The World’s most Unique exam.

 

PART 1

Serving society has always been a matter of pride and respect. People in the course of time have found different ways to do so as per their reach and capabilities. Serving our country could never be of a second thought and that too when young and energetic citizens of our nation hear the word “UPSC”.

It’s true that the Civil Services has found its way deep into the administrative blocks of every corner of the nation with its ever appreciated boldness and courage in fighting for the truth at every step possible. Students and youngsters do get attracted as the trends show that in recent years every graduate has in mind to at least give a try in the UPSC. For those who wish to start, for those who have started to prepare and for those who are repeating the attempts – there are lots of things to know before the rise of the next day…  NOW IS BETTER THAN NEVER…

First of all for those who aspire to be civil servants I wish them not to mention this exam as UPSC, it may be linked right but the exam has its name and as an aspirant u need to be specific about it. Call it the “Civil Services Exam” or as the modern shorthand era, call it “CSE”.

CSE has been accredited as the world’s toughest exam and a very unique of its kind. U may know the first fact but the latter is what I wish to bring into the light to all. UPSC is the Central Recruiting Agency which has been constituted by the Government of India under Part XIV of the Constitution. It has been named with several others since its start from 1926. UPSC conducts much of the Central Government administrative jobs every year and CSE stands one of them. CSE has 24 services with Indian Administrative Services, Indian Foreign Services, and Indian Police Services being some of the highly opted ones.

Why I call the CSE exam one of the unique?

I realized that any citizen willing to serve a nation with pride undergoes lots of training and buildup of strength either it may be army, a special agent, a police officer or any of the defense services. They all get to know the security, the goals, the work and the duties by vigorous training and exercises. The difference between these services and CSE is they are trained before selections and in the latter u train yourself, u buildup your strengths yourself and you create your own identity before selections. The CSE intends to select the ones who resist and sustain the harsh conditions by themselves and without anybody’s support. That is what a country like INDIA specially wants in its administrators. I hope everyone agrees with me.

Now see the numbers,

18 lakhs

9 lakhs

15,000

3000

Around 1000

 

What do u recognize when u see these numbers?

These numbers show the order of competition in every level of the CSE game. 18 lakh students apply, 9-10 lakhs students attend prelims, 15,000 get selected for Mains and 3000 get selected for the Personal Test. Only around 1000 candidates get assigned with the posts after a year of training in the different academies, LBSNAA being the dream of most of the aspirants as the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration trains the selected IAS officers.

These numbers are never meant to degrade the aspirant or create a tension in their minds. I believe and I need every single aspirant to believe that these numbers are meant to show you that if you are truly committed to what CSE wants, then you will surely be in those 1000 candidates at any time u wish.

So what CSE wants from us?

I believe that CSE has never been to judge your IQ or your performance in exams. It has always been to bring out the best of the best candidates in administering the country. So, the first thing for every one of us is never to worry about syllabus. There is a very ideological statement about CSE, they say “Everything under the sun”, yeah it’s true that they want you to know everything under the sun and not just the books. So if they want you to know everything then why syllabus?

When I see the syllabus every time, I don’t see them as the criteria for the selections rather I feel they are the components under which a Civil Servant needs to work. Study them carefully, you will start to find out that every single topic in that page is related and linked with how an officer needs to administer his role when assigned as with a badge. Isn’t it not?

 So here is the first place where we need to train ourselves first. “Our Mindset” – it’s the place where you need to feed it with positivity, strength, and food for belief and the hope for future. So why all these?

Because being a civil servant can never be at the first chance for everyone, only 1000 or at least a few among them can get that place. So if we want to be there, we need to work, work and wait. The patience that you’ll show at all these stages yields you well. It is the key to control yourself when you are upset about your results.

In this modern era of digital networking and 5^th Generation speeds we tend to loose grip of our best friend called “The Patience”. U and I have experienced it and we all need to agree it. What I have understood by the selected candidates and their interviews is that, every single one of them have knowingly or unknowingly practiced Patience, the Stability and the Calmness in mind as a responsible person….

Part 2

Once you have enough patience, which u will never if u increase your dopamine levels but could try using a technique called “Dopamine Detox” which really helps you to slow down your excitements and keeps you steady and calm, and then you could start with what I call as “Sharpening your Axe”.

Every exam needs practice of syllabus, but this exam needs practice of your skills before you put it to try. So you need to work on every single aspects like,

·         Why UPSC for me, what I should do?

