“What if I couldn’t crack it this time, despite my best efforts?”

This is the most troubling question that every aspirant stares at, on the eve of results. The major difference between my previous attempts and the last one was that I had a solid answer to this question. While the answer may not have been the silver bullet, it definitely put me in a better headspace. More on that at the end.

Personal Journey

But firstly, a few words about me. Having graduated in B.sc (phy) hons., in 2016 from Sri Sathya Institute of Higher Learning, Bengaluru, I decided to pursue civil services as a career path. The “why” of it is majorly attributable to a mental revolution I had in my final year triggered by my father’s words “Why don’t you try civil services?”.

You can contact him on Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and Personal blog

Given my unique value-based education which focussed on all-round development, and having watched my father’s deep interest in social service through various avenues, civil services seemed to be the natural option for me. Being a first generation graduate in a lower middle class family who had received free education throughout (the cost of which was borne by donors and wellwishers), the idea of “giving back” to society was a visceral drive that fuelled my pursuits.

Little did I realize that it would take 6 prelims, 4 mains, 4 interviews and 3 selections to achieve the goal!

The following is my 2 cents on various aspects of preparation.

How and When to Start Preparation?

While there is no ideal time to start preparation, as people of all backgrounds have cleared the examination, it is a good strategy to start preparation as early as possible once we are sure, given that the examination is a rigorous time-taking process. I had decided to skip M.sc after B.sc for the same reason.

The starting point for preparation is familiarization with the UPSC syllabus. It “primes” us for the preparation journey by setting the contours of it. Contrary to the perception that we must read everything under the sun, the questions in the exam, admittedly less so for prelims and more so for mains, can be largely traced back to the syllabus.

Syllabus also acts as the filter while reading newspapers, where one can focus only on UPSC-relevant articles. Consistent newspaper reading is a sine qua non of preparation. I have attached sample notes to be taken from newspapers and current affairs in my telegram channel (link enclosed at the end).

Is it possible to prepare with a job?

As a working candidate myself, I would say it is definitely doable, but not without its own challenges. Though my experience during the “unemployed aspirant” phase built the foundation, preparation is possible even for beginners who are working. The following needs to be kept in mind.

• Time forecasting: Phasing the preparation according to the exact time available is absolutely critical. Squeezing newspaper reading in the mornings would leave time for studying in the evenings. Commute time can be used to listen to content in audio form.
• Compensating on weekends: Spend as much time during weekends especially when prelims/mains are approaching in giving tests, as mental exhaustion may be higher on weekdays.
• Leave policy: It would be wise to dedicate a few weeks completely for preparation just before the actual prelims/mains examination. It is essential to plan our leaves accordingly.

Prelims Strategy

I had minimal sources for the core areas of prelims, which I explain below:

• Ancient and Medieval History: Old NCERTs from class 11th
• Art and Culture: Introduction to Indian arts (ncert 11th), Nitin Singhania
• Modern History: Old ncert, spectrum
• Polity: 11th ncert, polity by Laxmikant
• Geography: 11th and 12th ncert, G C Leong
• Economics: Introduction to macroeconomics ncert
• Science and Tech: 9th to 12th ncert
• Environment: Shankar Ias academy material

• Assuming that the preparation starts at least one year before actual prelims, the first six months may be dedicated for the first-reading of the sources. The next six months may be focused for revision and regular test-taking.
• Multiple revisions of the above resources along with taking mock tests is the essence of prelims preparation. Taking at least 45-50 tests before the actual prelims is a good strategy.
• It is crucial to understand that our memory works differently during prelims and mains examination. While prelims tests our “recognition” skills (where the answer is already in front of us), mains is all about “recollection” (where we actively produce original answers based on learnt information)
• Therefore, it is vital to keep the “recognition intuition” active before prelims. It essentially means that you have to maintain easy mind maps/tables that refreshes your memory again and again. For instance, I maintained a table for all constitutional and extra constitutional authorities with basic data like tenure, eligibility, removal procedure etc.
• For current affairs, reading a newspaper regularly and taking notes from it is sufficient. Nothing beats the value given by a personal compilation. Any other monthly/thematic compilation can act as a secondary source of information based on a cost-benefit analysis and understanding how much time is left before actual prelims.
• Fundamentally, we need to recognise that prelims operates in the zone of probabilities. We cannot always expect to know the answers to the questions based on the books we read. It needs techniques like informed guessing, extrapolation (inferring from what we already know), elimination, language analysis (is the language used too general/narrow to be realistic?), calculated risk taking and error analysis.
• Let’s consider a back-of-the-envelope simplification of prelims: The first round will involve attempting questions which we know for sure. Let’s fix a success rate of 90% for this. The next round of questions will involve choosing between two probable answers i,e., with a success rate of 50%. The third round will involve choosing between three or more choices i,e., with a success rate of 25%.
• Now, suppose we attempt 90 out of 100 questions in prelims, such that 50 belong to first, 30 belong to second and 10 belong to third round (which is reflective of a typical attempt). Based on the success rates we just fixed, we should have got 45, 15 and 3 correct answers in the three rounds respectively i.e, a total of 63 right answers and 27 wrong answers. The corresponding score is 108.18, which is well above the prelims cutoffs for the last 5 years!
• The aim of this oversimplified illustration is to show that by attempting the right number of questions, increasing our success rates and reducing errors by doing subject-wise error analysis (which is why mock tests are very important!), we can take advantage of the probabilities and be part of the 10000 odd candidates who qualify for mains. It is noteworthy that prelims is where the competition is at its highest and hence CSAT must also be given due consideration.

