MOTIVATION PART 8,UPSC FINAL RESULT 2017
भाग्य ,मेहनत ,आशावाद का गजब मिश्रण….
A very inspiring story that how you have to be strong, even anything can happen on exam day,it all depends how you reactt about it………………………………..
Saumya Sharma, and I have secured AIR 9 in UPSC CSE 2017 in my very first attempt at the age of 23 (I was 22 when I wrote the exam). I formally started my UPSC preparation on 19 February 2017, four months before the prelims, when I was in my final semester at National Law University, Delhi. My optional was law, for which I started preparing only after writing prelims. I did not take any coaching, but I joined many many test series.
My success in this examination was not as breezy as the above paragraph may make it appear to be. During the mains examination week, I was down with viral fever. My fever was not subsiding below 102, at times touching 103. I was lucky enough to have doctors for parents who ensured I got saline drip infusion thrice a day, including in the lunch break between the papers. I remember almost blacking out during the GS2 paper, and I had to quickly eat a chocolate to get the energy required to continue writing my answers somehow. Another thing: When I was 16 years of age, I suddenly, and for causes that still remain undiagnosed, lost my hearing severely. It was extremely difficult in the initial years to cope up with the loss of one of my senses. Eventually, I accepted it and since then have been comfortable with wearing my hearing aids which allow me to hear properly.
I will be sharing my strategy for prelims today through this post. But before I do so, I want to share a few facts with you. This will ensure I do not end up misguiding anyone: (my humble apologies if this sounds like a tell-all, I just want to ensure no one gets the impression that it is easy to prepare from scratch in that short of a time)
I have been reading newspapers since I learned to read at the age of 3. So reading multiple newspapers for this exam came naturally to me.
I believe I had a strong base for GS papers. Reason being when I started studying history and geography, I could recall having studied all that in school.
Preparing for optional post prelims was easy for me as I had studied law sincerely for over 5 years in my university. If not for my University education, the expansive syllabus of law optional could not have been covered in about 1.5 months.
My graduation in law skilled me with reading everything very thoroughly. This helped immensely with prelims, as extremely specific questions are asked in prelims.
I have a decent reading speed. This helped as I did not have a lot of time with me.
I had cracked campus placement interviews, and that helped me a lot with my UPSC interview.
Now that my position when I started preparing is clear, I will tell you about my prelims strategy.
For General Studies, I started by studying all the standard textbooks-
Ancient History: Old NCERT by RS Sharma, New NCERTs
Medieval History: 7th class NCERT, selected chapters from Old NCERT
Modern History: Spectrum, Old NCERT by Bipan Chandra, India After Gandhi (had read the last one years ago)
Art and Culture: CCRT, NCERT 11th class book on Art, NIOS
Geography: Goh Cheh Leong, NCERTs, Oxford India Atlas
Polity: Laxmikant, DD Basu (selected chapters), Our Parliament (selected chapters)
Environment: Shankar’s; Down to Earth magazine
Economy: Mrunal’s videos, Sriram IAS material
Science and Tech: Arihant
Current Affairs: The Hindu, Insights Daily Current Affairs, Vision monthly magazine
First I covered the static part by reading the books, making my own notes where necessary. Once that was done, I joined Insights Online Test Series. I started giving tests on a biweekly basis. The test series is actually really good, the questions are very similar in their nature to the ones asked in UPSC exam. One should make full use of the test series, read the solutions properly. Don’t hesitate to google something you feel you have not fully understood. Most importantly, revise. Revision is an extremely important part of the preparation, otherwise inside the exam hall your mind will just go blank. I used highlighters of different colours to mark out things depending on the level of revision required for them.
Now, CSAT. Please do not take CSAT lightly. My father helped me a lot with CSAT preparation. My advice would be to buy CSAT books meant for SSC or BANK PO examinations. I did that, and it did help as questions in UPSC were very similar to the ones I had solved from these books.
Time management is most important. My approach was to focus on one subject at a time and move on the next only after I was sure about the first one. This allowed me to set targets to finish subjects, and that gave me a lot of control over my preparation. Another thing, time management is also very important in the examination hall. To master that, you need to give multiple tests in a controlled environment. Insights online test series allows you to do that, so solve those tests sincerely.
Lastly, never stop believing in yourself. The only obstacle is a negative attitude. Remain positive, remain honest with yourself and your preparation. Take out time to do things you love, but never forget the target before you. Every second matters, so go ahead, seize the moment! Wish you all beautiful people all the very best in your endeavours!