·         What’s the syllabus all about and what’s the strategy?

·         How to read newspapers, how to make notes of it?

·         How to analyze textbooks and NCERTs?

·         Previous year question papers.

·         Interviews of Toppers.

·         Timetables, time management etc. etc. etc….

There are still lots of minute things which need to be clarified before you step into the syllabus part of your studies.  Keeping basement strong can help you build your top building at any time and at ease. Stop worrying about syllabus; I feel as you start going through all these points you will automatically step into the syllabus part.

We often start saying like, “I will give a try. I would try next year”. I feel these words are disastrous to our mindset as they would not build the confidence and the strength in us. If not so particular its better you never say anything about it. But CSE is not something you can give a try and say u have something. So be sure while attempting and there is no mistake in failing the first attempt. That’s what many fear while talking to peer groups or their friends.

One of the UPSE selected candidate said, “If I had failed to crack the exam this time it would have been my last attempt but still I would be satisfied because of the journey I have gone through”. It’s because we learn a lot about the world and we start to recognize the world as an entity rather as an illusion. We start to feel responsible for every single activity going around us. Even if we fail to be a civil servant selected by Government of India, we would at least be the responsible citizen with our own unique way to live in this society.

Hard work pays off – this is true always. Hard work keeps you in track and smart work inspires you to do more and more. We need to start with newspapers daily, that’s what we are always told, right? So what do the newspapers mean to an aspirant and how can it keep you in track?

Newspapers are surely the hub of worldwide data which many a times is verified and edited. So every single day is filled with different new topics, new terms and new theories. We are said to make notes of it so would I sit down and jot everything from the newspaper directly into a book which I would never open again for at least a year?

No, I feel there is a way to read newspapers where you need to first go through previous years question papers. Why?

Previous year question papers are the key to understanding the examiner and his way of testing us, its like mastermind of “Money Heist” – The Professor. We all need to be the Professor here for the coming days. Why? Because once you analyze the topics by separating the subjects then you would know the range of questions that could be asked. What if u won’t see PYQ papers before reading newspapers?

Then you would end up in wasting time reading Indian politics which is always a deeper one to mend with, you would also end up in spending hours of time in editorials even without understanding why you are reading it. So now when you come back to newspapers you can use pointer or pen to just highlight the necessary words or terms for prelims or you could note down some good phrases which would come handy in mains preparation.

Once you have passed second stage then we are struck with the stage which I call, “The Bare Truth”.

There are thousands of myths, thoughts, negativities, badly built proverbs, nonsense ideas, unscientific triggers which all are a hindrance to your full potentiality in realizing your goals. So now once you have figured out the entire syllabus, the basics of basics part which is “Learning how to learn”, then you can start understanding the true posture of the exam where you need to teach yourself of not indulging in wrong myths.

A few I feel true are –

·         There is nothing called as separate Mains Preparation. I feel Prelims is a byproduct of mains preparations.

·         No compulsion of coaching if you are well aware of what is to be studied and how.

·         The exam is simple if u feel it is – be smart in analyzing the exam and show hard work in practicing it. Have the passion or create one, so that you will smile and cheer every time you read a new thing.

·         Connect, compare, reconnect, compile, execute - these should be in mind while making notes as these come handy. Believe me when I say handy coz your brain gets tricked in easily remembering what you don’t like to remember at all.

·         Questions are never framed out of government source, so use government sources as much as possible like NCERTs, Yojana, Kurukshetra, India Year Book by GOI, All India Radio, and Press Information Bureau.

So these are few points we always need to keep in mind. Once you start on your own you will be notified with new ways, new techniques which you can apply to yourself as time passes but what I have given is a few which everyone needs to believe by heart.

Summary till now:

·         “The Patience”

·         “Sharpening the axes”

·         “The Bare Truth”

Note: I being the author of this blog have always dreamt of simplifying the CSE into bits of chunks that are digestible to everyone. It may not only mean to clear the exam but also to understand how and where we stand as a responsible citizen in this society. This society needs us; it needs you to work for its build and development. So we would always like to build a community of students, young or old but with a concept of “No one above none”. We would love to align with like-minded students and friends for better preparations apart from Coaching and Tutors in coaching centers.

So if anyone would be willing to talk, share or be a part of the good will community of learners, they are always welcomed.

Contact : abhihirewodeyar98@gmail.com

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