There is an interesting conversation at the beginning of 1988 classic English, August, the debut novel by 1983 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Upamanyu Chatterjee. The novel begins with a chat in a car between young IAS probationer Agastya Sen and his Yale-alumnus friend Dhrubo.
Dhrubo: “…But here in Delhi, all over India, education is biding time, a meaningless accumulation of degrees, BA, MA, then an M.PhiL while you join the millions in trying your luck at the Civil Services exam. So many people every year seem to find government service so interesting.”
