Artika Shukla AIR 4,CSE 2015

Hello everyone!
I am Artika, a doctor my profession. I first thought of appearing in the civil services in November 2014. I resigned from the course I was pursuing (MD paeds) a week later. And began serious preparation from dec,2014.
At that time I was as clueless as a newborn. All I knew was that the only thing I could now try my hand at was civil services 2015 and that I had to give it all I got.
I did not join any classroom coaching. I did join vision ias mains test series. And followed Insights with operatic regularity throughout the year. This was my first attempt. And my optional was medical science.
I am here to share my strategy with you . I hope you go through this with a little trust in me,pick and choose whatever suits you the best. And if this benefits even one of you,I would consider myself fortunate.
Prelims :
Essential book list :
1. Spectrum modern india
2. Class 11 and 12 geo ncert
3. Economics class 11th and 12th ncert
4. Economic survey
5. key features of budget
6. Laxmikant
7. Daily newspaper reading – I used to read The hindu.
8. Art and culture- multiple resources – CCRT, Class 11th NCERT on art, any reputed coaching material, themes in
Indian history etc
9. Shankar Ias book for environment
I might miss some books completely. Do cross check with the booklist given on Insights or any other place.
No need to read special science and tech booklets or attend mock classes for current affairs. The above book list is sufficient if coupled with daily newspaper reading + Solving Insights test series paper .( EXTREMELY USEFUL)
What I Did:
Bought all the prelims test series papers of Insights and Vision about a month before the exam . Spent days and nights on end solving them . In my experience,this was more beneficial than any book or notes I might have read earlier.
A number of questions were repeated directly from insights test series!
Here I want to state that The questions in the tests are tough. They are meant to take you a notch higher than the rest,I believe. therefore,don’t be disheartened if you can’t score a lot on them. I could never score a 100 on any of them! But continue solving them with utmost sincerity and diligence. And the final exam paper will seem like a piece of cake.
Mains:
Essay :
I didn’t write a single essay before the exam. I would suggest you not to follow in my footsteps. Write a few essays before the exam . If nothing,you’ll atleast be more confident in the examination hall.
Some important points regarding essays:
1. Learn a few quotes by important political personalities a day before the exam.. like Mahatma Gandhi,Lincoln.Nelson Mandela,Martin Luther King..even Fredrick Neitschze or Max Weber – on common topics like education, democracy, social empowerment.
Use them to start or end the essay. I did this and I think it might have increased my score.
2. Make headings.
3.Have a central theme in the essay and keep reiterating it every few paragraphs or so.
4. Cover as many dimensions as you can.
5. Try having an optimistic conclusion.
We all know there is no ideal essay on a topic. I would suggest Try bringing something of your own into the essay. Your own perspective will make it unique. And fetch you marks !!
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 1
Essential book list :
Bipan Chandra India Since Independence (selected chapters)
Bipan Chandra India’S Struggle for Independence
Class 11 and 12 NCERT geography + GC Leong
Art and culture- multiple resources – CCRT, class 11th NCERT on art,any reputed coaching material, Themes in indian history etc
Society and other miscellaneous topics can be dealt with by reading the newspaper daily and thoroughly. No special preparation is needed.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 2
This is where INSIGHTS SECURE really saved my neck!
I could not have even attempted all the questions in the final exam had I not followed the secure initiative so thoroughly.
My advice to you is – try going through all the secure questions daily. Try answering them. If not possible, at least read the article and jot down the main points included in it in a notebook. If even this is not possible, at least go through the compilations which come out in the end.
This is an exercise whose importance I cannot emphasize enough. Reading 10 articles everyday on topics of relevance helps you gain perspective, increase your knowledge as well as teaches how to write answers comprehensively.
If there’s one thing in this entire write up that you wish to follow, let it be this. Trust me, you will not realize how much it helps you until the day of your result.
Other resources for paper 2:
Laxmikant
PRS
PIB
Various sites of the ministry
Vision current affair notes
What I did:
At the end of October, I made a notebook for paper 2. And I used to write one topic on one page – really concise and to the point. For ex- the juvenile justice bill. Make arrows and write about what it was, what it is now, main points about the bill, the pros, the cons, what prompted an amendment and the Way forward.
Insights initiative called MINDMAPS helped me in this a lot!!
This is how you should tackle a topic – inside out. So that once you’re done with it, you are able to answer almost anything related to it.