FROM ;HER BLOG
Are human endeavours really limitless? UPSC Mains 2017: My Experience
December 5, 2017
Saumya Sharma
“I am still an optimist, but an optimist standing on the top of a hill with a nasty storm blowing in my face, hanging on to a fence.”
Most of my friends and family members describe me as an unwavering optimist. I concur with them. Not more than a month ago, while writing my UPSC Mains 2017 examination, my optimism was tested in the toughest manner possible.
I fell violently sick after having spent months preparing for the ‘mother-of-all-examinations’. First, my right arm suffered a muscle spasm, the pain of which extended all the way from my neck to my wrist. I was unable to even write with a pen. All types of painkillers were taken, yet nothing worked. I was given physiotherapy– electric shock treatment and hot paraffin masks. Luckily, the night before my essay examination I took one of the most potent painkillers and my pain subsided.
Just as my pain subsided, my body started turning feverish. I slept for barely 3 hours in the night, went to write my essay exam, and by the time I reached home, I had 102 degrees fever. All my plans for revising for the GS papers came to a naught. I was struggling in my bed, unable to get up. I was given IV drips as my fever climbed to 104 degrees. Everyone in my family feared if I will be able to get up in the morning and write my exams, but somehow, I went and wrote the exams.
In between the GS papers i.e. during the lunch break, I was given IV drip in my car- an experience which was extremely uncomfortable. The exhaustion along with the fever led me to almost faint while writing my GS2 exam. Dairy milk came to the rescue- I had to eat a whole bar quickly to get some energy and continue writing the exam somehow. All my exams went in this manner- I was unable to revise properly, unable to write properly. Strangely enough, my fever subsided the evening Mains 2017 ended.
This experience made me question- are human endeavours really limitless? I had put in everything I had to prepare for the exams, yet when the it was my turn to perform, my own body turned against me. The feeling of powerlessness over your own body just cannot be described. It is challenged my optimism, but I hanged on to whatever strength I had in me. Perhaps if not for my efforts over the previous months, I would not have been able to write anything in the exam. But, despite all my efforts, I could not perform the way I wanted to.
My lesson from my painful experience was that our efforts can only help us to a certain extent in realising our goals. The rest depends on the right timing and the right circumstances- which by large we cannot control. While estimating our capabilities, one must never forget how small we actually are in the cosmic order of the universe. Our insignificance compared to the rest of the universe inherently limits our endeavours. And in these circumstances, being optimistic always helps.
भाग्य ,मेहनत ,आशावाद का गजब मिश्रण….
A very inspiring story that how you have to be strong, even anything can happen on exam day,it all depends how you reactt about it………………………………..
Saumya Sharma, and I have secured AIR 9 in UPSC CSE 2017 in my very first attempt at the age of 23 (I was 22 when I wrote the exam). I formally started my UPSC preparation on 19 February 2017, four months before the prelims, when I was in my final semester at National Law University, Delhi. My optional was law, for which I started preparing only after writing prelims. I did not take any coaching, but I joined many many test series.
My success in this examination was not as breezy as the above paragraph may make it appear to be. During the mains examination week, I was down with viral fever. My fever was not subsiding below 102, at times touching 103. I was lucky enough to have doctors for parents who ensured I got saline drip infusion thrice a day, including in the lunch break between the papers. I remember almost blacking out during the GS2 paper, and I had to quickly eat a chocolate to get the energy required to continue writing my answers somehow. Another thing: When I was 16 years of age, I suddenly, and for causes that still remain undiagnosed, lost my hearing severely. It was extremely difficult in the initial years to cope up with the loss of one of my senses. Eventually, I accepted it and since then have been comfortable with wearing my hearing aids which allow me to hear properly.
I will be sharing my strategy for prelims today through this post. But before I do so, I want to share a few facts with you. This will ensure I do not end up misguiding anyone: (my humble apologies if this sounds like a tell-all, I just want to ensure no one gets the impression that it is easy to prepare from scratch in that short of a time)
I have been reading newspapers since I learned to read at the age of 3. So reading multiple newspapers for this exam came naturally to me.
I believe I had a strong base for GS papers. Reason being when I started studying history and geography, I could recall having studied all that in school.
Preparing for optional post prelims was easy for me as I had studied law sincerely for over 5 years in my university. If not for my University education, the expansive syllabus of law optional could not have been covered in about 1.5 months.
My graduation in law skilled me with reading everything very thoroughly. This helped immensely with prelims, as extremely specific questions are asked in prelims.
I have a decent reading speed. This helped as I did not have a lot of time with me.
I had cracked campus placement interviews, and that helped me a lot with my UPSC interview.
Now that my position when I started preparing is clear, I will tell you about my prelims strategy.
