Riju Shrivastava (AIR-124, CSE-21) UPSC Journey and Strategy

Hi,

I am glad to present before you all the Civils preparation journey and strategy of Riju Shrivastava who secured AIR-124 in CSE-21. She achieved this feat in her 2nd attempt.

Following is her journey and strategy in her own words:

Everything happens twice, once in our minds and then in reality.

Having read, plethora of ‘so called Topper’ Strategy’, one thing I always wanted to find in their journey is ‘ME’. Relating my circumstance, my challenges, my journey with them and then kind of assuring and reassuring myself that ‘If they can do it, why can’t I..woh bhi to insaan hi hain’

Isn’t that what ‘a typical UPSC Aspirant’ takes from topper’s strategy (apart from information gathering on which books to follow, which coaching material is good, how many hours to study, how many mocks to give etc etc.. The ‘conundrum of every UPSC aspirant’)

You may contact Riju at her Telegram Channel or Instagram Page

So today, while penning down my ‘Safarnama’, I feel so blessed and happy to be given this opportunity to connect to many who would be going through the ups and downs of this roller coaster UPSC CSE ride..

A little bit of RIJUvenation – Who am I ? (Background about me)

Born in Vidisha M.P., Brought up in Bhopal.
Completed my Schooling from St. Joseph’s Convent Girls S.S.School, Bhopal in Humanities Stream in 2016.
Pursued my Graduation B.A.(Hons) in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce, University of Delhi in 2019.
My optional was Sociology.
Gave my first attempt in 2020 (missed prelims by a whisker)
This was my second attempt in which my name is mentioned with a no. ‘124’ in the holy pdf.
From 2021 -22 along with my second attempt, I was also working as Legislative Assistant to Member of Parliament.

Concrete Strategy? I have none. Journey? Yes, it was fun! (With no blood, little sweat and lot of tears)*|

The only strategy which worked for me was having self belief and no substitute or short cut to hard work. Many things came to me through trial and error.

नन्हीं चींटी जब दाना लेकर चलती है,

चढ़ती दीवारों पर, सौ बार फिसलती है।

मन का विश्वास रगों में साहस भरता है,

चढ़कर गिरना, गिरकर चढ़ना न अखरता है।

आख़िर उसकी मेहनत बेकार नहीं होती,

कोशिश करने वालों की कभी हार नहीं होती।

These lines have stuck by me in this journey and inspired me to bounce back on endless days of uncertainty, anxiety, fear and tears which I feel come ‘in free’ to a normal aspirant (who has not attained nirvana 😅) while preparing.

Chalo, kaam ki baat par aate hain!

Who named it Prelims?

By its name and societal conceptions of people not associated with this exam, it is supposed to be the easiest stage and ‘a Serious UPSC aspirant’ should be easily clearing it. But I feel it’s the most dicey and challenging part. And the cost associated with not clearing it is all the more scary, repeating an entire year.

Have been burnt of prelims in my first attempt, these tips were gathered by me through experience. Hope, it helps:

1.Mocks are necessary but not sufficient. The no. of mocks you take is immaterial. What you take out of them, is important. Hence, a mock not revised is as good as mock not attempted.

2.Having a customised approach for yourself is important (not influenced by any toppers talk or strategy but based on sheer practice and experimentation with your neurons) i.e.

2.1 Finding out your optimum no. of questions you must be attempting to get the maximum score.

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2.2 Finding out your accuracy level

2.3.Finding which type of questions to completely leave and which to guess with little idea.

2.4 Making few subjects your forte and trying to maximise marks from the questions asked from those subjects.

3. Do not become ‘information collector’ in your journey of becoming ‘District Collector’. Try to restrain this temptation of running behind multiple sources.

Almost all coaching notes are different rivers carrying same water to the same sea of UPSC CSE. Just select your river or create your river, trust it completely and swim in it. Otherwise there are high chances, you may drown.

The Main Mains

As per my limited experience, this is the most reliable stage of the three. What you give is what you get.

It is not only about academic rigour, memorising a lot of stuff and reproducing it on the answer sheets but also developing physical and mental stamina to go through the grill of writing 6 hours daily for 5 days. Completion of paper is itself a challenge if one has not practiced enough before. I remember how I initially took nearly 3 hours 40 minutes to complete a paper. But with practice, it could come down to 3 hours. So some broad pointers regarding mains preparation could be-

1.Focus on optional. It can make you or break you.

2.Paper Completion > Quality of answers.

3.Try to make it easier for the examiner to find answer in your answer. Structure your answer. Give headings, try to write in points if possible (in especially GS papers) .

4.Try to develop your own writing style for case studies and open ended questions in Ethics and Essay.

5.Select your pen and stick to that. (This sounds childish, but it does help to save time in actual exam, each second matters).

6.Adjust your body clock according to exam timings.

7 . Add value to your answers (committees, flow chart, articles, examples, statistics etc.) wherever whenever but don’t overdo it. They should be the cherry on the cake not the entire cake of cherries.

8.The policy of limited sources, multiple revision works here the best. Make your own few pager notes to revise in the last leg, just before the papers and between two papers (incase, you wish to revise or else one could sleep like me in 2 hours gap between the papers).

The Last Leap of faith: The personality test.

Though ‘ye mera expertise nahi hai’ with a mere 154/275 but still would share something I gained in the process, maybe it can help you in anyway.

1.Fill your DAF with careful consideration of each word you are mentioning. It’s better to fill less which can be prepared holistically rather than overdoing.

2.Each word in your DAF is your syllabus, from which probable questions can be asked.

3.Keeping abreast with current affairs through thorough reading of newspaper(s) is indispensable at this stage. Even local news and political news can become important.

4.Practice speaking, just talk, talk to your friends, family etc. Generate views and opinions.

5.Give ‘a few ‘ mock interviews in order to familiarize yourself with the actual atmosphere on the D day. Caveat – Take the feedback with a pinch of salt.

6.Most important, take it as a learning experience and an opportunity to present yourself before such a learned and experienced board of people whose years of experience in public life might be greater than your age.

Before I sum up, I feel that this exam is not only about academic rigour (IQ) but a lot more about balancing different spheres of life, having right mental attitude and emotional strength (EQ) to fight on days when you feel ‘humse na ho payega’. For me, my family, close friends and teachers were the anchor who held on to me, when I was a shaken ship.

So, at the end I just wish to say:

Whatever happens, wherever you go, Let not an exam, ID card, a rank or some letters in front of your name define your self worth. Relax, smile and give your best. God will take care of the rest.

Best wishes !

P.S.-The piece could be a bit poetic due to my love for poetry, but ab hai to hai, kya karein.

You may contact Riju at her Telegram Channel or Instagram Page

Other CSE 21 Topper Strategies:

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