Make such a notebook at the end of the Oct/Nov and fill it up with 40-50 topics that were relevant the entire year and revise it in the week before the exam.
Will do wonders!!
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 3
Similar strategy as above. Follow Insights Secure!!
2 new additions : Economic Survey : EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
key features of budget.
ARC for disaster.
GENERAL STUDIES PAPER 4
I would specifically say that this paper requires no preparation. It is a test of your analytical and decision making abilities as well as common sense. The best you can do is get 2 or 3 papers of a decent test series. Read and understand how to approach case studies and give one or two tests of ethics so as to understand the kind of questions asked.
Try not going for the extremes in the answers that demand a stand.
Express yourself well and try to finish the paper on time.
That’s all!
Personality Test :
The interview guidance write up on Insights was extremely useful to me. It gave me a direction at a point where I was clueless. I also gave 2 mocks each at Vaji and Samkalp.
The only useful piece of advice I can give you about PT is that more than the content of your answers, your conviction and your confidence matters.
Try building them up.
General tips :
1. Do not spend more than 2 months exclusively in the preparation of prelims . It is a qualifying exam. Instead use the time to increase your grip over your optional/GS mains.
2. Choose an optional you’re comfortable with. Something you enjoy reading and writing about. Optional marks can make or break your result. IT is the most crucial part of the preparation.
3. Answer writing practice has two parts to it :
One is the ability to finish a paper within 30 mins, to improve your speed and to have a good handwriting.
The other is to build your content from diverse sources, collect and present the information in an organized manner.
Both are required. Keep practicing until you’re good at both.
4. In the final exam, always write an introduction.. the content if possible in points followed by an optimistic conclusion. Train yourself to write answers in this manner quickly.
5. Personality Test is the most whimsical part of the entire process. Try not to depend on it at all . The Mains Exam is what gets you in the final list. Give it your best shot!!
Motivation:
This is an exam not only of knowledge but also of strength,patience and focus. Work hard. Be ambitious and do not be afraid to start. Start where you are. Start with fear, with doubt, with pain. Start with voice shaking and hands trembling.
Start where you are, with what you have. You can. You should.
And if you’re brave enough to start, you will succeed one day.

Abishek j jain, AIR-304

About ME :
ABHISHEK J JAIN
RANK 304
Graduation: IIT (BHU), Varanasi (2014)
Home Town: Delhi
Marksheet: (CSE-2015)
Prelims: GS (Paper-I): 115.34
Mains
General Bol Bachchan
There is a general jibe in India that “one decides what to do in life after joining the engineering college” . And I take no shy in accepting that I’m no exception to this. I’m not the one who had thought of clearing UPSC since childhood. Like many others, after getting into engineering I enjoyed as much and sooner it was final year that I have to decide of what to do in Life!!
After I returned from Internship from Taiwan, I got an opportunity to interact with a serving IRS officer during my final year who motivated me and ushered my path to take this challenge. The usual chemical engineering job didn’t fascinate me either. So, I decided not to sit in campus placement and instead started with Class 6 NCERT!!! (Career graph is going in reverse :D)
First Phase LEARNING
Initially everything seems to go haphazard, there was too much of everything and need to start from clean slate. I didn’t have habit of completing my newspapers. It took 2 hours to complete “THE” The Hindu. Like many others I picked up an optional which is most popular Public Administration, to which I agree was not well thought off. Just read class notes and standard book (Prasad & Prasad/Rajni Goyal) and thought I am ready to go. Rather than understanding and analyzing, I ran for Covering every bit notes available and mug them up. As & when I came across any topper’s strategy/notes, I rush forward to gather it. I had leap of Xerox notes/ summary of ARC’s/ Gists of Hindu, Yojana etc piled up in my room. (Aap notes ke peeche, notes aap ke peeche: too much fun). Instead of focusing on NCERTs I kept on speeding to Standard books. This strategy cost me a lot.
The most important thing that I learnt & corrected was to restrict to QUALITY not Quantity. Set small targets and move forward in
piecemeal approach.
The turn around-3 common problem & how to deal with them
PROCRASTINATION is the biggest enemy one has to face in this preparation that pushes even the brightest and calmest of minds into hells of negativity. Piles of unread The Hindu editorials kept staring at me with innocent look + remaining portion of optional revision pulls me other way round + in between my mind picks up Lakshmikant in-hand for prelim preparation. (There were days when my mother used to mock me that yesterday’s The Hindu was not even opened and seems fresh as new.) Unstable psyche chooses to avoid all this. (Till date ghost of procrastination keeps on haunting my mind palace).
My way-“DON’T WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THE PAST. IF YOU DO MORE NOW, THE PAST WILL SLOWLY MELT AWAY.”
Pick up the subject that you like the most. In my case it was Polity & Modern India (Gandhian Phase). Read from the Basic source (NCERT/Notes). Pick up General Studies Reference Manual (TMH/Pearson etc). It contains 400-500 Qns topic wise segment wise per subject. ATTEMPT. I challenged myself to score 90% in that. After that move to part tests of different institutes & build upon then after to full ones. Can form a group to push oneself or monitor your performance through tests.
FEAR – The yearlong process of preparation is like a sinusoidal wave, with moments of low and high takeover your capabilities. There came instances where I scored so low in my exams and felt so low that I even questioned myself whether I had taken right decision to jump in this Rat Race. (कहाँ ओखली में सिर दे दिया) Life would have been simpler if I had picked up a job instead. On the top of it the hysteria created in market, relatives & society as you enter in the field raises the negativity. (Walking across that “Bada Bazaar Marg” in Old Rajinder Nagar gives shiver of pessimism and chill ran across the spine).
For that take positive energy. Sources of Positivity – Parents/ Siblings/ Family/ Mentor/ Teacher/ Friends/ Qualified Aspirants/ Yoga & Sports (sweat out negativity)/ Introspection / Almighty (if not atheist). In my case my parents, my elder Brother Aman Bhaiya & twin brother Abhinav and some close friends have played vital role. Talking to them help me feeling rejuvenated especially when exams are approaching and test series give you reality check.
INDISCIPLINE -TO be frank, I’m not the one who can study 12-14 hours a day, 7 days a week straight. Though my planning has always been over 14 hours daily, but my hit ratio has never been 100%, it hovered around 60-70%. The plan that I made was always so good on paper, that could have even brought Planning Commission to shame. (Good that Hon’ble PM shut it off. :D:D). But these plans never saw the light of the sun in reality, in totality.
To overcome-“SUFFER THE PAIN OF DISCIPLINE OR SUFFER THE PAIN OF REGRET”
To set things straight, Discipline does not mean rise up 5 AM in morning and study straight till midnight on that study table having food there itself, taking newspaper on the way to class/or to the loo to capitalize those 5-10 minutes, or listening to AIR Spotlight while having dinner or listening to Mrunal lectures while going for a walk in Park. I did all this & realized it is only fooling my cognitive brain by my weak mind. This fooling has huge burden of ‘regret of failure’ as reward.
Later I realized that preparing for UPSC doesn’t mean you have to be robot/mechanical. I realized that UPSC is not Assembly line production of Wild Donkeys, running coaching door to door, instead it is race of Smart Ass). If I don’t feel like studying, I took the day off. Do what cheers one. (I like watching TBBT). BUT Discipline means sticking to basics and revising them again. Don’t rush here and there for Xerox notes/Gists/Shortcut materials. There is no dearth of information in this era of IT EXPLOSION. Shed away information overload. Focus on QUALITY. Revisiting one’s Notes + NCERTs 3 times is more important than rushing for 3 new sources for same topic from the market.
(I still find new things in NCERT Bipan Chandra after 3-4 times than that bulky blue cover book. e.g. in my 3rd reading I found that Mazhar-ul-Haq who accompanied Gandhiji in Champaran Satyagrha alonwith Acharyaji/Dr. Prasad/Mahadev Desai was same person who also resigned from Central Legislative Council membership alongwith Pt.MMM/Jinnah against Rowlatt Act). That’s why there’s ONLY one set of book to read cover to cover i.e. NCERT. Studying them religiously-repeatedly-rightly with clarity of Syllabus is for me, Discipline.
ART OF DECODING THE QUESTION
MAINS:
Prep Strategy – “3P” Model – Perseverance/Practice/Positive Mindset [प्रयास / परीक्षा / प्रार्थना]
Secret of scoring marks in MAINS lies in “ART OF DECODING THE QUESTION” (something I coined & learnt in my preparation phase in 2015 which is imperative for success in PubAd and gaining importance in GS as well).
Role of Practice: form a group of 2-3(maximum) and write answers. Writing TLP Not only helps in covering current affairs but also helps in gaining momentum of WRITING .
Practice: Be it prelims or mains, solving multiple MCQs and answer writing is a MUST. As Former President of India Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam said “Excellence is a continuous process and not an accident. Climbing to the top demand strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or the top of your career” .