For General Studies, I started by studying all the standard textbooks-
Ancient History: Old NCERT by RS Sharma, New NCERTs
Medieval History: 7th class NCERT, selected chapters from Old NCERT
Modern History: Spectrum, Old NCERT by Bipan Chandra, India After Gandhi (had read the last one years ago)
Art and Culture: CCRT, NCERT 11th class book on Art, NIOS
Geography: Goh Cheh Leong, NCERTs, Oxford India Atlas
Polity: Laxmikant, DD Basu (selected chapters), Our Parliament (selected chapters)
Environment: Shankar’s; Down to Earth magazine
Economy: Mrunal’s videos, Sriram IAS material
Science and Tech: Arihant
Current Affairs: The Hindu, Insights Daily Current Affairs, Vision monthly magazine
First I covered the static part by reading the books, making my own notes where necessary. Once that was done, I joined Insights Online Test Series. I started giving tests on a biweekly basis. The test series is actually really good, the questions are very similar in their nature to the ones asked in UPSC exam. One should make full use of the test series, read the solutions properly. Don’t hesitate to google something you feel you have not fully understood. Most importantly, revise. Revision is an extremely important part of the preparation, otherwise inside the exam hall your mind will just go blank. I used highlighters of different colours to mark out things depending on the level of revision required for them.
Now, CSAT. Please do not take CSAT lightly. My father helped me a lot with CSAT preparation. My advice would be to buy CSAT books meant for SSC or BANK PO examinations. I did that, and it did help as questions in UPSC were very similar to the ones I had solved from these books.
Time management is most important. My approach was to focus on one subject at a time and move on the next only after I was sure about the first one. This allowed me to set targets to finish subjects, and that gave me a lot of control over my preparation. Another thing, time management is also very important in the examination hall. To master that, you need to give multiple tests in a controlled environment. Insights online test series allows you to do that, so solve those tests sincerely.
Lastly, never stop believing in yourself. The only obstacle is a negative attitude. Remain positive, remain honest with yourself and your preparation. Take out time to do things you love, but never forget the target before you. Every second matters, so go ahead, seize the moment! Wish you all beautiful people all the very best in your endeavours!
FROM ;HER BLOG
Are human endeavours really limitless? UPSC Mains 2017: My Experience
December 5, 2017
Saumya Sharma
“I am still an optimist, but an optimist standing on the top of a hill with a nasty storm blowing in my face, hanging on to a fence.”
Most of my friends and family members describe me as an unwavering optimist. I concur with them. Not more than a month ago, while writing my UPSC Mains 2017 examination, my optimism was tested in the toughest manner possible.
I fell violently sick after having spent months preparing for the ‘mother-of-all-examinations’. First, my right arm suffered a muscle spasm, the pain of which extended all the way from my neck to my wrist. I was unable to even write with a pen. All types of painkillers were taken, yet nothing worked. I was given physiotherapy– electric shock treatment and hot paraffin masks. Luckily, the night before my essay examination I took one of the most potent painkillers and my pain subsided.
Just as my pain subsided, my body started turning feverish. I slept for barely 3 hours in the night, went to write my essay exam, and by the time I reached home, I had 102 degrees fever. All my plans for revising for the GS papers came to a naught. I was struggling in my bed, unable to get up. I was given IV drips as my fever climbed to 104 degrees. Everyone in my family feared if I will be able to get up in the morning and write my exams, but somehow, I went and wrote the exams.
In between the GS papers i.e. during the lunch break, I was given IV drip in my car- an experience which was extremely uncomfortable. The exhaustion along with the fever led me to almost faint while writing my GS2 exam. Dairy milk came to the rescue- I had to eat a whole bar quickly to get some energy and continue writing the exam somehow. All my exams went in this manner- I was unable to revise properly, unable to write properly. Strangely enough, my fever subsided the evening Mains 2017 ended.
This experience made me question- are human endeavours really limitless? I had put in everything I had to prepare for the exams, yet when the it was my turn to perform, my own body turned against me. The feeling of powerlessness over your own body just cannot be described. It is challenged my optimism, but I hanged on to whatever strength I had in me. Perhaps if not for my efforts over the previous months, I would not have been able to write anything in the exam. But, despite all my efforts, I could not perform the way I wanted to.
My lesson from my painful experience was that our efforts can only help us to a certain extent in realising our goals. The rest depends on the right timing and the right circumstances- which by large we cannot control. While estimating our capabilities, one must never forget how small we actually are in the cosmic order of the universe. Our insignificance compared to the rest of the universe inherently limits our endeavours. And in these circumstances, being optimistic always helps.
