Strategy for GS, Essay, Optional and Toppers Talk

Directive? instruction that tells you what to do with content words.
Content Words? Tell which ideas and concepts are required to be dealt.
Limiting Words? took place only after certain year: ‘word limit’ is part of this.

‘Discuss’, ‘Elucidate’ , ‘Comment’, ‘ Examine’, ‘Critically Examine’, ‘Analyse’, ‘Critically Evaluate’, ‘Assess’, ‘Outline’, ‘Justify’ and ‘Discuss Critically’.

What I did that has helped me greatly in Prelim and Mains?

• Write your own answers and evaluate them. You should join test series and write tests in simulated environment. Additionally you can write answers to standard selected questions from any test series or newspapers and write your answers. Imagine that all the time has gone and today is the day to write exam and give whatever you have. Having written self-timed test do evaluate it.

Parameters to evaluate:

1. Extra words - waste of time.
2. Extra sentences - not required.
3. Ambiguity of expression - what am I saying?!
4. Difficult words - Can you understand?
5. Grammar, Spellings
6. Answered all parts - plural/singular terms like 'Is India at Crossroads?' or 'Is India at Crossroad?
7. Introduction - reflecting CTP (Context -what; Topic -where from; Purpose - why)
8. Conclusion - reflecting TTP (Theme -asked in Question; Throw -light on present on future [+ve]; Concern -for society)
9. Diagram - labelled properly and neatly.
10. X-Factor (keyword / fact / data / beautiful handwriting)
11. Closed Sentences should not be used like, - Most Important, Always, Only, Foremost;
12. Is this my magnum opus? - Can't I write better?!

My Strategy is that I spend first 15-20 minutes reading the question paper entirely. While going through questions I underline keywords and write down related topics in form of words. Brainstorming in the first 20 minutes is most important and advantageous since the mind is fresh and can recollect more. It becomes tiring and difficult to remember more points later. Moreover if there is very less time available towards the end of exam (especially in last 20 minutes) it becomes dangerously difficult to recollect anything. It is during those crucial minutes that these jotted points help one to quickly write down the relevant points. We are given Rough Pages towards the end of answer sheet and we must use them wisely especially for these purposes.

• For Essay: How to choose and write?

TITLE - AVOID Easiest, Avoid Difficult
Ask WH Q - What Where Why When Who and How.
Flowchart - Thoughts framework - lots of whats, lots of hows
Organic framework - Past, Present, Future
Subject framework - ENV, TECH, ECON…
Optional framework - History

Do Rough work - brainstorm - below process will help you -

1. Topic
2. Idea - at what level you treat it - Subject/Organic
3. Paragraph
4. Analysis - Logic of my stand; examples; facts; Tone (Positive, Optimist)
5. Examine
6. Layering - different ideas at different places/paragraph
7. Fusion - similar ideas at one paragraph
8. Cancel - those ideas which you are weak at/ lack example
9. Ordering of Idea / Paragraph
10. Linker - 1stly, Hence, therefore; Logical transmission.
11. Editing has to be done before conclusion - any contradiction?; some underline (not many);

Refer to Essay Page.

For 2016 PIB I have followed Insights Daily Quiz and Current Events.

For Current Affairs I have made notes from Hindu, internet and put it in GS - 2 / 3.

I have supplemented with Vision IAS current affairs material, RSTV videos and AIR recordings.

For 2017: I have relied totally on Insights Current Affairs and Test Series for Prelim.
I have had read The Hindu, Times of India, Economic Times regularly until Prelims.
Thereafter for Mains I joined KSG Test Series and Baliyan TS [History]. The background still remained Insights Secure. In fact I went through all questions from Secure January to Secure September and maximized my grasp on this years important current topics.

I am giving below the list of books that I have read. Additionally I am mentioning in the columns ahead the relevance and importance of the book.