Learn and engrave syllabus in your memory. This will help in interlinking concepts. Reading 20 concepts and interlinking with other aspects to give output to 60 more odd areas is more important than reading 50 concepts without internalizing. Here IASBABA, came to rescue. It helped in gaining momentum and​​ learnt the concept of interlinking and answering through​​ MINDMAPS​ (which was very helpful in handling Questions like on Satyam Scandal by interlinking concepts of governance, transparency and accountability from GS-2 + Companies Act (2013) from GS-3 + Corporate governance from GS-4)
I want to pay my sincere obligation to IASBaba Team as a secret admirer. Their answer writing strategy in ESSAY and ETHICS is impeccable as it helped me a lot esp in case study understanding.​ I want to thank for their selfless effort in ​​TLP initiative . It took 7 days of continuous posting my answers on the website to get my first answer evaluated by B​abaji, in which I was awarded 5/10, that worked as self-reality check​.
It is because of this platform that I gained momentum and learnt the concept of interlinking and answering through MINDMAPS
(which was very helpful in handling Question on Satyam Scandal by interlinking concepts of governance, transparency and accountability from GS-2 + Companies Act (2013) from GS-3 +Corporate governance from GS-4. )
“BETTER TO SWEAT IN PRACTICE RATHER BLEED IN WAR”
Though I was not regular in posting my answers as I was
attending test series for GS & Optional​ in person but I make sure to write answers on questions given on IASBABA platform at my level​ diligently​​.​ It gave me clearer picture of understanding and sticking to the core of the question.​​
Eg – YOU MUST NOT blabber out everything you know about about Article 44 just only ‘Uniform Civil Code’ word is mentioned in question. If I would have attempted same question in 2014 than I would not have thought about what the demand of question is/ how many parts are there in question/ Have I substantiated my stand with suitable examples/ Can one think of factors beyond Politics to social, economic, Governance & administration feasibility angle/ Are there any Historical learnings (hint-Hindu Code Bill which was studied in Paper 1 Post independence India).
Write the answers/ solve previous year question, even if you are 100% sure that you have not covered 100% of your syllabus. Earlier I always postponed the idea of writing till I “FINISH” my syllabus. That Situation never arrived, and will never arrive. ‘Leaving no stone unturned’ might land one on the same side of the fence as by the time (s)he engage in un-turning every stone, other colleagues (vanars) would have formed (Ram-) setu with the limited stones available at their disposal. In my opinion Hanuman Strategy of taking a giant leap might work for some extra-ordinary minds, but for a common mind setting the things in motion and moving forward requires gradual piecemeal approach.
For eg- “The ancient civilization in Indian sub-continent differed from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia and Greece in that its culture and traditions have been preserved without a breakdown to the present day. Comment. ” (UPSC GS-1 2015 Ques 1)
This statement is verbatim picked up from AL BASHAM “The Wonder that was India” (Chapter 1 Page 4). A Maximizing mind would now read 700 page book to satisfy the quench neglecting core books and without analyzing cost:benefit ratio, but a satisficing mind will try to link the existing base of knowledge gathered from NCERT/Notes to form an acceptable 200 words answer by collating aspects of deep unchanging social aspects in India (like Varna System), ancient civilizations importance in today’s religious understanding (like Vedic Hymns), India taking more pride in its ancestoral roots (like Freedom fighters referring back to rich history), contribution of Historical studies/inscriptions, European excavations etc.
I didn’t go for reading books like Governance in GS2/Ramesh Singh in GS3/Subba Rao or Ramesh Arora in GS4 cover to cover. I guess I developed laziness on that part to pick fresh books. This limitation of limited reading forced me to think and interconnect dots from available minimum knowledge in me. The capacity to assemble and interlink aspects is imperative in Essay and Ethics as one don’t expect bookish/factual/Ritualistic answer in these areas. Capacity to innovate and collate multiple-dimensions of a single problem with examples proves handy in Essay & Ethics.
Leave the question blank if you don’t know anything about it instead of filling the pages. THIS IS NOT UNIVERSITY EXAM. You are not expected to be PhD in each topic and will not be awarded if you paint the sheet blue. I left one question in each GS-1/2/3 paper.
PubAd – I attempted religiously Test series in Lukmaan and followed up on feedback of Ansari Sir. Important to address all parts of question and understand core demand of the question. For e.g. –Do you agree with the view that the charismatic approach of the mid-1970s is a “new version” of the Classical Trait Theory of Leadership? Give reasons.
