How to Prepare

Success Mantra

In the long run, it is your strength and inner confidence that will hold you in good stead. ALWAYS be... POSITIVE! Above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that YOU cannot fulfill YOUR dreams! Always think: I can do this! Normally aspirants, especially beginners, encounter a lot of self-doubts. Sometimes some of these doubts are based on reason but on many occasions it is just unfounded fear. It is of utmost importance to steer clear of such negative thoughts as one begins to prepare for this exam.

Self-confidence is 'sine qua non'

Many aspirants who jump into the fray with all confidence, fail to meet their own expectations because they hear too many 'noises' emanating from outside. Failure of friends or failure of a colleague, who they think was intelligent, completely de- motivates them. A bogey of negative thoughts begins to be created in their mind about the invincibility of the Civil Services exam. Slowly, they become the victims of their own fear. Both, their concentration and output, deteriorate. Instead of a virtuous cycle, they become a victim of a vicious cycle. One good way of coming out of this mindset is by thinking about your strengths. As mentioned earlier, if you have picked up your Optionals based on your own strength, there is no reason to fail just because others are failing. In the long run, it is your strength and inner confidence that will hold you in good stead. Nothing else matters.


Insufficiency Syndrome

Preparation for Civil Services exam is like living inside a pressure cooker. You can gauge this pressure from any dedicated aspirant. These pressures are of various kinds. The top-most pressure is preparation related. No matter how much you prepare, there will always be areas that would require revision and further consolidation. You could call this the 'insufficiency syndrome' which affects just about everybody. The insufficiency syndrome is independent of hours of work and number of years of preparation. The idea, however, is not to scare the aspirants but to prepare your mindset to tackle the insufficiency syndrome.

Just Now Syndrome

The 'just now syndrome' can be seen in aspirants' panic-ridden faces every time you meet them. They are either in need of some urgent accommodation, books, notes, friends, guide or just about anything. They feel that once this particular thing is obtained, their way to become IAS is cleared. They forget the fact that the thirst for what is 'vital for this exam' never ends. It keeps shifting from one object to another. More important, the things that they link with attainment of goals, many a time, have no bearing on performance. You would notice that such aspirants after having obtained the said item forget it very easily. The book they would require would be left unread for months together or dumped in need of some other very important book.

Follow your Mind Map
Intelligent vs Laborious
Urban vs Rural Background

Some time back India Today carried a cover story on the growing ruralization of the bureaucracy. India Today had sent a team to LBSNAA, Mussourie to collect the information. It does not require an Einstein's brain to see that the conclusion arrived at by the magazine was half-baked. It is true that candidates from the rural background were being selected but it would be native to assume that rural background is equal to rural aspirants. There is a big difference between aspirants belonging to the rural background and the rural aspirants.

It is a commonly known fact that a large percentage of aspirants belong to BIMARU states. But if you were to go deep into their antecedents, you would notice that they may have a rural background but they are in no way rural. Generally, those aspirants from BIMARU region compete successfully who have received good education mostly in English-medium convent schools and pursued their further studies in reputed engineering colleges or have moved to metros for further studies. Thus, the so-called rural background no longer remains rural. In fact, the aspirants never were rural in the first place. They speak good English and one cannot point out any difference between them and the so-called urban aspirants. There are very few aspirants who are actually from rural areas.

The above fact does not make aspirants from rural areas less competitive than others. But, it is suggested that aspirants living in rural areas should not derive any extra meaning from the so-called triumph of rural aspirants. As far as the examination pattern goes, there is nothing to suggest that aspirants hailing from the rural areas have some advantage over others. Everybody enjoys equal opportunity.

Hindi/Regional vs English Medium

There is a general belief that English medium aspirants score over Hindi/ Regional language aspirants. The lure of scoring extra motivates aspirants to abandon their medium of expression in favour of English or vice versa. It is advised to the aspirants to exercise restraint in this regard. In Civil Services exam, your concepts are tested. Good concepts can be built if you are trying to learn in the language in which you are comfortable. In the examination hall, there will be many occasions where you have to formulate your answer based on your previous knowledge. Essay is one subject, which is written with off hand experiences. During such times it is always better that you express yourself in the medium you know the best. Switching mediums just for unknown benefits will affect your performance. It is advisable not to make language an extra burden.

Aspirants of Hindi/Regional languages sometimes face constraints in other aspects such as books, periodicals, journals, guides, etc.

