Soubhagya Beelagimath (CSE-23 AIR-101) Anthropology & Comprehensive Strategy

Hello everyone. This is Soubhagya Beelagimath. I have secured AIR-101 in UPSC CSE 2023. This is my 2^nd attempt. I graduated with a BSc in Agriculture (Hons) in 2022 from the College of Agriculture, Dharwad, Karnataka. Pursuing civil service and becoming an IAS was my childhood dream.

My Preparation Journey: During graduation, I started following current affairs by reading The Hindu. During lockdown, when classes went online, I got ample time to build up my static fundamentals and also to work on my optional Anthropology. I gave my 1^st attempt when I was in my 4^th year. But I couldn’t clear prelims.

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Learnings from my 1^st Attempt: I learnt how to handle that one big day of prelims. Most of us only prepare for exams but not for an exam day. I believe that maintaining calmness and presence of mind on exam day Is very important. All the years of hard work go in vain if we mess up on that particular day. Maintaining good physical health and mental stamina for handling the exam pressure, especially during the last 15 days is very important.

My Prelims Strategy: A strong static foundation is very important. Keep reading and revising the fundamentals. If possible, make micro notes for the final revision. But I didn’t make any notes from static books. I just scribbled down the new information and things where I was doing wrong from mocks. Do write as many mocks as possible. Analysis of mocks is very important. I used to analyze whether my guesses were going wrong or the concepts demanding questions. Also, experiment with the number of questions to be attended. For mocks, I used to attend 82 to 88 questions. On the final exam, I have attended around 87 questions. This depends on an individual, some even go up to 95 questions and some will just attend 75 questions. Develop the aptitude to make a right guess. This comes after religiously solving mocks and PYQs. For mocks don’t stick to one particular institution. I followed mocks from Vision IAS, FORUM IAS, INSIGHTS and lastly from Vajiram and Ravi.

CSAT Preparation: I watched many YouTube videos for conceptual clarity. My accuracy was good at comprehension. So, I focused more on Reasoning and aptitude. I scribbled down some formulas and some shortcuts. Choosing the right question on the day of the exam is very important. Decide the number of questions to be attended to end up in the comfort zone. I was attending just 43 to 44 questions. Decide your strike zone to hit the right marks.

Neither Let CSAT Ruin Your Prelims Nor Read 900+ Pages for 66 Marks! DECODE CSAT IN 280 PAGES!!

Mains Strategy: Initially, my major focus was on content building. I never hurried in practicing answer writing unless I had a fair amount of content.

Gs-1 Preparation:

I did notes on some PYQS and major themes in history like art and culture, the architecture of temples etc.
For geography do make notes with a sufficient number of maps to substantiate your answers.
I didn’t focus much on the society part due to anthropology as an option.

GS-1 Sources:

MODERN HISTORY- SPECTRUM
POST-INDEPENDENCE- I JUST GOOGLE ON MAINS ASPECTS LIKE LAND REFORMS AND SOLVED PYQS
ART AND CULTURE- NITIN SINGHANIA
VALUE ADDITION- MAINS 365, TEST SERIES SYNOPSIS OF FORUM IAS AND VISION IAS
GEOGRAPHY- NCERTS, PMF IAS GEOGRAPHY NOTES AND GOOGLE

GS-2 Preparation:

I loved preparing for GS-2. I did notes on all the major aspects of the syllabus. To enrich answers, add the recommendations of committees and quote SC judgements wherever it is relevant. The current happenings of the last 2 months before mains are very crucial.