In 2014 I would have just put in words all I know about Classical Trait theory & charismatic theory. I would have put lots of technical jargons/thinkers name.
But instead now I realized, that it is important not only to compare and analyse their similarities but also explain “newness” by describing differences taking into account the ecology of the era in which the theories were developed with suitable examples. Take clear stand with due substance in the end weighing both sides of the coin.
I’ve deliberately tried to avoid going in internal dynamics of which chapter of which book to study for which part of mains, for that matter I believe there are enough IAS gurus and Matas in the market. One can follow either and stick to it. My target is to give you an insight on how to reap from existing sources by interlinking and bringing together, through Practice (3P Model). I am available at abhishekjjain2@gmail.com
IASbaba
Guys, we would like to bring to your notice a very important point. Abhishek is one such candidate who has scored amazingly well learning from his mistakes and it is evident from 2014 (575 Marks) to 2015 (759 Marks). Can you see the great leap?

KIRTHI C, AIR 14

My UPSC Journey
I’m Kirthi Chekuri. I am fortunate enough to have cleared UPSC with 14thrank in my third attempt (CSE-2015). My ranks in previous attempts were 440in CSE-2013 and 512 in CSE-2014. I was preparing for the exam this time while undergoing the training in academy.I would try to tell what worked and what didn’t work for me. I hope at least someone would benefit from lessons of mistakes that I’ve committed and how I rectified them. These inputs I’m putting across were the ones I gathered over the course of 4 years from many friends and seniors in services. Thanks to all of them EssayI am a consistently low performer in Essay. I got 100marks in CSE-2013 and 86 marks in CSE-2014. I lost in my second attempt due to essay. The mistakes I committed in these attempts were not to practice essays, over looking the importance of essay, thinking content in essay would automatically give marks and ignorance of what to be and what not be included in essay.This year I got 125 which is again not a great score but it didn’t pull my rank and my chances down drastically as it happened last year. I brainstormed on many essay topics(introductions/conclusions and flow of ideas)and discussed it with my friends and asked for criticisms.
*.We should clearly mention our stand in the essay initially after the introduction
*.The essay should cover as many dimensions aspossible and should have one dominant idea perparagraph
*.The thought in the essay should be as simple aspossible. Kids must be able to understand your essay. I used to make essays complicated which never gave good marks
*.Choose the essay topic you’re most comfortablewith. Don’t select the essay based on the perception of most written or least written topic. All that matters is how well are you able to do justice to the topic you’ve chosen
*.Your essay should have justifications supporting your stand, also include some criticisms against your stand and end in a positive/hopeful way on how things can be bettered etc.
Prelims All of us tend to overestimate our potential and tend to neglect prelims thinking Prelims marks wouldn’t count for the exam. Neglecting prelims can prove to be a very costly mistake. Many toppers in the list cleared prelims with a margin of 1-3 marks. One can understand that 1-2 questions in Prelims can make or break your dreams.I cleared the Prelims in CSE-2013 by 4 marks. It was a close margin. I got very lucky. In CSE-2014 I cleared prelims with a comfortable margin. My reason for low performance in Prelims 2013 was minimal practice in Quant and playing safe in Paper-1. I knew 45 questions comfortably in paper-1 and I just guessed 10 more there by attempting just 55 questions. Luckily I cleared Prelims that year but after speaking to many successful people in Prelims,I realized it was a very dangerous strategy. In prelims, one should mark the questions in which oneis 100% percent sure in the first round. In the secondround, one should also try to attempt those questions in which one can eliminate two options. With this strategy, I comfortably cleared prelims in CSE 2014, but in this CSE 2015, I cleared prelims only by 3 marks (110)MainsIn my first two attempts, my mains marks were marginally above the cut-off(10 marks) I cleared both the attempts only because of my interview. However this attempt, there is a drastic improvement in my mains marks. Here are the few changes I made in my Mains answer writing approach and I think they helped me enormously.
*.Diagrams: I drew a lot of diagrams. India and World Maps for geography or International Relations. Also I prepared diagrams for Geo from NCERT books which I thought I would replicate in case Geo questions come in Paper-1.
*.Side headings: In my first two attempts, my answer was just a flow of paragraphs/points or a mix of both. I realized the importance of side headings for an answer in this attempt. I included side headings in almost all the answers for paper-1,2 and 3 of GS. In paper-2 and paper-3, I usedWay Forwardas the last sideheading for some of the answers.
