Brief Introduction and general strategy about CSE.

This Blog is about My journey from a Hindi medium Government school student in class 8th to AIR-6 in UPSC civil services examination-2015, it may be helpful to motivate those who do not belong to big cities and yet believe that a grand school is required to build a foundation on which a successful career is formed. this may also be helpful to those hundreds of aspirants who have been calling me continuously and really want to demolish CSE in a smart way and achieve a destiny they truly value.

Little About myself:

I was born in a very small town of Palera, Distt. Tikamgarh (MP), started my schooling from another small town of shahgarh, distt. Sagar (MP), continued from class 2nd to 6th in Badamalehra, Distt. Chhatarpur (MP), shifted to a district place for the first time in class 7th and continued my whole education up to class 8th in Hindi Medium in very small towns. In 2002, MP Govt. Brought a scheme to modernize school education by creating islands of excellence by way of creating Govt. Excellence school in each district of MP, fortunately I was admitted there and here My medium of instruction was switched to English medium for the first time.

After Completing My school education with decent marks in 2006, I went to Kota along with the herd to prepare for JEE, unfortunately forget JEE, I did not even score decent in AIEEE (AIR-12270) and got enrolled in National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur as an student of Mechanical engineering. After completing B.Tech (Hons.), I was placed at Indian Oil Corporation Limited through campus placement, a place where I still belong to.

Experience at NIT Jamshedpur:

When I was admitted to NIT JSR, I was a normal small town student, who came in contact of a diversity of students from various backgrounds and across a wide spectrum of Indian culture and regions. this was the first time, when I understood what diversity of India really is, I had read it before but never experienced it before. I had never seen a guy eating chicken in front of me before, had never been in company of so many unknown faces and had never uttered a single word of English from my tongue before and my friends were my first teachers in NIT JSR in helping me transform myself. hence, it was a strange experience, which modified my inward looking orientation for the first time and I started to open up and learnt newer things. At the same time, power outages in our campus provided us with a lot of leisure time and hence peer group started to form and I for the first time came out of my comfort zone and had a wonderful company there, which I carry along with me even till date.

Teachers, syllabus and hostel life started to shape my life and my image turned to be a lazy yet good & bright student, considering all this, My batch mates made me student coordinator of Training & placement cell of NITJSR, where I think I have worked decently, my faculties recognized this and I was given enough freedom to plan and manage placement procedure in collaboration with my fellow coordinators. The kind of respect and faith that whole batch of 2007 placed in me is a landmark in shaping my future, for that wonderful experience provided an impetus to my confidence level, because of which I could take upon a challenge to try for CSE four years down the line and it was during that time only, my peer group started advising me to prepare for CSE but I was too busy living the moment.

Life At IOCL:

I have been working with Pipelines Division of IOCL, Posted at Chaksu, Jaipur Distt.; IOCL provided me excellent opportunities to work across variety of maintenance jobs, a kind of diversity everyone envies in here, I was fortunate enough to have best possible colleagues in whole of Western Region Pipelines and thus my grooming as a professional started here.

I learnt in here group dynamics, employer-employee relations and type of managerial styles different bosses used, All of which I could connect with Administrative theories and Personnel management of my syllabus in Public Administration, when my friends used to wander about PRP, ACRs, I could visualize my own experience of IOCL to these very concepts. I loved working here in IOCL and therefore I was an outstanding employee for 3 consecutive years here and probably that is the reason I did not even try to prepare for any examination, while few of my friends were busy with CAT, IES and CSE.

I always believed in doing what you love and thus was my career at IOCL for 3 years, Always Do what you value and Job at IOCL is one of the best thing that could happen to me, I valued it and devoted my full time to Job, If you are happy with a Job, continue it, for it can provide a life worth living. I only appeared before two interview panels in my life, one which made my entry into IOCL and second which took me out of here.(UPSC)

The Knick Point:

Uni dimensional Job profile is the key word, Job profile became saturated, being in engineering or any specialized domain, after a time, particularly in PSEs, repetition starts and that is the point my mind started turning. Unfortunately or now fortunately, I had a back injury and I was advised bed rest. Being at home, I got the time to think about my future and thus that nascent idea of college life turned into a dream; a dream which I found worth trying for.

