New Delhi: “Baithne ka tarika thoda kazual hai” — your sitting posture appears slightly casual. In the UPSC ecosystem and its meme verse, it’s not tough to put a face to these words. 51-year-old Vijender Singh Chauhan made this observation during a UPSC mock interview for Drishti IAS. He had been doing these interviews for nearly two decades with an authority that’s expected of a real UPSC board sitting at Dholpur House on Shahjahan Road that a candidate faces after they clear the Mains exam. Except this one was recorded at a Drishti IAS studio and went viral to the point that Chauhan had to defend his interview style in another video. Now that one has gone viral too, becoming part of an endless series of short videos that is consumed by lakhs of aspirants.
“I understand that there is a problem in the pronunciation of the word ‘casual’. But apart from that, why it should be a meme material, please ask yourself,” says Chauhan, dressed in a white shirt and blue jacket, in the video.
Chauhan is the king of mock UPSC interviews and wears his crown with authority in a country where lakhs of dreams crash at this stage of the prestigious exam. In 2020, 10,343 aspirants wrote the Mains, of which 2,053 cleared it and appeared in the interview. Only 833 were selected. A professor at Delhi University’s Zakir Hussain College, his fanbase extends beyond the students’ ecosystem. Educator, motivational speaker, and personality evaluator, Chauhan is a celebrity influencer in UPSC world and holds his own among stars such as Khan Sir and Vikas Divyakirti of Drishti IAS. He has more than one million followers on Instagram and 381K subscribers on YouTube channel Vijender Masijeevi. Even the promo of hit UPSC show Aspirants is incomplete without this star interviewer whose art is utilitarian.
In his 12-minute Ted Talk titled Pillar of Inspiration, Chahuan explains how he was not focused and he does not regret it. “I was not focused. I don’t believe in god, otherwise I would have been saying that thank god I wasn’t focused”.
Chauhan’s life changed after memes on him went viral. Now he cannot go to the restaurants without people coming and talking to him, asking for pictures. He has to be cautious because everything he says can be used out of context.
“It has impacted my life, in a good way of course but it is not always nice. I have to be alert all the time. There is always a fear of recording,” says Chauhan.
People have been telling me to monetise the attention I have been getting. But it is also my responsibility towards my audience
— Vijender Singh Chauhan, Associate Professor at Zakir Hussain College
The Hindi literature professor is well aware of his popularity and a near celebrity status he has acquired in UPSC circles. Now he is trying to keep that pot stirring. At a rented accommodation in Delhi’s Civil Lines, Chauhan has set up a small studio where he shoots videos for his Instagram and YouTube audiences. The studio has pink sofas, big bright lights, and trophies he got at Ted Talk, and other events he was invited.
“People have been telling me to monetise the attention I have been getting. But it is also my responsibility towards my audience. And in case I lose my job, it can be the alternative,” says Chauhan laughingly.
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The meme-verse, the fan following
In the age of bottomless scrolling, what content and which person would end up being a meme material is hard to tell. Chauhan has become one. There are many clips on the “baithne ka tareeka thoda kazual hai” line. Now, whenever he posts anything on his Instagram, the comment section is flooded with such references.
“Ye collab thoda casual hai (This collaboration is casual)” wrote a person in the comment section when Chauhan posted a picture with the cast of web series Aspirants.
Another picture on Instagram, which also has Vikas Divyakirti, has some two thousand comments and many of them mimic Chauhan’s interview style. It’s not that they are poking fun at him; for many followers it’s just some light banter. And as UPSC aspirants, it is their way of being part of that ecosystem, even if it means their joke is buried among the thousands of comments under the video and not all are seen by Chauhan.
“Photo khichwane ka tareeka thoda casual hai (The way the picture has been clicked is a little casual)” wrote another user.
“Eye contact thoda behtar ho sakta hai (Eye contact could be better)”; Sir ek blue colour ki tie hoti to maza aa jata (It would have been better with a blue tie) — read the comments on the other photo, which Chauhan posted on Instagram.
Apart from the ‘kazual’ interview clip that has gone viral, there are many of Chauhan’s videos that invoke serious discussion on the issues vis a vis UPSC exam.
In one of his videos that has more than six million views, Chahuan asks Ashutosh Kumar (UPSC AIR rank 77) about his engineering background and the choice of his subject for UPSC exam. “If IIT-Kanpur cannot give confidence to its own gold medalist to appear in his own disciple then which institution will?”
“The memes are amusing but we have to analyse who is doing it and what is the intention behind this. I am not upset with this trend. I am enjoying the attention I have been getting,” says Chauhan who teaches Hindi Literature at Zakir Hussain College.
Before he became chief interviewer of the UPSC ecosystem and before his stint as DU professor, Chauhan was a school teacher. He also studied at the Central Institute of Education and considers himself an accomplished interviewer, communicator, and personality evaluator.
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Mock interview, real challenges
The interviews he conducts are mock, but not the daily realities around it.
