Ishan Sinha IPS, AIR 234

Jai hind everyone!

My phone will not be available with me for the next one week, as I have a few attachments coming up. So all the best in advance to all of you for the prelims.

Remember to stay calm during the exam, no matter what you feel before. Once the paper is in hand, anxiety should not drive your choices.

Remember to go with your gut instinct, and don't second guess your choices.

Most of all, remember that prelims is more of a mind game. If you win that battle, you will win the war.

You have studied, you have prepared well. Trust in your preparation, trust in the almighty, and go and give the exam. Hopefully you will come out on the other side!

All the best!

Have confidence in yourself, in your preparation and your ability, and you will be writing the mains. This might solve hollow, but it does work. It worked for me.

All the best! This is the last mile; just push through it!

Last one month strategy for UPSC CSE Prelims 2023:

Jai hind everyone!

I have received lots of queries regarding the last one month preparation. Although it's less than a month remaining for the exam now, the strategy will more or less remain the same.

Revision:
More than tests, it is this what matters the most. I used to follow a cycle of 3 days to complete revision of all subjects, which included 2 subjects in a day.

1. Pair a larger subject with a smaller one. Like I used to pair polity with geography, environment with S&T etc. Make these pairs at your convenience. I had history optional, so for me history was a smaller subject, for others it might be a difficult one.
Remember, this is only for the last one month, when you should have completed and revised the syllabus at least twice. If not, then do that first.

2. I made smaller notes of important and minute facts from different subjects so I could revise them frequently without referring to the books.

3. Current affairs revision is a tricky business. I would suggest to revise from the prelims compilations when they come if you have not made notes. If you have, then revise from them only.
I did not dedicate any extra time for current affairs at all. I just read the newspapers. But please do not follow my method, it wasn't the best.

4. Dedicate some time to revise your subject wise mocks. No need to go through all of the questions, just the questions you had no idea about, or the ones where you learn a new concept etc.

Do not, at any cost, go for a new source at this point of time. Whatever source you have, that is the best source for you. Revise from that only.

Tests:

Hopefully you must have started giving full length tests now. If not, then do start.

1. Do not bother about the marks in the tests. I never got more than 90-95 in the mocks, and yet I scored above 100 each time in the prelims.

2. Full length tests should be from different coachings, not the same one. I used to solve 2 from 4 different coaching centres. These 2 used to be mostly the first 2 full length mocks they conducted, because they were more on the easier side.
Do not give the free mocks available in the market. You will get low marks, and that will demotivate you no end.

3. Analysis of the tests are more important. For each test, analyse how many questions you were sure and still got wrong, how many you made silly mistakes, in how many the first guess was correct and you changed it later on etc. This last one is the most important, because I noticed I would get nearly 9-10 questions right if I just went with my first instinct.

4. Stop giving mocks 7 days before the prelims. After that, just revise. Do not even think of attempting a mock in that crucial phase.

PYQs

Solve and revise PYQs on repeat. Spend more time on this rather than on mocks. In the last 7 days, this should be your mock tests.

If you think questions are not repeated, then please look through the question papers again. At least 3-4 questions were repeated verbatim in the last few years.

Mapping:

Keep practicing mapping. Look at the Atlas for 10-15 mins everyday. I used to start my day with this, so in a way it was my warmup before starting to study.
I have shared my mapping notes on the channel. You can refer to those as well. Check the pinned link.

CSAT:

If you still haven't practised it, please do. Solve the PYQs and look at some basic concepts like profit and loss, time and distance, clock, average etc. I have said before also to revise permutations and combinations and probability, so please do that also. You can refer to YouTube videos for this. There are lots of them available, some even solve the PYQs of UPSC.

Lastly, prelims is a mental game. I have given and qualified 3 prelims, and yet I was never sure about it. The one thing that always worked for me was to not second guess myself in the hall. Once I marked a question in the question paper, I wouldn't change the answer in the OMR unless I had made some blunder.

Jai hind everyone!

This is a small message for those who could not find their name on the final list of CSE 2023.

I know how it feels. I've been on the other side, twice. You feel empty, blank, aimless. You don't know where to start from, what mistakes happened. You stare at the pdf for a few minutes, rechecking it.