*.Flow Charts: I drew flow charts in Paper-3. I got 113 marks in Paper-3 and I think flow charts have a role to play along with side headings. People who got good marks in paper-1 drew flowcharts for society questions
*.Breadth instead of Depth: Cover as many dimensions as possible in an answer rather than covering the issue in depth with quality analysis. UPSC prefers the no. of dimensions in an answer and I guess it penalizes an in-depth scholarly answer
*.Introduction:Take the key words of the questionand explain them. That becomes the introduction. Eg: An introduction for a question on Cooperative Federalism would mean explaining itThough I gathered some of these points here and there in my previous attempts, I didn’t internalize them in my preparation. I didn’t integrate them while preparing for a particular topic. This time whenever I read a topic or whenever I read a question fromInsightsonIndia(I have been following answer writing challenges regularly), I give more importance to the above mentioned points- what are the side-headings I can give, how can I draw flow chart for this question, maximizing the dimensions etc. This way, I internalized this way of answer writing during my preparation for GS or Current Affairs, so I didn’t have to think afresh on the day of exam. Due to training myself well before hand, I didn’t take much time on the day of exam to draw diagrams, flow charts, side-headings etc.One should try to attempt as many questions as you can in the GS. Unless you are absolutely clueless and can’t make an intelligent guess about what’s asked, you should not leave questions.Please go through the question paper in first 2-3 minutes and select the questions you are good at(around 10) and attempt them first. Only then go for the other questions on which you’ll have little idea where you have to guess. In the last attempt, I started attempting questions from the beginning without going through the whole question paper and I realized I was left with all the well-known International Relations Questions in the last minute to which I couldn’t do enough justice. Do some test exams and if you’re not able to finish paper in time, you’ll have to improve speed through giving more and more tests and practicing with time limits. Ethics paper was very lengthy and many were not able to finish the paper.

ABHIMANYU GAHLOT--AIR 38

ABHIMANYU GAHLOT
This was his first attempt at the coveted exam.
Abhimanyu has been associated with forumias.com since the last one year.
ForumIAS would like to congratulate him for his spectacular success and wish him all the best for his life as an officer.
Given below is the transcript of his interview with forumias where he describes his journey, experiences and preparation strategy. We hope that it would be of immense help to everyone.
CANDIDATE PROFILE
Your Name
Abhimanyu Gahlaut
All India Rank in Civil Services Examination
38
Which attempt was this at Civil Services Examination?
1
Where do you hail from?
Bahadurgarh, Haryana
Tell us something about your family background
My father retired as a Sub Divisional Engineer with the Government of Haryana. My mother is a headmistress at a primary school in Haryana.
Your graduation or early education
BA(H) Economics from SRCC (Delhi University); M.Phil. Economics from University of Cambridge
Your Optional Subjects
Economics
Your medium of Instruction in School?
English
Your medium of instruction in college?
English
Your medium of writing the Mains?
English
First, tell us something about yourself!
I’ve worked as an economist in Rwanda and Bihar for the last 4.5 years. In my second job (in Bihar), I seriously started thinking about what career can keep me motivated for the next 30+ years. After a lot of discussions and research, I realised that the IFS would be a very exciting and dynamic career. I gathered all the relevant material in December 2014, and started studying from January 2015. I didn’t quit my job to prepare. I moved to an apartment very close to my office to avoid spending too much time traveling, and I started studying for around 6-7 hours everyday.
PRELIMS PREPARATION
What books/notes did you refer to for General Studies and CSAT for prelims?
Too long an answer. I’ve written a detailed blog on the booklist and notes: https://reluctanteconomistblog.wordpress.com/
How many questions did you attempt in GS in Prelims?
87 (I think)
Do you think attempting more questions is the key to success in Prelims? Is there an ideal number of questions one should attempt? How did you decide to attempt those questions which you were not sure of?
Yes, I think one needs to attempt a fair number of questions. No, I don’t think there’s an ideal number of questions to attempt. For me, the rule of thumb was to at least get down to two options from four – if I was 50% sure of being correct, I would attempt the question. No wild guesses.
What was your score in UPSC Prelims?
113.34
How much was the variation in your official Prelims score in comparison to that of coaching keys?
I expected between 110 and 118, based on different keys. Not a huge variation.
MAINS PREPARATION
When did you start preparing for Mains Examination?