For example, there is no substitute to 'The Hindu' newspaper in either Hindi or in any of the regional languages. So the information which you collect from 'The Hindu' will have to be translated to your choice language, which is time consuming.

Moreover, many candidates choose Hindi/Regional language presuming that the answer papers will be corrected by their fellow comrades from their own state. This is never true. Papers are corrected by senior professors who are above these small parochial considerations. If you are looking for some undue advantage, UPSC is not the place to get that.

Yet, if you are not at all comfortable in English and all through your career, you studied in Hindi/Regional language, then go ahead with your choice of language. Please remember that such candidates will have to put in extra effort to catch up with the rest. That is why, if we look at the top 50 ranks, a very few candidates from the Hindi/Regional languages make it to these ranks. In the bottom ranks we find many candidates from other languages But please remember, our aim is not to get these bottom ranks.

Once Begun, Never Turn Back

This is the story about the tiny frogs...
There once was a bunch of tiny frogs,...
...who arranged a racing competition.
The goal was to reach the top of a very high tower. A big crowd had gathered around the tower to see the race and cheer the contestants...
The race began...
Honestly, No one in the crowd really believed that the tiny frogs would reach the top of the tower. Statements such as:
"Oh, WAY too difficult!!
They will NEVER make it to the top."
"Not a chance that they will succeed. The tower is too high!"
floated in the air.
The tiny frogs began collapsing.
One by one......
Except for those who in a fresh tempo were climbing higher and higher...
The crowd continued to yell.
"It is too difficult!!! No one will make it!"
More tiny frogs got tired and gave up... ...But ONE continued higher and higher and higher... This one wouldn't give up!
At the end everyone else had given up climbing the tower.
Except for the one tiny frog who, after a big effort, was the only one who reached the top!
Then all of the other tiny frogs naturally wanted to know how this one frog managed to do it.
A contestant asked the tiny frogs how the one who succeeded had found the strength to reach the goal?
It turned out...That the winner was DEAF!!!!
The moral of this story is: Never listen to other people's tendencies to be negative or pessimistic...
...cause they take your most wonderful dreams and wishes away from you. The ones you have in your heart!
Always think of the power words have.
Because everything you hear and read will affect your actions!
Therefore: ALWAYS be...

POSITIVE!

Above all: Be DEAF when people tell YOU that YOU cannot fulfill YOUR dreams!
Always think: I can do this!

UPSC Chief gives thoughtful tips to IAS aspirants

UPSC chairman D P Agrawal gave some thoughtful tips to the civil service aspirants.

The summary is give below...

• Respect your culture, society and language to learn about your country and equip yourself before aspiring for civil service jobs, UPSC Chairman DP Agrawal said.


• He was very critical about aspirants who have the habit of reading only one newspaper. "Read more newspapers, including regional language dailies, to get a more balanced approach towards issues and to get more informed," he advised.


• Avoid coaching centers was his advice. "Students, who have to be part of the universities, quit the universities for attending coaching centres but the coaching centres turn them into machines for mugging up things. One should study a subject in its depth," he said.


• He stressed on in depth knowledge saying, 70 per cent of science and engineering graduates who aspire for civil services prefer humanities as an optional subject. In that case, one has to go beyond peripheral knowledge to score high. One has to study in-depth about his or her village, district, state and country before accumulating knowledge about the world. You should first be interested in knowing more about the society you live," he said.


• He refuted the charge that the Commission was differentiating between languages. He said, 'maximum freedom is given to choose languages. The Commission supports all languages in the 8th Schedule. We are committed to respecting languages. The conclusion that we are against a particular language is not true,' the UPSC chairman said.


• Agrawal pointed out that irrespective of the language chosen for the main exam, there is an option to select any language for the interview. "There will be interpreters to translate. We take expert interpreters from Parliament. But one has to give clear answers. In case of interpreters making mistakes we will blacklist them," he said.


• Commenting further on interview, the chairman said, "it is not the judgment of one's expertise on a subject; however, if you don't know or remember what you have studied a few years back, it cannot be taken lightly." In the interview, normally, questions are simple. One has to speak from the heart with all honesty. However, candidates have a tendency to speak lies about even hobbies which will not do them any good. "So be yourself, face the exam and interview honestly. Only innate qualities will help you," he advised the civil service aspirants.

Speaking about the newly introduced paper of Ethics, the UPSC Chairman admitted that the paper was a little tough this year. However, all the questions were about Indian ethos. "If you don't know the country, the development scenario, you cannot mug up," he said.

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