Then you see your marks, and still it doesn't make sense. Subjects in which you had performed well turn out to be the devil. You relook at the papers, and then start questioning yourself.

This is how the examination is. It tests your belief in yourself, in your own capabilities, in your own hard work. It makes you question the decisions you took on the path to the exam. You stop trusting yourself, you forget to tune out the criticism, and you feel as if they were right all along.

Remember the courage it took to start preparing for this exam in the first place. Remember the belief you had the first time, that feeling of 'If I study, I'll be able to pass it.' Remember why you started to prepare for civil services in the first place. This 'why' is what carried me through two failed attempts.

Do what you need to do. Cry, if you need to. Call and talk to your friends and family. There are always people who root for you, regardless of how many times you fall. Talk to them, and remember that if even one person believes in your capabilities, that's because they must have seen something in you. Remember that when you begin to question yourself.

Remember that the rewards for those who persevere far exceed the pain that must precede the victory.

I used to recite these few lines in my worst days:

जब तुम अपने मस्तक पर,
बर्फ़ का पहला तूफ़ान झेलोगे
और कापोगे नही,
तब तुम पाओगे कि,
कोई फ़र्क नहीं सब कुछ जीत लेने में,
और अंत तक हिम्मत न हारने में।

For all the people awaiting the CSE 2023 results:

My sincere wishes with all of you. If it had been in my hands, I would have wanted all of you to get selected. But that is the harshness of life and this examination, that some will get through and others won't.

For all those who will have to wait a little longer:

Success comes to all, it's just a matter of when it comes. Having given 3 attempts myself, I know that when it comes, you will cherish it as no one else can. The disappointment will be too much to bear, but remember that one thing which differentiates us aspirants from others: the quality of never giving up.

This journey is a journey of courage, strength and perseverance. Regardless of the results, this won't change.

The next steps will be crucial, but take it when you are calm. If necessary, take a few days off, calm your mind and senses, and then take a call. I had nearly decided to quit after my second attempt. Had I not paused for a few days to get my thoughts together, I would not have been here on the other side.

For all the fortunate ones:

Your lives are going to change. For better or for worse, that is entirely your call. Always remember all the struggle you went through, all the years of turmoil and hard work you have put in, and you will never stray from the right path.

Stay humble. Your ability to remember your aspirant life will define the kind of person you are going to be for the life that awaits you now.

Success is sweeter when you have gone through hell. It is because of this long journey that you will cherish these moments.

Remember the journey when you reach the destination, otherwise the destination will never seem worth it.

All the best to all of you!

Prelims candidates:

Please read these instructions carefully, this is a new addition to the notification this year. People who have given UPSC earlier, please don't upload the same photo as last year. Don't have your form disqualified because of the photograph.

CSAT strategy:

Jai Hind!

Many of you were asking about CSAT, and rightly so. After last year's paper, even I'm not sure if I would have qualified CSAT had I given the 2024 prelims.

I never properly prepared CSAT in my 3 attempts, but those times are long gone. Please do prepare CSAT properly. A few tips:

Quantitative Aptitude:

1. Practice the last 4-5 years question papers in real time, as you would solve them in the exam hall. Also, try to solve them in the second half after lunch, as in the real exam - your productivity will decrease in the afternoon compared to the morning.

2. The time for skipping probability, permutation and combination is long gone. I would suggest to practice the basics of these from the NCERT maths books for 11-12. After learning the basic formulae and methods, you can practice the PYQs, or you can practice from any quant books available in the market (I won't be able to tell you which ones, because I didn't use one myself.)

Let me be clear that even I used to skip permutation and probability. But I don't think that is a very wise decision to take now.

3. There are YouTube channels, especially the banking channels which are very good sources for certain kinds of quant questions. You can follow those for learning the techniques and practising questions as well. I don't want to promote any channel, hence not taking names. There are lots of them, you can choose any, they are all good.

4. There are some questions which can be solved easily with some practice, like profit and loss, time and distance, boat and stream, geometry etc. Practice these topics from those same YouTube channels, they will have lots of questions and techniques.

5. Practice, practice and practice. You can purchase any banking book on quantitative aptitude and practice from there.
I know you all will say that sir, we are studying for UPSC, not banking, but better that than failing in CSAT.