Many of my colleague, family members, friends always used to say that you are the one who can do this, if possible try. I also thought that 10 years down the line I do not want to sit at one of the locations of IOCL and grief that I could have done it, still I did not try. I wanted to give it a try to avoid that pain in future. Hence, for sake of my future satisfaction, I entered into this field, without fearing for failure, under wide canvas of hope, this journey started.

As I had never appeared for any examination since AIEEE in 2007, So it was hard to come out of inertia but that hope of better future and no regrets kept my spirits high. Got enrolled in a coaching, started from basics, shuttling between Jaipur and Delhi was never easy but a working professional did not have much choice and So it Began.

Preparation Strategy:

1. Coachings & Test series:
Vajiram & Ravi For GS

Synergy for Public Administration classroom and Public Admin Test series.

Vision IAS for GS mains test series.

Pavan Kumar's IAS for PubAd Mains Test series.

Vajiram & Ravi for Essay.

2. Books & Other Material referred:

Prelims:

Indian Polity By M. Laxmikanth

Modern Indian History by spectrum Publication.

Indian Economy By Ramesh Singh.

Environment By Shankar IAS

Class 6th old NCERT by Sharma for Ancient India.

Class 7th old NCERT by Romila Thapar for medieval India.

Art & culture notes by Nitin Singhania.

NCERT selective chapters for science (Prelims)

G.C. Leong for Geography.

NCERT New class 11th and 12th for geography.

TheHindu

Unacademy videos for environment and biodiversity.

Vision IAS monthly current events.
Mrunal.org for Indian economy, specially videos on economic survey of India

Mains:

TheHindu for all.

Vision IAS monthly current events.

GS1:

Modern Indian History by spectrum Publication.
Art & culture notes by Nitin Singhania.

G.C. Leong for Geography.

NCERT New class 11th and 12th for geography.

World History by Arjun Dev and Ojha Sir classnotes for world history and post independence.

Shankar IAS Sociology material for IAS.

InsightsonIndia special articles on communalism, Regionalism, Secularism.

GS2:

Vajiram class notes. ( for those who are not attending any coaching please refer to M.Puri's Class notes for Indian Polity)

NCERT: Indian Constitution at Work.

Indian Polity By M. Laxmikanth.

For poverty and hunger issues, governance, civil services, VISION IAS printed material can be referred otherwise newspapers are the key here.

GS3:

Shriram IAS class notes for Indian Economy

NCERT: Indian Economic development.

NCERT: Introductory Macroeconomics.

Environment By Shankar IAS

Any Book on internal security, I referred M.Puri's printed material for same but not of much use.

class notes of vajiram for science & Tech. part.

Economic Survey of India, selected chapters ( Vajiram brings out list of pages to be referred, go blindly for it and if interested go thorugh whole ESI)

GS4:

Ethics Class notes of Synergy IAS or S.K.Mishra ( I referred synergy)
Lexicon by chronicle publication for ethics.

Case studies on insightsonindia website.

3. Magazines 

For Value addition

Yojana.

Kurukshetra. ( Kurukshetra has best case studies possible for GS as well as Public Administration, we must use them in mains answer writing)

Any other magazine which suits your taste.( Not absolutely necessary)

4. Websites

Insightsonindia.com for daily current events, daily secure questions.

Indianexpress.com for opinion column.

idsa.in

pib.nic.in

ccrtindia.gov.in

livemint newsletter by email for Indian Economy.

Mrunal.org for Indian economy.
Rajya Sabha TV Videos.
Unacademy videos for environment/world history.
prsindia.org

Test Series:

InsightsonIndia for prelims.

VisionIAS for Mains.

Interview:

I had very limited time (only 10 days to prepare for it), so not much strategic planning could be done, however few points I have found worth sharing.

1. Start building an overall personality from today itself.
2. Give 5-6 mocks to boost confidence & judge your caliber.
3. Be well prepared with your DAF, in fact fill DAF very seriously.
4. Utter only what you believe in.
5. avoid long answers, as questions flow from what you speak.
6. Right postures, right facts and be humble to accept your mistakes.
7. Confidence is the key, if you are confident then its not an interview anymore, it becomes a conversation then and clearing mains provides a good repository of knowledge, which can be used to impress the board.