Book Name	Relevance	Remarks
Fundamentals of Physical Geography by GC Leong	GS 1	Must
Physical Geography NCERT	GS 1	Must
Knowledge Traditions and Practices of India CBSE Class XI	GS 1	Good Material
Indian Culture and Heritage NIOS	GS 1	Either this (NIOS) or previous one from CBSE can be referred
Social Change and Development in India XII NCERT	GS 1	Very Important
Adventures in Geography by S Mathur	GS 1	Not so interesting
The National Culture of India by S Abid Hussain	GS 1	Good for starting
Rivers of India by Radhakant Bharati	GS 1	Good for starting
Society in India by Ram Ahuja	GS 1	Must - very important for Mains
Mountains of India Tourism, Adventure and Pilgrimage by Capt MS Kohli	GS 1	Interesting and good book to understand from multiple dimensions as the title of book reads.
Notes on Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania	GS 1	I read this for start. Later I covered from different books since it comes under my optional.
Contemporary World History NCERT	GS 2	Very Important to understand the International Affairs
Constitution of India by PM Bakshi	GS 2	Must be available in hand to refer to articles and judgements of SC frequently.
Indian Polity by Laxmikanth	GS 2	Very Important and must be read multiple times. Especially answer the back question - both objective and subjective.
Our Parliament by Subhash Kashyap	GS 2	Very Nice book for initial reading.
Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap	GS 2	Very Nice book for initial reading.
Public Administration and Public Affairs by Nicholas Henry	GS 2	Good Book but covers everything from American Perspective. Did not find it suitable for Mains.
From Government to Governance by Kuldeep Mathur	GS 2 and GS 4	Very Good Book and a must read.
Democracy by Beetham and Boyle	GS 2 and GS 4	Very Good Book and a must read.
The Spirit of Science in Quest of Truth by RB Lal	GS 3	Short and Interesting read. Helps one on how to answers science questions.
Indian Economy by Ramesh Singh	GS 3	Covers the entre basic section. Must.
Environment by Shankar IAS Academy	GS 3	Good book covers almost all the relevant topics.
Economic Survey	GS 3 and GS 4	Very Important. Needs good amount of time to read and make notes.
Macroeconomics NCERT	GS 3	Must. Especially Budget and Balance of Payment.
Environment Class X ICSE by S Chand	GS 3	Good book. After reading other books on Environment I found reading this easier. Moreover keywords (like Lentic, Lotic etc) which are found from here can be noted.
Ministry of Environment Annual Report	GS 3	Note the important happenings and keywords from here.
My Experiments with Truth by MK Gandhi	GS 4	Very Helpful. I read this during my High School days.
Teach Yourself Philosophy (Ethics) by Dr RP Sharma	GS 4	Very Important though the book is only in Hindi.
Business Sutra (Devdutt Patnaik)	GS 4	Helped me in Governance part. Additionally improved my knowledge on Mythology.
Ethics Case Studies by Manoj K Jha	GS 4	Important to practice Case Studies for GS 4. This book has many of them and with good solutions.
NCERTS [from 6 to 12]
India Year Book		I bought the 2015 one though could not read it fully. I tried to cover 2016 and found that most were in News and covered in my Current affairs preparation.
India Unbound by Gurucharan Das		In the leisure time one can read this. It helps to expand the horizons of mind.
Pax Indica by Shashi Tharoor		Good book to read in leisure.
Land of Seven Rivers by Sanjeev Sanyal		I liked this book very much. Advisable to read in leisure. Helps develop analytical bent of mind.

• Made own ATLAS. Added details like National Park, National Highways, History, Industry, Geography etc. 
• Eg:

• Followed InsightsonIndia, read newspapers, underlined the key points and noted the keywords. Jotted the important as well as trivial information in form of notes. Kept adding, consolidating each topic paper wise. These you can see in my notes updated in this blog.