Reading comprehension:

1. Solve the PYQs, and match the answers with the answer key. See what you thought was the answer, and what answer UPSC took. Mark them, and try to figure out why that answer was chosen. If your answer is matching, then also think what your thought process was.

There is nothing much to suggest in this part. Practice more from PYQs, you'll get better.

Exam tips:

1. I used to solve the reading comprehension for the first 45 minutes, then moved on to the quant part. This 45 minutes was fixed, even if I had not completed all the comprehension questions, I would move to quant after that time.

2. Please don't mark the quant answers if you are not able to solve the entire question i.e. don't take guesses after finishing the question halfway. There is a high chance the answer will be wrong.

3. Do not spend too much time solving a question you are stuck in. If you see you have spent more than 3-4 minutes on a question, move on to the next - there is always time to come back to the question after finishing all the questions.

4. Please try to solve as many questions as possible. 45-50 questions should be solved at all costs. More than that is pretty much a safe zone. You can attempt more from comprehension if necessary, but attempt more. Yes there may be chances of negatives, but more attempts will carry you beyond that 67 marks.

Again, don't go and start marking answers blindly and say that I said it. My motive was that you should pace yourself such that you can complete 45-50 questions. Don't go slower than that.

Lastly, please don't lose your composure in the exam hall. Yes, it is getting weird every year, but if you panic in the hall, you'll get even the sureshot questions wrong. Stay calm, and you will score good. Remember, you just need 67 marks in this paper.

At the end, I can very well understand the pressure you guys are under. I qualified all three prelims in my three attempts, and yet the prelims was the one paper in which I was never certain about. The nature of prelims is like that.

The one key ingredient for the prelims is confidence - the moment you second guess your choices, you will get answers wrong. Once you have marked a question, let it be, 8 out of 10 times it will be right. Go with your gut instinct while marking answers, do not second guess it. That is what worked for me, and I got 20-25 marks above the cutoff each time.

If you guys have any questions regarding prelims, leave them in the comments section.

Jai Hind everyone!

It's been a long time since I posted here. The schedule at NPA is too hectic to leave time for anything else. But since the prelims is nearing and most of you must have shifted focus to prelims by now, here's a long overdue post for prelims preparation.

Initial phase:
My initial phase was of 2 steps:
1. I used to revise subject wise. Set a target depending on your capacity, that I will finish this subject in these many days. Generally, I took more time in modern history, economy and environment.

2. After you finish revision of the particular subject, you can give a subject wise test from any institute you wish. But do not bother about the marks in these subject wise tests (or any mock for that matter), these are just to streamline your preparation, nothing else.

2nd revision:

Once you have done the initial revision phase, now move to the 2nd phase. The time taken for revision will come down in this phase.
1. Once you complete the revision of the subject, give a whole mock of that particular subject. Again, do not bother about the marks in these subject wise mocks.

2. Follow a sequence for revision, like history, polity, economy, environment, SnT. Once you finish the last subject, come back to the first subject in your revision cycle, and start again. The time taken for revision will come down with each consequent cycle.

Full mocks:
You can start giving full mocks around 45 days before the prelims. I used to give one full mocks every 3 days. Do not give a mock without completing revision of all subjects, even if it is taking time.

1. Analysing the full mocks is more important than attempting it.
Take an A4 sheet, and write down how many questions you attempted, how many questions you were 100% sure about and of those how many you got wrong, how many questions in which you could eliminate two options and of those how many you got wrong and so on.
The accuracy in the questions you were sure about should be at least 80-90%.

2. There is no need to attempt more than 8 mocks. Even 8 is too much, I gave 6 full length mocks only in my attempt. Do not keep giving mocks of the same institute, give two from one, two from another and so on.

3. Do not bother about the mock marks. The real paper is completely different, and even you all know that. Also, please do not give the free all India mocks available (even the most popular ones - you would know what I'm talking about). The questions in those mocks are as horrible as they can be. I got 78 in one of them, and my marks in the 2022 prelims was 109.

PYQs:

You can skip mocks if you wish to, but do not skip solving and analysing the PYQs. The key term here is 'analyse'. Study the options you don't have information about, practice the PYQs over and over again, recall the logic you are applying for solving a question. Some questions are repeated in the prelims. Even if it is just one, that is 2 marks you can get for free. Even 2 marks is a lot in the prelims.

