Does being a cook help one in solving the problems in administration? Yes, indeed. An IIT Madras graduate from Guntur with a passion for cooking handled this googly at the Civil Services interview with aplomb.
“Cooking has a lot similar to engineering. Making a dish is like solving a problem. You need to have the right mix of ingredients (resources), know the right time to use them in the most optimum manner as possible,’’ Polumatla Abhishek told the interviewer. And guess his favourite dish! Gongura Mutton, a coastal non-vegetarian delight.
Abhishek, who secured the 373rd rank in the Union Public Service Examinations 2016, shared some delightful insights into his preparation for one of the most challenging examinations in the world. He had earlier been selected as an IPS officer and was attached to the Maharashtra cadre, but he got the coveted IAS in his fourth attempt.
His father, P. Sudhir Kumar, retired as an Assistant General Manager, Andhra Bank, and his mother G. Sobha Rani is the Resident Medical Officer, Guntur Fever Hospital.
The second of three siblings, Abhishek did his schooling at St. John English Medium School, Tenali. He completed his Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Madras, and it was during his stint at IIT that he developed a passion for public service.
Knowledge hub for village
“We set up an integrated knowledge hub at Natham, 50 km from Chennai, as part of iVIl (IIT for villages) in which a building in the village was turned into a resource centre, with a library, computer centre. We used to take weekly classes for children on science and technology,’’ said Abhishek.
He began his preparation for Civil Services in 2012 by opting for political sciences. He later switched to anthropology and under the guidance of A. Lakshmaiah, who runs the Dr. Lakshmaiah IAS Study Circle, secured IAS in the 2016 examination.