Chauhan recalls an interview with a Dalit aspirant who wished to choose Indian Foreign Service upon clearing UPSC. Considering his Dalit identity, Chauhan asked him why did he want to join an elite service such as the IFS. But his question wasn’t well received.
“I had read some report about how Dalit representation is less in IFS so I was expecting that answer from the candidate, but he misunderstood me and after his selection, he said without naming me that he was questioned because he was a Dalit,” says Chauhan.
That he is aware and dedicated strictly to the art of interview skills is evident in his understanding of this episode.
“So sometimes misunderstanding happens. But I never talk to the candidate, I interview them. That’s my rule. Sometimes, civil servants recognise me and tell me that I had interviewed them. But most of the time, I don’t remember them,” he adds.
The memes are amusing but we have to analyse who is doing it and what is the intention behind this. I am not upset with this trend. I am enjoying the attention I have been getting
“I have given the mock interview to Chauhan sir and I found it helpful. It is funny that one of the parts of his video is going viral. But it doesn’t matter because students will still go to him for interview guidance,” says a civil servant, who cleared UPSC two years ago.
“Networking stops the learning. If you start pleasing people, you won’t be able to question them.”
Apart from the two hats that he wears — of an interviewer and an educator —Chauhan is also a motivational speaker, having debuted on TEDx and Josh Talks. Even the IITs have asked him to deliver talks.
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Aspirants to experts
Chauhan grew up in Delhi’s Bhajanpura and attended government school before studying Hindi Literature at Zakir Hussain College. It’s his encounter with Drishti IAS’ Vikas Divyakirti that first pulled him in the UPSC vortex and has since kept him engaged.
“We were roommates during graduation, he studied history, but we were debating society members, which strengthened our friendship. I introduced him to Hindi literature and he introduced me to UPSC, recalls Chauhan.
Chauhan who has been taking UPSC mock interviews for the last two decades, never gave one. As an aspirant, he wrote two UPSC Mains before he continued with his passion of teaching. In 2005, he was selected as an assistant professor at Zakir Husain College, his alma mater.
Some people say that I haven’t given the interview myself but they invite me as an expert. That’s because I have experience as a teacher, engineer, researcher, so I can ask questions from different subjects
“After my two attempts, I left the UPSC preparation. I was doing my Ph.D. And I was getting money from my JRF fellowship. My wife was teaching in school. So money wise we were sorted. But Vikas did not leave UPSC, he started to teach some UPSC aspirants while simultaneously preparing,” says Chauhan.
That is when it all started. In 1999, when Divyakirti started teaching students, the UPSC coaching industry wasn’t the behemoth it has become today. It was still an unorganised set up where Hindi medium students used to struggle for interview guidance. In 2000, Drishti started taking mock interviews and Chauhan was invited there as an expert.
“Back then Drishti was the first one to start the mock interviews for Hindi medium students. Since then, they have been inviting me to be a part of the panel. Some people say that I haven’t given the interview myself but they invite me as an expert. That’s because I have experience as a teacher, engineer, researcher, so I can ask questions from different subjects,” says Chauhan.
But Chauhan agrees it’s a two-way street. “I also learned something from the candidates. Reaching to the UPSC interview level is not easy, so they all are well-read aspirants,” he says.
Chauhan’s is a journey similar to those thousands of students in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar who transition from being an aspirant to being a coaching industry professional as their attempts expire. For many this plan B doesn’t work. For Chohan it did.
When he started taking mocks, the candidates were 4-5 years older than him.
“Back then, Vikas and I used to look at the date of birth of the candidate and tease each other that he or she is older than us. Today, we see the date of birth and realise that the candidate is the same age as our kid,” says Chauhan.
Chauhan takes hundreds of interviews and his questions range from Engineering, Hindi literature, History to Political science etc. But it is his most banal of observations that review the sartorial choices of the candidates or their posture is what has caught the internet’s attention.
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Mock interviewers are media products
Chauhan is part of this UPSC cycle but doesn’t support this government job craze. “Government job system has become so popular that we have books, series, movies, and teachers from this cycle making it to the cover of well-known magazines. This is scary. It is just a job, calling it a life-changing event is stupid,” says Chauhan.
“Every year, around 200 people become IAS officers, it is normal,” he adds.
The number of people applying for UPSC is rising every year.
“Mock interviews are being consumed as a media product. We are also a product,” says Chauhan.
Most of his students are from a Hindi medium background and over the years Hindi medium students’ graphs have declined in terms of selection in UPSC.
“The situation is scary in the Hindi belt but we saw a slight change (lesser selections from those writing the exam in Hindi). Hopefully, it will get better,” says Chauhan.
28 years-old Mayank Tripathi has written UPSC Mains this year and is waiting for his result. He has made a list of institutes where he wants to appear for a mock interview. And Vijender Singh Chauhan is on his list.
“I have watched his videos; he asks interesting questions and it gives a perspective to the candidate. It doesn’t matter if some of his comments go viral, what he does helps a lot of aspirants,” says Tripathi.
(Edited by Anurag Chaubey)