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Mains strategy (GS and Essay)

• Here again, I depended on minimal resources. My most vital resources were the syllabus and PYQs, which are a gold mine. I ensured that I had 200-300 word content for each sentence mentioned in mains syllabus.
• Apart from the common sources used in prelims, I used the following for mains specifically:
  • Old ncert by Arjun Dev for world history.
  • PMF Ias and Mrunal sir’s website for World geography.
  • Handouts by Vision Ias and Shankars on governance, post-independence history and other residual topics
  • Internal security by M. Karthikeyan
  • Notes from Mr. K.M. Pathi sir’s classes for ethics with selective reading of Lexicon.
• I also relied on general googling and government websites to self-source content on all areas of the syllabus. For instance, NDMA website is an important resource for Disaster management.
• Regardless of the sources used, which are all just augmenting the “input” side of preparation, practicing the “output” side I.e., answer writing is extremely critical. Overemphasis on the “input” side while neglecting the “output” side is one of the most common mistakes during mains.
• A good test series helps in achieving time management, parsimonious style of writing, practice of maps, flow charts, addressing the exact demands of the question, adding examples etc. Apart from that, Daily answer writing (2-3 per day) is non-negotiable, which may be excused only during the 4 months before prelims. I ensured that I do this after lunch as a check against post-lunch sleepiness (though occasional siestas can definitely help ;))
• A couple of pointers for essay writing. It is important to note that along with ethics and optional, essay paper is where you can make yourself stand apart and hence score easy brownie points, which would put your rank in the moon orbit!
• The simplest success formula for a good essay is “read more and write more”. Only a good reader (or being informed through other sources like podcasts) can add unique perspectives, quote authentic insights instead of generalistic content. Maintaining a quote bank and story bank helped me in adding the “zing” to the essay (Samples attached in telegram channel). A good essay must be clear, comprehensive, crisp and coherent.

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Optional Strategy – Psychology

• There is a widespread perception that psychology cannot help us in getting a good rank. As a general principle, it should be noted that there is no inherently “scorable” or “good” optional in the examination. If you are among the top 1-2% in your subject, you can clear the examination.
• My main resources for psychology are:
  • Syllabus, PYQs and toppers answer copies (intentionally placed at the top!)
  • 11th and 12th Ncerts
  • Psychology by Wayne Weiten
  • Psychology for Indian subcontinent by Robert Baron and Giriswar Misra (selective reading)
  • Applied psychology by Smarak Swain.
  • Additional sources (not compulsory) – websites -> simply psychology, verywell mind. YouTube channels -> Psycheexamreview, Crashcourse psychology
• Regardless of the source, it is important to have content on all words mentioned in the syllabus. I had developed a long – form notes (offline) with which I began preparation and where I added all value-added material over the years. It also helped me to have short-form notes which are more exam-ready, have definitions, key pointers and help in easy revision (enclosed in the telegram channel).
• Regular answer writing, especially from PYQs, must be a daily practice along with GS.
• A genuine interest in the subject helped me not only at a personal level, but also to seek examples and research studies from even non-conventional sources like social media. A story of a village where a mosque and temple co-exist can be used in questions on prejudice, social integration etc.
• Donning two hats i.e., that of an examiner and of a civil servant in all the answers (especially paper 2) helped me in boosting my score from 250s to 293 in 2023 which is the highest in psychology.
• The “examiner” hat will push us to address the demand of the question as closely as possible, take different presentation styles (both textual and analytical), give as many realistic examples as possible and to grab their attention by quoting psychologists.
• The “civil servant” hat will help us in adding governmental perspectives, schemes, policies etc.
• Answer enrichment in psychology involves adding psychologist names, case studies, experiments, diagrams and flowcharts wherever the question demands.
• Analyzing toppers’ answer copies also proved immensely useful to me. By attempting a question first and then assessing it against the answer of a topper, we can know the nitty-gritties of tweaking our presentation style.
• If possible, we can also try to read original works of pioneering psychologists which can deepen our perspectives, give case studies not usually found in textbooks and also give fodder which can be potentially used in essays. I immensely benefited from reading Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and Influence by Robert Cialdini.

