I prepared for the civil services examination at IIT Delhi, which used to be UPSC’s garh (centre) in those days (around 1990). The GATE toppers from Northern India used to get admission to IIT Delhi in whichever branch they could get into, and then they used to prepare for CSE while doing their M-Tech.
One of the most prospective IAS was my hostel neighbour Satyendra Gupta (SG), who was the all-India topper of GATE on Mechanical Engineering and a Gold Medalist in IIT Roorkee. He, like us, joined IIT Delhi to prepare for IAS. However, after a couple of weeks, when I visited his hostel room, I saw no UPSC books on his table. On being asked, he told me that he dropped the idea of writing UPSC, “I will do M Tech and attempt getting 10 point grades. Then I will do PhD from the US and become a professor.”
When I tried to persuade him to write UPSC, he asked, “Why do you want to go for UPSC?”
I parroted the standard reply, “Because, as a civil servant, you enjoy great power and the best perks like vehicles and big government houses.”
He replied back, ‘I disagree. Power is a great responsibility and you can’t enjoy it unless you misuse it. As an IPS officer, you have to work round the clock, fight criminals and hardly get proper sleep at night. As an IAS officer, you deal with filthy politicians, corrupt contractors and officers within the department. If you take action, you make enemies and if you don’t use power, you lose all respect. Similarly, there is no fun in having a government vehicle, which is only for the official purpose, unless you misuse them for personal use.’
I did not agree with his views then and chose to become a civil servant, while Satyendra chose his path and is now a professor at the University of Southern California. However, after working for more than 25 years as an IRS officer, I now agree with him.
Power is Not a Privilege, But a Great Responsibility
Whenever you exercise your power against anyone, you make them your personal enemies and you are hated for it. However, if you fail to exercise your power you are still hated for being incompetent and useless. For instance, many people hate Modi because he exercises his power to the fullest. However, people also hated Dr Manmohan Singh because he did not exercise his powers.
Most people seek power because they can (mis)use power to make money, intimidate their rivals or become popular. When such people are caught or voted out by people, they lose their power, money and prestige in society. On the other hand, money can provide lasting happiness and peace of mind if earned through legal and moral means. While you can lose power anytime (You may be a PM/CM/DM today and a nobody tomorrow), money is more secure, if invested properly.
Power is, therefore, desired mostly by poor and middle-class people, who want to feel important in the eyes of society and secretly believe that they can make lots of illegal money through corruption. However, if you are rich, you rarely seek power, as money itself is a power besides being a means to enjoy your life.
You might have seen the children of many top politicians and civil servants start companies or join top companies to make a lot of money. However, you would rarely find the children of top businessmen writing civil services examinations or joining politics to acquire power.
When I understood the folly of power, I left the IRS when I had 11+ years of job left. If I am given a choice, I will choose money (lawfully earned) over power any day.
What about you?
Original Posted on Quora.
Power also comes from knowledge, experience and expertise which is more enduring than power of position and money. With the power of knowledge there’s no limit to earning money in a legitimate way. Such type of people who worked hard in their own domain and became experts are there both in the civil services and outside the services.