January 2015
How did you cover Current Affairs?
I read The Hindu and Business Standard everyday, and made notes in MS Word. I also regularly consolidated these notes with information from current affair updates on insightsforindia.com
Full Preparation: The Conquering of GS 1
I first prepared for the three GS papers sequentially. It took me about 2 months (January and February 2015) to complete the syllabus for GS 1. Amongst the four GS papers, I spent the most time on GS 1. However, at this stage, I hadn’t made many notes. After I finished GS 2 and 3 around mid-May, the notification was out, and CSAT was scrapped. I had to then pay much more attention to GS, and I spent the rest of the time till prelims primarily revising GS (so I could clear prelims), at the cost of studying my optional subject.
Full Preparation: The Conquering of GS 2
I started this in March. I found DD Basu and Subhash Kashyap interesting, yet somewhat dry. I had enjoyed studying for GS 1; I couldn’t say the same for GS 2. To avoid becoming demotivated, I started splitting my daily study time between GS 2 and GS 3. By mid-May, I had finished my first round of preparation for GS 2 and GS 3.
Full Preparation: The Conquering of GS 3
See above.
Full Preparation: The Conquering of GS 4
I did very little preparation for Ethics. When I first went to Jawahar Book Shop in December 2014 to buy books for UPSC, they handed me a fat book for GS 4 (I don’t remember now which one). Not knowing any better, I bought it. I tried to study from that, but gave up midway through the first chapter because I found it extremely boring and too general to be useful.
Then, I tried reading topic-wise links given on Insights for GS 4. Again, here as well, I thought that the readings were extremely dry, and I remember dozing off after the first couple of pages of the first recommended reading.
After these two attempts at reading something for Ethics, I thought maybe it would be better to see what kind of questions UPSC asks. I printed the GS 4 papers for the last two years, and took two timed tests. After writing these, I was confident that there is no need to study anything at all for GS 4. The paper is extremely general, but one needs to have good writing speed. So, in the end, my preparation for Ethics was simply writing 6 timed tests in total, 2 of which were past year UPSC papers, and 4 were from the Vision IAS test series.
Full Preparation: The Conquering of ESSAY
I practised 10+ time-bound essays, all after the prelims. I wrote about 6 essays for the Vision IAS test series, and I requested friends to review the rest. I wanted to maximise my score on the essay paper, and throughout, I was confident that I had somewhat of a comparative advantage here. Still, I didn’t neglect practising essays.
As luck would have it, essay was the first paper, and I was stressed out and under-slept during the paper. As a result, I did a bad job of handling my nerves and messed up one of the essays. I was quite dejected after the exam, and I was sure I won’t make it to the list. After speaking to friends, I calmed down, and geared up for the next day. In hindsight, my assessment of my performance was correct – I got only 108, which is a below average score – but I’m glad I didn’t take the rest of the exams as if I’d already lost the battle.
Full Preparation: The Conquering of Optional Subject
I had an economics background, but it had been around 5 years since I last touched an economics textbook. Initially, I wanted to start studying economics in May, after I was done with my first round of GS preparation. However, after CSAT was scrapped, I didn’t feel like I had covered GS in enough depth to clear prelims based solely on it. Hence, I had to revise my strategy. I started studying Paper 2 of economics (Indian Economy) for 2 hours daily in May (did this for about a month), along with GS. Around mid-June, I thought I should study some topics for Paper 1, too. I completed one reading of a microeconomics book, which is a small part of the rather large syllabus for Paper 1. However, I was still nervous about the unpredictability of prelims, and I didn’t prepare my optional in any depth before August.
After prelims, I focused almost exclusively on my optional (90-95% of the time). I was fine with this, because by now I was confident of my GS preparation. I had spent a lot of time meticulously covering all of the GS syllabus point by point for prelims, and consequently I was sure that I could perform decently in the mains.
MAINS EXAMINATION
How many questions did you attempt in GS1, GS2, GS3 and GS4?
GS 1, 3, and 4: 20 questions; GS 2: 18 questions
Which Essays did you attempt in the Mains Examination?
1. Lending a hand is better than giving a dole 2. Dreams that should not let India sleep
Did you use the headings/subheading in an Essay?
Yes
Did you underline the important statements in Essay?
Yes
What went wrong in your previous attempt(s)? Which changes did you make in this attempt?
Not applicable
Did you write your answers in bullet points or in paragraphs?
Mix of both
Did you make any diagrams along with your answers in any of the GS papers?