GS-2 Sources:

LAKSHIMIKANT
WEBSITES- NITI AYOG, MINISTRY WEBSITES, PRS INDIA
RECOMMENDATIONS OF COMMITTEES LIKE SARKARIA, 2^ND ARC ETC
VALUE ADDITION- MAINS 365

Gs-3 Preparation:

Due to the vast syllabus of GS-3, it becomes difficult to make notes. I have just made notes for economics. Again, quoting statistics and schemes is very important. I made exclusive data collection for themes like poverty, inequality, agriculture etc.
If possible collect diagrams, pie charts and graphs from economic surveys.
Economics- Nitin Singhania, Ramesh Singh, economic survey
Science and technology- Mains 365
Agriculture- No separate notes.
ENRICHMENT- MAINS 365, SYNOPSIS OF MAINS TEST SERIES

GS-4 Preparation:

I loved reading this paper. I compiled examples and case studies together for both the essay and ethics.
Books- LEXICON, ETHICS BOOK BY DK BALAJI SIR, VAJIRAM AND RAVI ETHICS NOTES, CASE STUDIES COMPILED BY VISION IAS.

Join here for free UPSC guidance from Mudit Jain, IPS-15, IPS-16, IRS-18, Author of Decode CSAT, Decode Essay, Decode GS2, Decode Ethics 4.0 & Decode History Books

Ethics book referred by CSE 22 Toppers: AIR –76, 91, 176, 189, 249, 288, 297, 299, 326, 356, 476, 541, 611, 616, 700, 737, 739, 746 & others

History book referred by CSE 21 Toppers: AIR – 44, 212, 572, 653 & others

Find PDFs of All Decode Series Books Here

ANTHROPOLOGY: I have made my notes for all the topics. For last-minute revision, I scribbled in A-4 sheets and made handy notes.

Anthropology Sources

Physical Anthropology

P. Nath
Ignou and EPG Pathshala material
Value addition- toppers notes of Apala Mishra ma’am, anthropology simplified by Vivek Bhamse sir, Anthropology demystified by Akshant Jain sir, vision IAS value edition pdf

Socio-cultural Anthropology

Anthropological thoughts by Upadhyay and Pandey
Website of the University of Alabama
Braintree
Cultural anthropology book by Ember and Ember
Ignou material
Value addition- Answer copies of LAKSHMI N madam, topper notes of apala Mishra ma’am, telegram channels of Neha Goyal ma’am and Team ANTHRO

Tribal Anthropology

Brain tree
Tribal Culture of India by LP Vidyarthi
Anthropology simplified by Vivek Bhamse sir
Data collection from annual reports of the Ministry of tribal affairs
Value addition- current affairs, down-to-earth website, XAXA committee recommendations, vision IAS value edition pdf

Indian Anthropology

Indian anthropology by Nadeem Hasnain
Brain tree
Ignou material
Anthropology simplified by Vivek Bhamse sir
Value addition- Laksmi N Madam and Waseem Ahmad sir answer copies, Notes of Narayan Amit sir, referring to original works of some important concepts like the Jajmani system, dominant castes etc.

Mains Test Series: I had given very less tests. I had just given 2 full-length test series of Forum’s MGP program. I used to practice and brainstorm PYQs a lot. For anthropology, I took the test series from L2a. Practising PYQs is also very crucial for any optional. Take topic-wise-based PYQs compilation and practice them rigorously.

Mental Health: UPSC is famously known for its unpredictability. In this roller coaster journey, many fail to maintain the mental strength required to cope with this oceanic exam. Nothing is more important than inner peace and tranquility. Spend time with nature and practice 10 to 15 minutes of meditation. keep the process simple by shutting down the external voices and doing the best that suits you.

Best wishes to everyone who is aspiring to join the club of civil servants.

CSE-23 Topper Strategies:

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3) Samiksha Mhetre AIR-302 Comprehensive

4) Aditya Hriday Upadhyay AIR-416 Maths + Comprehensive

5) Prerna Singh AIR-271 Journey + Learnings + Comprehensive

6) Abhinav Jain AIR-35 Journey + Comprehensive

7) KN Chandana Jahnavi AIR-50 3/3 Selections + Socio + Comprehensive

8) Rohit Sattawan AIR-997 Prelims & Mains Booklist + FAQs

9) Dr. Subhadharshini AIR-83 Motivational Journey + FAQs

10) Megha Dinesh AIR-268 Sociology + Comprehensive Strategy