Mapping:

This part is a portion which will save you when all else fails.

1. Study the Atlas for 15-20 minutes every day, starting from India to the various continents. Look at the mountain ranges, the major rivers and which countries they flow through, the lakes, the surrounding oceans, the straits and gulfs etc. You don't have to commit them to memory, but even a rough idea of the location of a geographical landmark would be enough to solve a question.

2. I made my own maps (which I have shared already on the channel - check pinned link). They were of the national parks, biosphere reserves, rivers and mountain ranges of India. You can refer to them, questions on national parks are very frequent.

3. I also made notes on animal species and their habitats, which I also used to revise for 5-10 minutes everyday. They were a real blessing to solve the species questions asked in the prelims.

Happy new year everyone!

May this new year bring you all the joys and happiness you dream of!

And also that you may see your names in the holy PDFs!

Reminder:

Last date for DAF 2 Submission is today.

Whoever filled the form already, please fill it again. I forgot the field for email address. Just add that field in the form.

My apologies for the inconvenience.

Form for help in interview preparation:

https://forms.gle/AZVNekQHupYaZHqG8

Please only fill the form if you have cleared mains, and need help in daf and other aspects of interview.

Congratulations to all those who have cleared.

To the ones who couldn't: I have been there, twice. I know exactly how it feels. Take some time to let it settle in. Please do not take any decisions right now. Wait for 4-5 days before taking any decision regarding the exam. You will be in a emotional state, and will take hasty decisions.

Spend time with your family. Talk to them. Trust me, your family will be your strongest pillar of support during this time. I know this is the toughest phase of the exam. But remember, this is a phase, it will pass.

Hello everyone.

I realise I haven't been that active on the channel in recent times. The schedule at SVPNPA leaves little time to do anything else.

I have heard there are talks going around for the mains results. This happens every year, and people start to make guesses based on different kinds of algorithms, hunches, statistics, astrology and whatnot. Please don't pay much attention to them. They will make you anxious for no reason. In my experience, almost all these assumptions are wrong each year. As they say 'UPSC apne marzi ka maalik hai'

I will make a post about the next steps after the results are declared. Till that time, the people who have written mains should be studying for interview and GS/Optional, and others should be studying only GS or optional.

Please don't start prelims preparation now. There is time for that. I will make a post for that also, but after the mains results.

Till then, you can drop any questions you have in the comment section of this post. I will reply as and when I get some time.

Wishing everyone a very happy Diwali 🎇🪔

Let the festival of lights bring joy to all of you!

https://youtu.be/bpjPTR9_KyI?si=kzLWXPWdhAFWTfk7

Hope this talk helps you guys as well.

I have been getting questions about answer writing a lot. I'll try to answer them in one post:

When to start:

1. Only when you have finished the syllabus and completed one revision. Please don't start answer writing before completing the syllabus. You won't be able to finish the syllabus, and you will start to get anxious.

2. Personally, I don't think first time aspirants have to do answer writing now. Your aim should be to complete the syllabus. For people who have given mains before, or have completed the syllabus and one revision, you can start answer writing.

How to do answer writing:

There are a few ways to go about it-
1. You can take up questions from the free answer writing initiatives available, like insights secure, or IASBaba etc (I am not promoting either or these institutions. I just gave two examples. Almost all the coaching institutes have free answer writing initiatives).

2. I used to do the above. I used to note down 2-3 questions, read up on those questions, and write the answers the next day. This is how I started to write answers. After a month or so, I had enough points to write answers on the same day.
Please don't start to straightaway write answers from day 1. The answers will not be good and you will lose motivation. Read up on the questions, and write answers the next day.

3. If you have the finances, then you can join a paid answer writing course. I did not, so I will not be able to advise on which one is good. But whichever you take, remember that it is necessary to finish the syllabus first, because you will then be following the schedule of the programme.

Getting answers checked:

1. For the free initiatives, it is a peer evaluation method. Post your answers, then check one or two answers of your peers posted under the same question, and request them to check yours. In my case, the answers were always evaluated like this.