An Evaluation:

Obviously, strategy for clearing this examination has to be an integrated one, piecemeal approach wont do much, as time between prelims result and mains exam is too less to respond to demands of UPSC Mains,

Thus For beginners, I will suggest:

Go for all the books mentioned in prelims column and have atleast 2-3 readings, read Hindu newspaper daily and column of indianexpress daily, if possible try to make summary of opinion and editorial in your own words, that will help you improve writing skill as well as internalize the concepts.

Read the syllabus daily at least for a week or so and whenever any news reporting is read, please link it with the portion of the mains syllabus, so that it can be used to quote in a mains answer, which will give you an extra edge in mains scoring.

For Example: Delhi police installed around 1.5 Lakh CCTV cameras under project Nigheban in Delhi. (reported in Hindu on 27 sept. 2015); most of us ignore such news, but this can be used in at least 3 areas to show linkage of theory with practical application, as a case study to add value to your answer. ( PPP, Citizen participation in administration and community policing); such linkage may give you an edge over others and secure your success.

I generally followed 4 step strategy during my preparation i.e. Read----> Internalize & Understand----> write----> Revise..

10 (sorry later it became 11) things to be kept in mind:

1. My strategy may not work for you, so try and err, devise your own strategy.
2. Do not be confused about your Goal, start preparation only if your heart says, if not wait for right time and then start. do not jump because someone else says so.
3. There are 2 ways to prepare for this exam, either you mug up and clear, chances are that you will clear it, provided you have a sharp memory or you read and understand, believe in it, because in my opinion if you do not believe in an argument, you cant reproduce it in strict 7 minutes of mains examination. I chose second.
4. Stick to the sources, rather than buying newer books every time, limited book list with repeated revisions reward better than a plethora of material.
5. If you have seen the facts 2-3 times then don't worry about mugging them up, if they are connected with mains syllabus in your subconscious mind, they will automatically be reproduced when you are writing an answer.
6. Relax, don't buckle your confidence under pretext of someone who has read 3-4 books on a subject or who seems to be more knowledgeable than you on a topic, there is a difference, they may know very well but you may present it in perfect manner, which will award you good marks while they may be left behind flaunting their knowledge in streets of Old Rajendar Nagar.
7. Do not ask anyone how many hours are required for study, some clear it in 14 hours a day while some achieve it in 6 hours a day. one need to identify what is threshold as well as optimum for him/her, reading more than what you can accept may be demotivating, at the same time reading less may be disastrous, So identify how much is optimum for you and make sure you clock that much in a day, do not follow others about how much they are studying, derive your own path; for example mine was 6-7 hours a day.
8. Do not set unrealistic goals viz. I will finish Laxmikanth in 5 days...you cant...so set realistic goals to avoid demotivation, which comes when you do not achieve that goal.
9. Write..write and write...there is an inertia associated with writing, even I had..I was lucky that only 2 months of writing sailed me through...everyone will not be...so Start writing and Insightsonindia secure questions are the best ones to start, if cant write in begining, observe the answers written by others there...there are some exceptional writers on that platform...learn from their skills then fire your own pistons and fire daily atleast for an hour. UPSC can be cracked only by mains and that requires writing, so you must start writing ASAP and improve, get it evaluated by friends, teachers or compare it with synopsis of insight.
10. Patience & Diligence seems to be right combo for success in this arena, make sure you have both and also have a fraternity that supports you in times of despair.
11. If possible believe in one divine power, not because you need to worship, but just to have a faith, a sense of completion, because relationships generally do not support in this endeavour, so lets make one divine power as your friend/companion. Hardwork needs to be complemented by some luck, wishes...I think nobody believes that their name is going to figure in top-10 or so, because they do not know how much luck has favored them.

Utilizing Test Series:

For those who have not joined any coaching, insights test series for prelims is best, read the syllabus of each test, attempt the test, they have given good explanations in the end, it will cover your current events as well as static portion really well; Prepare that part of syllabus, attempt test, read explanations, internalize. If you are a Pro, I will say attempt test first, then read from books according to questions, it will ensure maximum preparation in limited time.