Made a flow chart in a poverty-related question in GS 1, I think. Otherwise no.
Did you give examples in most of your answers? Also did you mention any points from govt. reports like ARC, Punchhi Commission etc. in your answers?
I gave some examples from current affairs.
What was that one smart move you think you made in the exam which you would like others to know.
I carried a stop watch with me to time myself exactly. I was very strict about only allocating 7 minutes per 10 marks, even if there was a lot more to be written for any particular answer.
COACHING
Did you join any coaching classes for Prelims or Mains? If yes, which one?
No
How far do you think is coaching necessary for preparing for Prelims and Mains Examination?
I don’t think it’s necessary at all.
Did you join any test series for Prelims and Mains? If yes, please mention the name and also how useful it was.
Prelims: I initially joined Career Launcher to practise CSAT, but after this was scrapped, I stopped appearing for their tests. For GS paper in prelims, I became confident of my preparation only a few days before the exam, so I never had the time to take practise tests.
Mains: For GS and Essay, I took Vision IAS online test series and I think it’s useful. As I said before, after prelims, about 90-95% of my time was spent preparing for the optional papers. However, every Sunday, I wrote two timed tests for GS papers. This helped me become disciplined about writing rapidly and concisely.
Do get your answers checked by Vision IAS, but please don’t fret too much about the marks or ranks you get. I think I never got above Rank 80-90 in Vision’s tests, among 400-500 people writing the exams. In some tests, I even got Ranks between 250-300.
Look at their model answers, they are useful.
No test series for economics. Didn’t have the time, and didn’t know of any good ones.
Did you practice answer writing for mains? If yes, please mention the approach you followed.
Mentioned above – after prelims wrote two timed tests for GS papers every Sunday.
INTERVIEW
Which Interview Board did you face?
Professor David R. Syiemlieh
How long was your interview?
About 30 minutes
Can you tell us briefly about your interview experience?
It started on a bad note, because I didn’t expressly wish the lady member, and was reminded to do this by the Chairman. But I apologised, and the board didn’t fret about it. In questions that I didn’t know, I didn’t try to make things up, and simply said that I didn’t know. Overall, I just tried to have a good conversation, and didn’t worry too much about being a certain way.
What did you wear for the Interview?
A black suit, white shirt, and deep blue tie.
What qualities do you think are being tested in the Interview? Some strict Do’s and Dont’s for the Interview for aspirants and Interview candidates?
Be honest. If you slip up somewhere, move on quickly, and don’t keep thinking about your mistakes.
What magazines /newspapers did you refer to for preparing Current Affairs?
The Hindu and Business Standard daily. EPW for economics optional.
Did you attend any mock interview sessions at the coaching classes? If yes, were they beneficial?
Yes, Samkalp and Vajiram. Both were useful, but the only mock I had at Vajiram was chaired by an ex-IFS officer. My first preference is IFS, so this mock turned out to be the most beneficial, because the chairman grilled me on a lot of IR topics in great detail. I did well, and he told me as much. I was content with my preparation after this.
As things turned out, there were no IR-related questions at all in my actual interview.
Do you think marks in school or college can impact one’s score in the Interview?
I don’t think so.
Was there any improvement in your interview marks this year as compared to previous year(s) (if applicable)? If yes, what changed did you incorporate this time?
Not applicable.
USE OF INTERNET FOR PREPARATION
How far did you use the Internet for your Preparation? Do you think in the changed UPSC pattern, today an aspirant can prepare wholly by referring sources from the Internet?
Over 80% of my GS preparation was from the internet. Similarly, I studied for Economics Paper 2 almost exclusively from the internet.
How far did ForumIAS.com help you as a social network, as a sharing platform for you Prelims, Mains & Interview Preparation (and the excruciating period between the exam and results to chill out with co-aspirants and other successful candidates)?
Although I never posted actively on the forum, it was extremely beneficial to know that there was a big, and easily accessible, community of people who are taking this exam. Especially at the time results for prelims/mains were expected, I couldn’t help but spend a lot of time reading the speculative threads on the forum 🙂
What is the best thing you like about ForumIAS?
The sense of community.
Do you use any other websites for your preparation? Is yes, name them.
insightsonindia.com for current affairs, mrunal.org for reading interviews of past toppers.
Finally,
Congratulation for making it. Is there any message you would like to give to IAS Aspirants who look up to you?
Work hard, work smart, but most importantly, remember that luck plays a huge role in this exam.