• Ethics has been the most important subject for me. Not only because it carries equal marks as other subjects but also because it has helped me really in building attributes of an officer. I sincerely feel thankful to have this subject in Mains Exam. Yet at the same time the subject is challenging. Because of contradictory opinion of some successful aspirants. For ethics I would definitely advice people to start early, read the book on Ethics. Also, read public administration (some standard books) and get an idea of what an administrator is expected to do. Combine ethics with public administration to develop your clarification on what is asked. Most important part is case studies. For this practice as many case studies from standard sources.

For History Optional:

I jotted down answers to almost all past year questions (~30 years). For this I referenced various books (refer to Ancient, Medieval, Modern and World), standard sites for history material, newspapers and internet.

History	Relevance	Remarks
India after Gandhi by RC Guha	Paper II	Compulsory Book. Either this or BC Pal India Since Independence can be read. I like both.
History of Medieval India by Satish Chandra	Paper I	Compulsory Book.
Masterning modern world history by Norman Lowe	Paper II	Compulsory Book.
From Plassey to Partition by Sekhar Bandopadhyay	Paper II	Compulsory Book.
A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India by Upender Singh	Paper I	Compulsory Book.
Xerox Notes on History (Classroom) by Baliyan S		Very Helpful to cover certain areas and on answer writing.
Selfstudyhistory.com for MAPS, Past Year Questions		Very useful for Maps and certain questions solutions.
The Past as Present by Romila Thapar	Paper I	Book can be avoided.
Ancient India (Old NCERT)	Paper I	Made Notes - Very Useful for Prelimns.
An Introduction to Indian Art NCERT	Paper I	Good for Culture and Pre-History.
Lectures on Indian History by Vinay Lal Sir (UCLA)	Paper I and II	Most useful and interesting.
Lectures on Indian History by Professors from Universities in Bengal	Paper I	Most useful and interesting.
Crash Course on World History by John Green	Paper II	Watched it multiple times. Very Nice initiative.
Prince Poet Lover Builder Mhd Quli Qutb Shah by Narender Luther	Paper I	Additional Reference for my own understanding. Good content.
1857 The Uprising by Gautam Gupta	Paper II	Additional Reference for my own understanding. Good content.
India: Before and After Mutiny by PC Ray	Paper II	Additional Reference for my own understanding. Good content.
Adhunik Bharat Itihas by Bipin Chandra	Paper II	Additional Reference for my own understanding. Good content.

Nowhere in my journey was the source limited to one site or certain books. Travelling is my hobby and I constantly learned on the go whether talking to co-passenger in train, plane or bus. I have visited Kanyakumari to Himalayas, from India to China. I am blessed to have met intellectuals who work in different sectors [from Corporate to Courts to Services]. Listening and discussing with them has helped me not only improve my knowledge but also to enhance my personality. 

I am thankful to live in the era of digital revolution. I am not on Facebook or Twitter or Linked in or other social media sites. But I have spent more time on internet reading and learning myriad of things. Internet has helped me finding answers to questions which none in my surrounding could explain. From Medical to Motivational, it helped me by letting me study from my home town, given the fact that finding good doctor is difficult in my district. 

Other Topper's Compilation:

Rukmani Riar 2nd Rank: I relied on the NCERT textbooks for study material and set daily targets -- about six hours of study a day. I ensured that I studied everyday so as not to overburden myself when the exams approached - Consistency.

Hitesh Joysar: 116th rank, a farmer's son from Gujarat cracks UPSC; Time management: Firstly, during preparation more time to subjects where one is weak. Separate time for others. Secondly, during exam one has to fix time slot depending on the marks of questions. Strategy for Mains? thinking on almost everything I read. making bullet points in GS & Subjects. restrict to limited material so could have solid control on relevant facts & analysis. Biggest mistake? During first year of my preparation I unnecessarily focused much on mugging the things. Also a lack of analytical study. But I corrected this in due course.

Prabhat Kumar CSE AIR 204. How much time do you think a student should give to prepare for the UPSC exam? Start at least 6 months prior to Preliminary exam.

