The Fall 🍁

Hello Chir Pines, Here is a presentation of how roughly my 90 days before prelims looked like. Although, I was not strictly able to follow everything with perfection, yet I completed most of the items in my to do list everyday. Wake up- 6 a.m. Meditation- Atom application- 10 minutes Own instrumental music/ some divine song based meditation- 10 minutes [Eg- Flute by Hariprasad Chaurasia] Read e-paper The Hindu newspaper by 7 a.m. Got ready by 7:30 Did Puja and read Shrimad Bhagvad Gita  Ate healthy breakfast and cursorily saw news on the TV till 8:00 a.m. Sat on my study table at 8:00 a.m. Mock 1- 8 to 10 [Sometimes till 10:30 but not later] Revised from 10:30 to 11:30 Short break Intensive Core Subject Revision Schedule 1- 12:00- 2:00 Lunch break Some personal work/ looked up for other work/ LinkedIn/ Application till 4:00 Intensive Core Subject Revision Schedule 2- 4:30- 6:30 Current affairs revision for an hour Dinner Intensive Subject Revision 3- 8:30 - 10:30 Sleep by 11/ 11:30...

Hello maples and baobabs, Note- In my personal opinion, covering the mains syllabus comprehensively first and then moving forward to prelims based revisions is a desirable strategy. However, this should not be noted as postponing current affairs studies towards the last end. A student aspiring to write this exam must make a conscious decision to give adequate balance of time to read current affairs, prepare for mains and also should be able to take out some personal time for themselves, to rejuvenate. Also, do keep in mind that my study period ranged to almost 3 years, hence my reading list may be very expansive. Kindly make your own choices of the study material. Limited and right source of reading material when revised and conceptually understood helps in the results.  PAPER -1  CURRENT EVENTS OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE Sources- Daily newspaper reading [The Hindu/ The Indian Express] I did not make separate notes from newspapers. Earlier, I followed DNS by Rau'...

Hello Sheeshams and teaks, I scored 190 in my personality test. My interview was conducted on 09 March 2023 in the evening slot. I was the second last candidate to go in.  The Interview I entered and found the room to be neatly arranged with Ma’am sitting at the centre with a huge table. The other 4 members- all male, were sitting on their own individual sofa chairs with a table. I had walked in beyond my chair while wishing the members. So instantly, with a feeling of regret, I apologised and also thanked, while occupying my chair as per the directions. Preeti Sudan maam- Please come Pratibha, the board is meant to make you feel comfortable. Please have a seat. Smt. Preeti Sudan Ma’am Pratibha, you did an internship at NHRC. Tell us about the internship and what did you learn there?  – I spoke about the one month internship in which graduate students from all over the country were selected. It was under the training department of NHRC. The nature of internship was educative s...

Hello chinars and deodars, Here are a few prelims pointers, I ensured I remember before walking into the exam hall- 1. Not referring to multiple prelims notes by various institutes in the last month/ week before the exam. Halting current affairs discussions. Continuing with normal routine- watching news, reading papers etc. 2. Feeling a sense of completion with respect to syllabus. 3. Being calm, aware, logical and ready for surprises in the paper.  4. Setting the approximate number of questions I thought I would attempt, given my mocks and negatives. (My range was 85-91) 5. Not giving in to the last minute pressure. I felt that in the last 10 -15 minutes of my prelims paper 1, I attempted more than said number of questions based on sheer luck and out of fear. Such miscalculations often resulted in higher number of negatives than positives.  6. Read EVERY line of the question properly along with ALL the options. I did not want to make mistakes in understanding the questions. I...