Hi Guys,

Hope you all are doing wonderful. Promised as in my last write-up, I am here to share my booklist with you for the prelims that I followed during my preparation.

I started my preparation for exams in Jan 2017 when prelims was just 5.5 months away. So there was lot of ambiguity regarding what to pick and what to leave, thanks to the plethora of resources available in the market. I decided to keep it simple and stayed away from books/resources that provided me low benefits at the cost of high time investment.

Certain tips from my own preparation strategy are:

1. Choose a single source for a single subject. Supplement it with online videos wherever required.
2. Revise atleast 4-5 times before sitting in final exam.
3. Attempt MCQs on a regular basis and try to understand that the same topic can be asked by examiner in myriad ways in paper.
4. Must give mock tests for they account a major part of your preparation.
5. Mere attempting of mock won’t do. Revise the solutions. In my case, I used to make notes of all the new questions in a word document. Before prelims, I revised those pages and was feeling confident of having prepared in a comprehensive manner.

The booklist as per syllabus is as follows:

1. Current events of national and international importance-

• The Hindu Newspaper
• PIB Reports
• Monthly Magazines- Vision IAS/ Vajiram
• Referred Google for certain selected topics

2. History of India and Indian National Movement

• Art and Culture– Nitin Singhania Notes, Referred Google for certain specific topics. CCRT for some topics as well
• Medieval History– I did not cover medieval history from any source, rather covered all the points from mock tests.
• Modern History– Spectrum, A Brief History of Modern India by Rajiv Ahir

3. India and the world Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World

• Indian Geography– Class XI and XII NCERT
• World Geography– G C Leong
• Maps– Oxford/ Atlas

4. Indian Polity and Governance- Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Right Issue etc

• Indian Polity– M. Lakshmikant
• Governance and others– Government Schemes and current affairs

5. Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives etc

• Economics– I had Commerce background, so this was not much challenge for me.
• Class XI NCERT– India Economic Developments (I found it to be very basic)
• Book by Ramesh Singh (It was way too comprehensive)

So I stuck to current happenings and newspapers, For other topics, newspapers and           current affairs.

6. General Issues on Environment Ecology, Biodiversity and Climate Change

• Environment – Shankar IAS Green book ( Very selectively)
• Covered Current Affairs with special focus on The Hindu coverage of news. 

Paper 2: CSAT– Just did past 2-3 years papers. No specific preparation.

 

Apart from this, I made separate notes of certain topics that were being repeatedly asked in mock tests or past papers. They were (among others):

1. Various associations related to environment and their foundation dates
2. Various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries (along with rivers etc flowing through them)
3. Various committees formed along with their purpose.
4. Themes of various international days
5. Mnemonics of Viceroys etc in chronological order
6. Mnemonics for constitutional articles ( Important ones)
7. World Heritage Sites
8. Various reports released by domestic/international authorities (E.g- World Happiness Report)

I was able to score well in the mock tests, so I was certain that I was following the right strategy.

Hope it is helpful to the aspirants ! Feel free to ask any questions.

Hi Friends,

Let me start with my story. I started preparing in the beginning of Jan 2017 and I was absolutely oblivious to the preparation startegy. I did not go for any coaching, did not have senior friends who had cleared and no one to guide. All those fallacies around Civils made me even more anxious and rattled.

So, There I stood with three issues:

1. No coaching and guidance
2. Paucity of time (Less than 6 months into prelims)
3. I was appearing for first time, and myth goes that this exam can not be cracked in first attempt itself (Or It can be? )

I was clear in my mind that I won’t go for numerous sources due to time crunch. So I made it a point to watch the videos of 15-20 toppers and compiled a list of the common sources that everyone of them had used/suggested.

When I was finally done with compilation, One thing was very clear to me. The preparation strategy of every person is unique but 80% of sources remain same. I would be delighted to share those sources with you.

So, there I started with all I had. All the time and energy I had, I put into my dream of becoming a civil servant. When you put your blood and every breathing moment into something, there is no doubt that you will come out as a winner.

I dedicatedly prepared for prelims for the next 2-3 months. I read the Hindu daily and tried to attempt maximum questions before the exam.

The major benefit of giving mock tests is to assess how many accurate answers/guesses you’re making which helps you during the final examination. Revise the answer keys of mocks. In my case, I used to make notes on a word document after every mock test in bullet points. When I had given all the mocks, I had good 10 pages notes with the summary of all the mock tests of different institutes in it which helped me a lot in last week before examination.

For CSAT paper, I did not prepare separately. I attempted past 2 year question paper and scored fine in them.

For certain topics, I referred google. And had made separate notes for these areas, among others.

1. Mnemonics for constitutional articles ( Important ones)
2. Committees formed for different purposes by Government
3. World Heritage Sites
4. National Parks/Wildlife Sanctuaries , rivers flowing through them
5. Various reports released by domestic/international authorities (E.g- World Happiness Report)

Trust me, it is not impossible to achieve the positive result in first go. All you need is a well devised preparation strategy.

Plan in advance and work on it with utmost conviction.

Don’t let negative energies come your way. Have faith in yourself. Your self confidence and persistence is what would help you to sail through this exam with flying colours.

If I can do it, you can also do it.

I have shared certain myths related to UPSC in my previous post and shall be sharing my booklist in the next one.

Should you have any queries, feel free to ask !

I am Shivani Gupta from Kurukshetra, Haryana. I am a Chartered Accountant by profession.

When I was pursuing Chartered Accountancy, I thought I would be very happy in a decent job,a stable earning with a good work life balance. Post qualification, I got such a job that gave me a handsome package with 9 AM to 6 PM working hours. But the question was, Was I happy there? I think No.

I was utterly upset and depressed. I did not know what more to do with life. Life was monotonous with no charm and motivation to do something different. It had little passion. Everything was dim and had lost spark.

I think we all go through such phase in our lives, when we are torn apart, we introspect and try to search for certain answers within us. I was at such a stage in my life.

Then I decided to take a break. To take a step towards the civil services. To do something that motivated me, that ignited within me a fire to do something for society, for nation and for my people.

I took break from my office for 6 months, and sat down to study. But Was it that easy? In all my memory, No.! It was not easy. It was hard. I had taken a decision, which might have resulted in success or could have thrown me to such lows which would have made any recoveries impossible.

I gave my 100% to this path, to my preparations. Definitely, I have had my share of frustrations, insecurity, doubts.

“What If I am not able to clear, Will I be one of those untold stories of failures”

“What if my strategy failed, would I be able to give one more attempt”

Amidst so many doubts, anxieties, I kept my preparation going.

But I think destiny had it for me. 27 April 2018. The result was announced.

I cleared. AIR 121. That was it. All the hard work paid off. All those months of grilling, toils, they all paid off.

Life is not always unfair to you after all.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton