An Introduction. Hello Friends, I am Kannan Gopinathan. So... ? I secured 59th rank in CSE - 2011. So... ?

My subjects were Sociology and Public Administration. So... ? Well, probably then this blog might not be of much interest to you. May be you can check out my other blog When I Look Back, where I explore my sho rt story writing skills. If you are still on this page, then I guess I can safely assume you are an aspir ant and also may tolerate an introduction of myself. I am an electrical engineer from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra. Joined Freescale Semiconductor India Pvt Ltd as a design engineer and started my career in VLSI industry. To be honest, VLSI is a fascinating industry, with good pay, satisfactory work e nvironment, and ample opportunities for innovative thinking. I probably will mis s my days in Freescale. In 2007 I got involved with an NGO called 'Prayas' in Noida which was departing education on the weekends to kids from a near-by slum. I met some truly inspirat ional people there, like Darshan Mehra and Vikas Singhal. Some of us then decide d to engage the kids on a daily basis, so that they can be stream-lined to mains tream education system. The dedication and commitment shown by children was insp irational, and I learnt some of life's most important lessons interacting with t hem. Now around 100 kids are associated with the NGO, and Prayas has recently st arted a school within the community itself with active participation from the co mmunity members. If you find the story interesting, you can follow us @ http://a idnoida.blogspot.in/ In late 2008, myself and another member of Prayas family decided to spread our w ork and started to work among the wandering kids at the posh atta market in Noid a. Though there was no limit to our commitment or passion to the cause, we found it very difficult. The kids changed every week, as they migrated freely between different places of Delhi. I found a kid sister ( Sabana ) there, who tied a ra khi on my wrist with lots of love. Though the rakhi is still on my wrist, I do n ot know where my sister is. Our attempt to streamline atta's wandering kids ende d in terrible failure. As mine and my partner's love for the kids knew no bounds , some of it spilled over on each other also. We got married in 2009. Yes a tale of two states, of south and north India's. It was our work in atta and its fail ure that made us feel that we need to do some thing more. Some thing with help o f power and authority, not just compassion and empathy. It was in late 2009, she told me her interest in Civil Services. As both of us were working in Noida and inseparable in love, both of us joined a coaching institute in Noida where classes were held in the evening. To be hones t, for a working professional that was the best that we could get. We gave CSE 2 010 for the first time, and some how I cleared the prelims. Freescale supported me by providing some leaves ( though leave without pay ;) ) to study for Mains. My preparation was a disaster and mains went like our attempt at atta. A terrib le failure. To give a feel of my preparation level, there was a question on Abuj a agreement, and its impact on Sudan's future. Having never heard of Abuja, but having a large enough heart to attempt, I wrote a full page answer, indicating h ow only time can tell the fate of Abuja agreement, and it is the people of Sudan

who make agreement success or failure. And this was pretty much my tone in all answers. Well, it was during this preparation i met another exceptional person, Pathik jain. No we didn't marry. huh ? kuch bhi... We both helped each other in making each other believe that we should get at least an interview call. So whe n we didn't get a call, he joined IIM ( that was his fall back option !!!). I was outraged when the result came. So was my wife. She asked 'aise kaise...? tum job chor do... aur prepare karo. main job mein continue karoongi aur support karoongi.' Well, I had married her within 4 months of meeting her. So trust me, I know when she means something. There went the job. Freescale.. take that !!! I am going to be IAS. To my surprise all my managers, and even division head cam e out of the campus on my last day and told me to make them proud. Now that was some performance pressure. While I was preparing for mains in 2010, I had my doubts regarding Malayalam lan guage compulsory paper. I was pretty sure others I will clear. So I started sear ching for some previous malayali aspirants. I came across a lady IAS trainee on facebook and asked her for help. She told me that she would courrier me the pape rs. Later finding that my mains schedule was very near, she scanned the copies a nd sent them over mail. I know, hard to believe... But happens. So when I failed in mains, I wrote to he r that I am quitting my job and giving a serious try. She told me that do not wo rry, almost every successful CSE candidate has faced failure one or more times a nd failure is an integral part of this journey. To be honest, that helped me a l ot.