By Danish Khan for TwoCircles.net,
Naved Masood has been recently appointed the corporate affairs secretary at the Centre. If this interview is any indication, the department is going to have a candid, straightforward and an in-your-face approach. What else can you say about a man who says that his entrance to the civil services was a ‘fluke which in elegant English is called serendipity’. This when he scored the highest marks in the three law papers and the interviews!
If anybody had any doubts on the merits of reading, this interview will go a long way in demolishing it. Many times parents and guardians nudge their wards to concentrate only on their textbooks and do not fancy them reading other materials. Naved Masood’s father also nudged him, but as he says to ‘give one try to the IAS etc exam’. And that began his career in the IAS in 1977.
Naved Masood
Naved Masood has also voiced his concern on the need to follow the Public Records Act. As an avid reader he wants the ministries to pass on records to the National Archives of India.
He spoke with twocircles.net in the first of a series of interviews we plan to run with successful and bright Muslim role models who have reached a position of eminence through their hard work and dedication.
1. Can you please tell us about your educational background? What were your favourite subjects and hobbies as a student?
I had all my education in Aligarh as my parents were teaching there. I was an above average student but rarely the best in the class. My Mathematical skills were in particular – and continue to be – an enigma; I was excellent in arithmetic and bad in algebra. Drawing and fine arts too were my Waterloo. What, however distinguished me from my fellow students, however, and I daresay with my contemporaries elsewhere was in general knowledge. This in turn was due to a voracious, indiscriminate reading habit which continues. The advantage is that you don’t know deeply about anything but something about everything! Anyway, post school I continued with Science but after obtaining Honours in Zoology I realised that my future did not lie in the sciences and I joined Law. While still in the final (third) year of my Law degree I made it to the IAS and that brought my formal education to a somewhat abrupt end. Reading and gossiping left me with little leisure to develop any hobby but I was and continue to be fond of long walks.
2. Were you always interested to join the civil services?
No. Till BSc I gave no thought to a career and on joining law took such a liking to the subject that I decided to be a practicing Advocate. In the second year in deference to the wishes of my father that I give one try to the “IAS etc” exam – that is how the Civil Services examination were then known. It was my interest in law that stood me in an inordinately good stead and I sailed through both the IAS (9th rank) and the Foreign Service (11thrank) securing the highest marks in the three Law Papers and the interviews while still a student and not yet 22. It was at the end of the day a fluke which in elegant English is called ‘serendipity’.
3. How did you prepare for your civil services exams?
Fact of the matter is that I did not prepare particularly for the examinations. I did try my hand in Essay and Precis writing but with General Knowledge and Law being my forte I did not do much extra preparations in these subjects which accounted for three fourths of the exams. I had to prepare hard though for one of the ‘highers’, British Constitutional History as I had no grounding in that branch. Here again, my general reading of biographies of British statesmen turned out to be a mine of information on the subject. You must remember that I had no time to prepare for the examinations as I was a regular and serious student of law, what with attending classes and tutorials and the obligatory gossip sessions with my friends!
4. What is your message to young Muslims?
Nothing beyond telling them to have self confidence and a realization that while there may not be anybody around to go out of his way to help them, there is hardly anybody with enough time and focus to see to it that they are unsuccessful. In short, a confidence in themselves and an appreciation that if no preferential treatment is available,nobody is after them either.
5. Any interesting anecdote or experience you would like to share which will be of relevance to the youth.
There are experiences and anecdotes galore – time and space do not permit them. It will suffice to mention what Nawab Sir Ahmad Said Khan of Chhattari advised me to try and apply in my life as a civil servant. Don’t give positive or negative opinion about anybody in superlatives – you may later have to change it. Don’t show anger – it is infectious. Learn the language of the place where you happen to be – else others will misguide you. With 34 years of professional life I can safely assert the wisdom of these words though I may not have been able to fully live up to these exhortations. I might add that the advice holds good for all walks of life.
Naved Masood is a columnist at TCN, read his columns here: http://twocircles.net/Columnists/naved_masood.html