From 179th to IAS topper: Haritha Kumar's amazing story. "I did not qualify the first time”. Did you enroll in any coaching classes? For the first attempt I did take coaching. succeeding attempts I prepared on my own. stayed in touch with my teachers and would consult them from time to time. focused on solving more papers. This is your fourth attempt. What do you think were the mistakes you made in the first three attempts? spend more time for the PE instead of the ME. At least six months to prepare for the ME. Rote learning. Read the chapters and try to rem every word rather than practice them with writing. Although I knew the answers I wasn't able to complete the paper on time. Did not pay attention to writing in the question-answer format. What is your advice to UPSC aspirants? Take up one thing at a time and spare ample time for preparation. Choose subjects that they are comfortable in. For the interview, be part of mock discussion groups and participate in them actively. Practice writing papers. “No matter what comes your way, never lose your focus. In case you do not make it the first time, do not lose heart. Give it another try.”

Divyadharshini Shanmugam (DS), Sweta Mohanty (SM), Dr. RV Varun Kumar (VK)
Q. In how many attempts did you crack the Civil Services?
DS: Second attempt.
SM: 3rd attempt. In my 2nd attempt I was selected for IRS.
VK: 3rd attempt

Q. How different was it in this attempt and how did you succeed?
DS: One year of consistent preparation made the difference between the two attempts. In my very first attempt I could not even clear the prelims of this exam, this was like an alarm bell for me.
SM: In my second attempt, I had more clarity of the subjects; I was more thorough and had a better understanding of the concepts.
VK: First attempt I could not clear because I read just for 3 months. Second attempt I cleared prelims but did not write ME because I did not want to land up in 100s or 300s.

Q. What was your strategy for optionals, GS and Essay?
DS: For Optional: cover full syllabus, prepare concrete points for each topic, revise before exam. Notes are really helpful during exam time. For GS: In addition to Prelims preparation, add personal view and analysis of the questions. devote equal time for both GS and for Optional papers. For Essay: No need to specially prepare for essay. Preparing for general studies helps in essay paper. Newspaper reading builds ideas which also help in essay.
SM: For Optional: Cover entire syllabi. Each topic must be thoroughly understood. add some relevant examples/case studies. syllabus must be referred to while preparing, to interlink topics. For GS: not to get unnerved by the paper. Study the Prelims syllabi; basic textbooks; newspapers; magazines. Internet is another source for building knowledge. For Essay: Have a broad idea of what the major issues are at the point of time. newspapers help in building up a broad base. Take time to think out the frame of the essay. Do not deviate from the issue asked.
VK: For optional: Note down in your syllabus paper as to where you read which topic. Join test series and practise writing in answer sheets. Understand the question properly.

Q. Did you take any coaching for preparation?
DS: Yes, I approached Prabhakaran sir, the Director of Prabhas IAS Academy for guidance. It helped me a lot.
SM: Yes, I have taken guidance for preparation from Braintree Coaching Institute, Hyderabad and Vajiram & Ravi, New Delhi for my earlier attempts. I joined Vajiram for GS. In the present attempt, because of various constraints, I could not take any guidance.
VK: Yes. I attended coaching for Public Administration and Sociology. I also attended a wonderful module for essay under the guidance of Mr. MR Abhilash. His classes were very useful, not only for essay alone but for the whole examination.

Abhishek Gupta, Rank – 202, UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2015. I attempted as many question papers for Prelims as I could – Last 5-6 years QP, Insights QPs and those of few others coaching institutes in Delhi. All these were done in the simulated environment at home. Assessment of all questions was another key in helping me score 127/200 in GS-I.  I joined a coaching institute for Mains Test series – Synergy. I gave their tests regularly. At the same time, InsightsonIndia shared their schedule for offline tests. This was a big help as along with a friend, I wrote all their 32 tests for GS too, discussed them with a friend with different viewpoints and developed our writing skills and speed. The main mantra for Mains was ‘get average in all papers, to get an above average score overall’. It worked moderately though.