2. No need to worry about evaluation if you have joined a paid course. But please don't take all the advice to heart. Internalise only that advice which you feel is useful, avoid all the rest.

Time management:

1. Take as much time as you need to write answers in the beginning. It will decrease gradually.

2. Dedicate around 30-45 minutes for answer writing only if you have finished the syllabus and revised once. I am repeating this again and again. Most of the queries I am getting is that I cannot finish the syllabus while doing answer writing. Please finish the syllabus first.

Do understand that answer writing can be done after prelims as well. You guys have nearly 100 days between prelims and mains. I had around 70-80 days in all three attempts, and even then I could do answer writing after prelims. It is not indispensable to start answer writing now. The people who have given more than one attempt would have finished the syllabus and also revised, hence they can start answer writing if they wish to and if time permits.

Hopefully I have been able to resolve your doubts regarding answer writing.

Mains 2023 candidates:

Hope you all had enough of a rest. It is now time to gradually ease back into study mode.

1. For the first few days, it will be very difficult to study. Don't worry about that, it happened to all of us. Start with studying for one hour, then two, gradually increasing it. Take as many breaks as you want - the idea is to get into the study mode again gradually.

What to study:

1. Regardless of how your mains went, prepare for the interview. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you will prepare after the results. There are lots of things you will need to do after the results, so lessen the burden as much as possible.

2. Optional: You can read the portions of optional you are weak in, or you skipped during mains preparation. I completed the remaining portions of ancient history after my second mains - it helped me in this attempt.

Interview preparation:

1. Start reading two newspapers now. One can be the newspaper you read now (can be Hindu or Indian Express, whichever), the other should preferably be an economic newspaper, like the Economic Times or The Mint (if you can get this, it is the best).

2. Keep a separate notebook for interview preparation. I used to note down current affairs from the newspaper in short from the newspapers. This is the only phase in my entire preparation that I made notes from the newspapers. I used to read the papers and make notes of 5-6 lines out of important news.

3. Start preparing your state, your city and district: it's history, geography, culture and practises. This is a very monotonous part of interview preparation, so it's best you prepare it before the results. You won't have to worry about this after preparation. Make notes of whatever you read in your notebook.

4. Read some books. I read Wings of Fire, Revolutionaries and other such books during this time. This phase between the mains and the results are the best time to read, so invest time in that.

For the time being, prepare this much for the interview. The rest can be done post results.

Time management:

Prepare for interview for around 1-1.5 hours. The rest of the time you can devote to mains - whether that is GS or optional, that is entirely your choice.

I am getting a common query from many people about covering Upinder Singh. I agree it is a very bulky book. Even I was very fearful about beginning it. Here are a few tips for it.

1. Keep the PYQs and the syllabus at hand. You will know which portions are more important from the PYQs. For example, there is a lengthy discussion on the different cities of the IVC in the book, but there are no questions asked in the PYQs. Instead, you will see that Art and culture of the IVC has been asked frequently.

2. Focus more on the portions which talk about economic development, art and culture, society and less on the portions relating to political history. Portions relating to women's position in society are mandatory - you cannot skip them at any cost. Portions on religious development are also equally important.

3. Portions on administration of well-known kingdoms are also important, like the mauryas, the Guptas etc. But focus only on the major kingdoms - the syllabus also mentions smaller kingdoms like Kharavela, but almost no questions have been asked from it.

4. The major issue will come in the early medieval portion. My process here was very simple - read the art and culture portion, the portion on religion, the portion on sources (this is important - because I could use it as an answer for the literature of the early medieval period). The portion on religion will be covered again later with the Bhakti movement, but Advaita, Dvaita and other such philosophies should be covered here. Here, focus less on the political history and more on economic and social history.

5. Lastly, remember that Upinder Singh is not the solution to everything in the syllabus. There are portions which are much better in IGNOU notes. But which portions are better, you will have to browse through the notes to understand. The best way to do it would be to browse topics from the book and notes simultaneously, and see which is given better in which. But religion and art and culture should be covered from Upinder Singh and not from IGNOU. You can refer to IGNOU for the other portions.

Please do not fear the book. As you start to read, you yourself will know instinctively which portion is important and which is not. Follow the tips given above, and it will help.