FAQs — Part 2

Question: Are NCERT books necessary? If yes, from which standard should I start and which all subjects should I do?

Answer: Yes, NCERT books are your foundation, especially if you aren’t from a humanities and social sciences background. The NCERTS for history, geography, economics, political science, sociology, culture will give you conceptual clarity to tackle general studies and current affairs. Everything is given in a plain and simple language which will help you memorize key points and key ideas well. Don’t take NCERTS lightly. Reading and revising the NCERTS multiple times is actually quite a time consuming and laborious task!

If you are in college and have many years to write the attempt, you can pick up the 9, 10, 11, 12th NCERTS. If you are writing the attempt next year, then just study the NCERTS for 11th and 12th.

Question: I am also interested in giving civil service examination but I have no idea from where to start. Right now I’m in 2nd year of my graduation and wanted to give UPSC CSE 2020. I just wanted to know as a beginner from where to start, what to read and what not to read.

Answer: I think that if you’re set on joining the services, college is a good time to begin studying for the exam because you have the time and the chilled-out ambience that one needs to learn well. When one is writing the attempt full time, sitting at home, it is a race against time and the stress begins to build up.

You can begin slowly and steadily by reading through the topics of the syllabus, skimming and scanning the previous year papers of the optional to decide which optional to choose. You should try to read the newspaper daily just out of interest. No need to make notes right now.

You can finish your NCERTS and some key foundational books for your optional before you get into prep full time post-college. That will really give you a lot of edge in your first attempt.

Question: Which is best site for daily answer writing?

Answer: I didn’t do daily answer writing so I can’t say. I joined 5 tests for essay and 8 tests for GS with Vision IAS. I did the online optional test series with Shubhra Ranjan Ma’am. I think the test series after prelims took care of my answer writing.
I also attempted some questions on my own with a timer using the previous year UPSC papers for all my GS papers and optional. But all of this happened after prelims.
I have a strong flair for writing so I was confident that a test series would take care of my answer writing glitches. For me the challenge wasn’t how to write an answer. My challenge was to orient my own writing style (which can be a bit stylistic and long-winded) to an analytical marks-maximising UPSC format. One of the mantras to clear Mains is:— paper नहीं छूटना चाहिए at any cost. So, I had to take care of my answer writing speed. The Test Series and my own practice (all after prelims) took care of that.

So the best site for daily answer writing? I don’t know. Insights maybe. But I’m warning you that they tend to overdo it sometimes. They put so many questions and that used to really confuse and annoy me as an aspirant. So limit it. Just do one question a day from Insights. Separate registers for GS1, GS2, GS3 and ethics. And try to frame an answer within a time limit. Bring your time limit down to 8 minutes gradually because that is all the time you have in the examination hall.

Question: The real problem I face is psychological warfare towards this exam. Lack of consistency and procastination deteriorates my performance and I don’t feel confident at times. Sometimes i completely get stuck thinking about the intricacies of preparation and leaving things on destiny!

Answer: Everything — all your notes, strategies, revisions, time investment — everything comes to naught if you don’t take care of yourself emotionally and mentally. I will be doing a series of articles on this specifically because this is actually the most important question of all and this determines every damn thing.

Question: I am just an average student so i am confused about joining coaching or doing self study. And above all I am married and have 3 yr old son so i want to balance between my family life and my student life.

Answer: I did not grow up on a diet of Bertrand Russell for breakfast, Shakespeare for lunch and Noam Chomsky for dinner. Just see the kind of candidates who crack the exam each year and that alone should give you hope. This is not an examination for super-intelligent people. This is an examination for self-motivated, focussed and very persistent (read stubborn) people. Average is good enough for UPSC. I am highly average.
The issue with CSE is not the toughness of the exam but the competition. The number of vacancies are literally a joke (22 seats for the Indian Foreign Service this year!) compared to the sheer number of people who are writing the examination. So you have no choice but to work hard, remain disciplined and positive and streamline your priorities for a few years. Can’t leave things to destiny. You have to outwork and outsmart your competiton. And your biggest competition is yourself. You have to improve each day.
Coaching or Self-Study? It depends on your own comfort level and there is no generic rule as such. When I did coaching for two months back in 2014, I felt that I was just very tired and exhausted by the time I came home. It took up a lot of my time so I couldn’t do self-study. I was just sitting there and writing their notes that they dictate for hours without any real value addition to my CSE prep.

There is no escape from self-study for this exam. Even if you join coaching, you will have to allot daily hours to self-study and revision.

To balance between family life and CSE prep, please see the videos of toppers like Anu Kumari (AIR 2), Pushplata (AIR 80) and others who have balanced it and managed their time well. They are really my role models too.

Question: Can you please elaborate a little on mains? How did you cover editorials & how to consolidate all the material around for mains preparation? Did you use vision magazines for the mains too?

Answer: I followed the editorials for my PSIR optional. Other than that, I only selectively read the editorials (that too, during my break time) if they were very directly related to the UPSC syllabus. I did not cut editorials or make extensive notes out of editorials. There is barely any time after prelims and you have to balance all your papers. So, I had 10–20 points on each and every topic of the Mains syllabus. I also made a list of probable questions using the vision magazines and revised those multiple times. I attempted 100% of the paper. Even in your test series, try to attempt 100%. Don’t leave anything.

You will be able to consolidate if you have a study plan/time table and if you allocate some time for revising all the you have done during the day. Also, please join a test series after your prelims for mains. That should take care of your answer writing and speed.

Question: My main query is what should be ones approach as everyone knows the sources, everyone is aware about previous year question papers and test series but what actually makes a difference between selected and unselected ones. Is it strategy of preparation or point of view developed towards each and every topic during preparation by studying different topics.

Answer: Many different things matter. Your mindset is a key determinant of your success in the examination. Positivity is the drug that you need to be on during preparation because every 4th day, you will feel like running away from it all. You cannot afford to lose your cool in the examination hall because if you fall apart emotionally and mentally on the D-day, it’s over. For this, work on your mindset and emotionality. Consciously cultivate equanimity. If you are anxious, negative and scared during Mains, all your hard work will go to waste. You have to go in with the mindset of a spartan warrior (remember the movie 300?)

I wasn’t born zen. I have worked on myself. Read good motivational books (Swami Vivekananda is inspiring!), keep good company, meditate, go for a run, journal your thoughts, do positive visualisations and affirmations and be happy. These things overtime will make you a relatively relaxed and sorted human being and automatically you’ll have that edge. It is a game of nerves, ultimately.

Strategy matters too. There is no point sitting at home and reading passively all sorts of random material that you find in the market. You have to define the boundaries of your preparation using the best high-value sources. Revision is the key. You have to manage your time and be very sincere with yourself. And you have to enter the battlefield at some point and start taking tests. Don’t be scared of tests. Be in a growth mindset. Keep learning and improving as much as you can. The generic guidance I got from Shubhra Ma’am for PSIR was on point. I was fortunate to meet some good samaritans who gave good advice. All of this plays a role.

A last word on this: Destiny will manifest only if you ignite your karma and work hard with consistency and dedication. I do feel that ultimately, all said and done, God’s grace matters heavily in this examination.

Signing off for today! Hope this helps! :)