Kolkata Girl tops UPSC Exam Interview

Updated on: Thursday, July 23, 2015

Zainab Sayeed from Kolkata has proved that determination and hard work can do wonders and can help you achieve the epitome of glory. Hailing from Chitpur in North Kolkata, she has achieved the top position in the UPSC civil services exam interview round, by scoring the highest marks.

Zainab scored 220 out of total 275 marks (80 per cent)in the UPSC interview exam and secured a rank of 107 in the examination.

In the year 2012 and 2013 also she appeared for the civil services examination, but was unable to clear the preliminary round. Not deterred by failure, she re-appeared for the exam this time and sparkled with success. She not only cleared the prelims and the mains, but also topped the interview round, which is the last of the three rounds.

In a telephonic conversation with Anumika Bahukhandi from India Today Education, Zainab expressed her happiness on achieving the topper in UPSC exam and gave credit to her determination and hard work. Being a Literature graduate, she was asked questions from English Literature and as she was in the school council too, questions regarding her hobbies and extra co-curricular activities were also asked.

Questions related to international relations and Europeon Union were also asked to her and according to Zainab, she left no stone unturned to crack the interview and did her best. After her masters, she was working with the Telegraph, Calcutta in the editorial department.

According to her, the success in the UPSC exam is a blend of both brilliance and hard work, in which an equilibrium has to be maintained between the both. She used to spend six to seven hours per day for her preparations, and made sure that she would compensate for her lost time. Her punctuality paid off in the end.Her interview was of 25 minutes duration in which she was asked questions on European Union disintegration and FDI in retail.

Zainab's first priority is IAS (Indian Administrative Services). If not IAS, she would like to opt for IRS (Indian Revenue Services). An English Honours graduate from St. Xavier's College, she did her post graduation from Jamia Millia Islamia University, Delhi and was taking coaching from the university for the UPSC exam. Apart from the university coaching, she also joined ZFI (Zakat Foundation of India) coaching classes for cracking the interview. ZFI foundation of India is a non-governmental/non-profit organization.There were total 15 other candidates from ZFI, who cleared the UPSC exam this year.

These free coaching classes for UPSC exam which are organized for minority communities students are headed by Syed Zafar Mahmood.

Kolkata Girl tops UPSC Exam Interview

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