Personality Test

• The parameters for judging one’s performance in PT are clearly laid down in the UPSC notification, viz., “mental alertness, critical powers of assimilation, clear and logical exposition, balance of judgement, variety and depth of interest, ability for social cohesion and leadership, intellectual and moral integrity”.
• It must be understood that it’s less of a knowledge test and more of a test of our values, attitudes and communication skills.
• Preparation for PT involved detailed reading of newspapers and DAF analysis.
•  Apart from The Hindu which was my go-to newspaper, I regularly followed The Indian express and Sansad TV(government-run YouTube channel).
• For Daf analysis, I maintained a separate notebook and brainstormed questions on each aspect of the DAF. Starting from personal bio, district and state profile (social, geographic, economical), hobbies, work profile, graduation subject, optional etc. Given that DAF is a predictable area, it is advisable to foresee the questions and be thoroughly prepared.
• A major learning for me during PT preparation was to “know my story”. Diving deeply into the values that drove me helped in presenting authentic answers to common questions like “Why civil services” or “Why psychology” and avoid “tape-recorder” answers which I was sticking to by default earlier.
• Giving mock interviews definitely helps in building confidence. Not all comments may be relevant to us and hence we must be swan-like in assimilating essential learnings and leave the rest. Limiting mocks to 3-4 before the actual interview worked for me.

Yad Bhavam Tad Bhavati

• Mental health is a central yet unaddressed/least discussed aspect of preparation. Having interacted with aspirants over the years, I have sensed that fighting self-doubt, fatigue, hopelessness and cognitive errors is a major part of preparation.
• As somebody who has cleared the exam twice earlier and yet whose service allocation was subject to litigation, winning the mental game was a major challenge for me as well.
• It is important to be in a good headspace during preparation and more importantly, during examination. While bad days are part of the parcel, we cannot let it affect us disproportionately.
• Maintaining one’s hobbies not only helps us let off steam whenever required, it also helps in coming off as a well-rounded personality during the interview. As we just saw, “variety and depth of interest” is a criteria for evaluation during PT.
• Jogging, Blogging and Film analysis helped me stay focused, relaxed and grounded. Sometimes by writing articles and watching movies on issues under the syllabus, I also tried to create a symbiotic relationship between my hobbies and preparation.
• Stress management, self-love, self-regulation, emotional intelligence are not cliched terms but assume everyday relevance during preparation. One way I pushed myself was to constantly ask myself, “If I cannot regulate myself emotionally, how can I possibly regulate a district tomorrow?”.
• In essence, one must try to take a “compartmentalized approach” I.e., not be overwhelmed by the rigour of the process but to set micro targets, achieve them and reward ourselves for doing our best.
• One useful framework that helped me enhance my “subjective well being” was Martin Seligman’s PERMA. It helped in assessing why and where I was feeling “off” during preparation and what I could do about it.

Coming back to the question with which we began, the answer I gave myself was “It’s fine”. Regardless of the terminology used such as “the backwards law”, “nishkama karma”, “trust the process” etc. they all point to the fact that attachment towards one’s goal may also be counterproductive. Things may not always turn out the way we expect them to. Given that there are many other factors determining the result of the examination (perhaps luck, god’s grace etc.), it is critical to avoid an unhealthy fixation over the result of the examination. No exam, I repeat, No exam is bigger than a human being. Such thinking, even if counterintuitive and blasphemous to some extent, put me in a better headspace. Perhaps the same logic can be used for those who prefer to have a Plan-B. If it puts you in a better place mentally, nothing like it!

We may be better off in realizing that there is a tendency of “survivorship bias” in the examination I.e., excessive focus on the success stories and neglect of the stories of the many others who are equally competent but couldn’t make it due to extraneous reasons. The aim of presenting this perspective is not to discourage or depress the reader, but to put forth a line of thinking that helped me stay focused on the process and not get too anxious about the result. This begs the question, “If the result is not entirely under our control, what’s the point of all the hard work?”. To this I say, “Luck favors the brave”. Being lucky is not in our control. Being brave is.

“…..

If you can meet Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same,

……

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the will which says to them: ‘Hold on’

……

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And, which is more, you’ll be a Man, my son!”.

Rudyard Kipling

You can contact him on Telegram, Instagram, Twitter and Personal blog

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