VisionIAS Test series is good for mains, if you could join test series of 15-20 tests, it will cover your syllabus in a holistic manner, their video discussion is as good as classroom coaching of any other coaching, evaluation is good and thus you are groomed for the brutal December.

Choosing an optional:

A subject has to be read for 3 hours a day, 1.5 years atleast and yes you need to score atleast 250 in optional to get IAS, this can not be done if you do not have interest in the subject, an optional must be such which gives you a sense of delight, which you love to read again and again. In my opinion, choosing an optional on the basis of criteria like it has less syllabus, scoring is easy and I have my friends opting this, are not best benchmarks; you cant reproduce in mains if you do not love the subject, have an in-depth knowledge about it and believe in what you write, that can happen only when you are truly attached to your optional.

1. Zero-in on 2-3 subjects which can be your probable optional.
2. Read atleast a chapter or two for the most interesting topic on the subject.
3. Compare and contrast what intrigues you and then bring in secondry parameters like scoring, time required to finish the syllabus to break the tie-in.

I was asked many times, how about choosing technical subject as an optional, first of all let me clarify, I am a graduate in mechanical engineer and still opted for public administration, because ME did not create interest in me, lengthy syllabus and I never studied well in college, so I was weak even in basics, added to that My time was limited, It was not possible for me to memorize 30 formulas just to solve 2 questions of heat and mass transfer, so technical was not an option for me.

Why Public Administration:  

1. Most relevant to an IAS, so it intrigued me.

2. well connected to current events, had lot of scope for value addition.

3. Good material available in the market.

4. effective for GS-2 syllabus, If I have scored 100 marks in GS-2 the credit goes to Public Administration.

So, Finally If you are good in your graduation and have prepared earlier for IES or GATE, you may go for technical subjects, going for Art subjects gives help in GS and above all it verses us with writing skills, which seems to be panacea for clearing Mains. Choose wisely after weighing in all the pros & cons. Optional is they key to success, if you can score 270-280 in optional, half your target is achieved.

Answer Writing:

For GS, the standard format is: decipher the question i.e. introduce the issue raised, present point for and against as per demand of the question, support your answer with a fact, quotation, report or case study and then take the conclusion with which you would agree most. Always attempt those questions first with which you are most comfortable, it helps in overcoming inertia and gives you confidence to address those questions with which you are not well versed and then depending upon time, decide length and content of the those answers.

For Ethics, always attempt case studies first and try to finish in 1.5 hours, so that half the job is done, then attempt first 13 questions and quote as many examples you can and if possible do give personal life examples from your life to support your arguments. ethics can reward good marks. 

Final Gyan:

Some may find it waste of words while some may find it motivating, just bear with me for this column. I always talk about steve jobs and his memorable stanford speech in the end, he recalls many failures of his life and then beautifully recalls how all the failures turned him into a legend. He says, "You can only connect the dots by looking backwards not by looking forwards". If you fear now that my this step may lead into disaster, you will never take yourself forward; take that first step and then see the beautiful fruits of your seeds few years down the line and then look backwards connecting all the dots which made you a person whom you truly value. 

If you ever read ethics (GS4), you may come across Means-end dichotomy, I stand on that part of extreme where if your means are right, dont worry about the end...end is destined to be good. ...Perform...Dream Big and strive harder to achieve it and you will reach a destiny that you deserve. Success is a matter of timing if you are dedicated to the path which will take you there. 

Connect every single step of your life, every dot and try to recall what it provided you, what you learnt from it and then it will turn you into a personality that UPSC desires and which we all aspire. I tried to connect my school life, college life and then job life and it brought fruits to me...Many senior players in this arena may disregard this blog and consider it as unrealistic...but this is how This idiot reached into top-10 of this examination and hence I have named this Post as "Fairy Tale of an Idiot". Had It not been a fairy tale..this idiot may not had seen return of his Dawn...A new beginning that I truly Value.

Hope It will clear all the queries that I was asked, if not, do email me your issue, I will Try to revert ASAP. 

email id: tiwarivicky.1989@gmail.com

All The Best...May you get what you really deserve.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHWUCX6osgM

Ashish Tiwari