geoscientist Exam-2019?
DG: Thank you very much. Actually I was not expecting the first
rank so felt very happy and it was proud moment, not only for me but for my family
also. It was like dream came true. I always thought about cracking UPSC but the
first rank was big deal.
EG: In which attempt you
got this success?
DG: It was my 2nd attempt. I also performed well in
my first attempt but due to some issue in English could not make it.
Otherwise I scored good marks in Geology papers.
EG: Did you take any
coaching for preparation or crack it by self-study only?
DG: I did not join any coaching for the preparation and I think
the self-study is the most important. If you have proper guidance, you will
definitely crack it. No need of coaching.
EG: Whom you would like to
give the credit of your success?
DG: Definitely, first credit goes to my parents because they
supported me a lot. Apart from them, I would like to credit my professors of
BHU, seniors and my friends for their guidance, support and motivation. Parents
support is very important.
EG: Would you like to tell
about your family background?
DG: Sure, actually we are a joint family. My mother is a home
maker and my father is a businessman. I have a younger brother and a younger
sister. There are my cousins as well.
EG: After M.Sc. Geology,
How much time did you take for the preparation of this Exam?
DG: I passes out M.Sc. in 2018 and after that I started
preparing GATE exam and scored good but I always have a heart for cracking UPSC
and go to GSI/CGWB or ONGC because all these are reputed organizations in
Geology field. I appeared for GATE exam in 2018 and started making notes.
Appeared for GSI-2018 but could not qualified and then got this results in
GSI-2019. I usually study 10-12 hours a day and daily revision.
EG: As you told you have
joint family so do you face any difficulties in preparation or everything was
fine.
DG: We have joint family but we all cousins in the family are
study lovers and everyone had a separate room for study so not much difficult
for preparation. We usually spend time together for 1-2 hour in the evening and
then study in the individual rooms in our own way. Everyone have their own
target for career.
EG: We would like to know
about your academic journey including schools and college.
DG: I did my 10th & 12th from Radha
Kishori Govt. Girls School, Ramnagar, Varanasi and in 12th I was
topper in my school. After that I did my
Graduation with Geology (Hons.) along with Chemistry and Botany from Banaras
Hindu University (BHU) Varanasi. Then I also did my M.Sc. Geology from BHU.
EG: How you choose Geology
subject means do you have particular interest in Geology or got randomly by
your rank?
DG: During my early school days I was not aware about Geology as
a subject but I was passionate about study of Earth. When I was in 12th
I came to know about Geology subject. When I was filling my registration form
for Graduation I found Geology choice written their so I inquiry about it and
one of the professor there in BHU told me that this subject deals with study of
earth and provide good career opportunities like Geologist, Geoscientist in GSI,
ONGC etc. So I opted Geology subject. I feel that I was lucky in this way.
EG: Did you feel any
insecurity or doubt that you opted an unusual subject?
DG: No, Not at all. In fact when I was in Graduation our seniors
usually got top positions in GSI Exam so I felt that we should also do
something like that so I never felt doubt about the subject, in fact, I will
say maximum students should go for it, if they have interest in Geoscience.
EG: We usually seen that
Geology students of BHU makes good ranks in prestigious exams like GSI, GATE,
NET, JAM etc. so What makes Geology Department of BHU so special?
DG: I think one big reason of it is that syllabus of Geology in
BHU is quite similar to syllabus for these exams. Another season may be answer
writing practice because you will not get marks there without appropriate
writing. One more specialty is notes making in the classes and of course
professors of Geology BHU are worthy and very supportive.
EG: At what stage of your academics you felt that you should go for
UPSC GSI Exam?
DG: After entered in Geology, UPSC GSI was always a dream.
Particularly, when I was in B.Sc. and the result of UPSC GSI was out at that
time and our seniors performed very well so I felt why not I should try for
this exam so when I came in M.Sc. Geology I started preparation for UPSC
Combined Geoscientists Exam and In 2019 I qualified both Geoscientist in GSI as
well as scientist in CGWB and I preferred CGWB.
EG: Why you preferred CGWB over GSI?
DG: Actually, I think water crisis is a big issue in India and as a
hydrologist, I want to contribute to tackle this issue. I also mentioned this
thing in my UPSC interview and I think in CGWB there is less fieldwork as compare
to GSI so being girl I preferred CGWB.
EG: After you decided that you have to prepare for UPSC GSI exam
what was your first step because it is usually confusing for students that how
to start?
DG: Very true because the syllabus is huge for UPSC combined
Geoscientist exam so aspirant thinks how to start? For this I talked to my
seniors and they told that firstly you should take the syllabus then observe
and see whether you have notes or not. Due to huge syllabus, the major issue
for aspirant is that how to remember the topics so I think notes are very
important so that aspirant can revise the topics and as I told you, M.Sc. Geology
syllabus of BHU is quite similar to UPSC GSI Exam syllabus so class notes are
very helpful because it’s easy to revise the notes particularly near to exams.
Previous papers are also very important to provide the insights about the level
of questions in that particular exam.
EG: As most of the people considers that to crack the UPSC Exams is
tough task so what motivated you during preparations?
DG: Of course, cracking UPSC is tough but after passed out of M.Sc. and
few failures like UPSC GSI-2018, ONGC etc. there was strong desire for job and
always thought about the dream of parents because after doing M.Sc. everyone
including parents expects good job so there thoughts motivated me for more
study. I also habitual of watching Ramayana daily, I think this help me to be
calm, focused and energetic.
EG: How you see the new exam pattern of UPSC Combined Geoscientists
Exam after 2020?
DG: I prepared for GSI-2020 as well but did not appeared for exam
because result of GSI-2019 declared by the time. I think my preparation was
good and I will say for prelims, General study & current affair are very
important and there are many books for GS as for civil service examinations.
For current affairs The Hindu newspaper is also very good so in new pattern I
will say, apart from Geology, the aspirants should be aware about current
issues and General studies as well.
EG: You also qualified CSIR JRF and GATE Exams so what is the
difference in the preparation strategies for an objective time exam and a subjective
one?
GD: Well, actually I think two objective type exam preparation simultaneously
is manageable but that is also only if the syllabus is similar. As in CSIR
NET/JRF we should have to cover oceanography, climatology and Geography as well
but in GATE some Geophysics part is helpful. Numerical are also important for
good rank in GATE. GSI is totally deferent from both above so I think one exam
should be target at one time but you may appear for other related exam for
experience and sometime you may crack it but for good score one exam should be
focus.
EG: Apart from academics, what are your hobbies?
DG: I love cooking, often I keeps making new dices and I also love singing.
Ramayana is my favorite TV serial.
EG: Being Girl, Do you face any difficulty in Geoscience?
DG: Not much as such, only sometimes during geological fieldwork when
we have to walk much so felt tired sometime otherwise no issue.
EG: Thank you very much for sparing your valuable time! Best wishes
for future!
DG: Thanks to you and your Exploring Geology team. EG is doing great
work for Geoscience.
Note: Views expressed are personal and All rights reserved to Exploring Geology
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