Rao’s Academy for Competitive Exams (A unit of RACE) was established in April 2022 to primarily focus on preparing UPSC, MPPSC, APPSC & TGPSC aspirants to face the exceedingly challenging exam and emerge successfully.
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LIFE AS I KNOW IT, THOUGHTS - A YEAR LATER

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My district training in Delhi has finally wrapped up. The lack of any blog post for the last one year is testimony to how hectic and engrossing the work was. The experience of serving as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Najafgarh for a period of 14 weeks in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic will remain one of the most memorable stints for me. From handling the migrant crisis, enforcement of lockdown, ensuring supplies to the most needy, declaring and demarcating COVID-19 containment zones, contact tracing, dead body management….the list is long and endless and I can only say that the experience was truly enriching. I doubt if my probation period could have been any better- being bombarded with the unlikeliest scenarios and resolving them in the capacity of holding an independent charge did a great deal to my learning and growth than the rest of the probation period combined.

Some of my convictions have only solidified over the last one year. Penning them down here-

 

  1. No amount of knowledge will help if you lack confidence in yourself and in your abilities to execute a project.
  2. Practical considerations decide the effectiveness of any project, hence honing the practical side of one’s mind always helps. Emotions should guide one to an extent, but objectivity and rationality should remain the prime guiding values.
  3. Work is a huge part of one’s life, but having stable relationships with friends/ family always help one tide over the vagaries of stress and pressure that come as a part of the job. Cultivate your relationships.

I have been receiving messages from many aspirants about how to score high in the GS papers. I have shared my strategy on this blog and also on Mrunal in detail. Summarising the answers to a few often asked questions here:

 

  1. I hardly drew any diagrams or flowcharts in my answers. The format of my answers was para-point-para, depending on the need of the question. The only time I tried something different in my answers was using a SWOT table to analyse the union budget in GS3 exam.
  2. The whole point of Mains is to show to the examiner the breadth and depth of your knowledge in the smartest and most concise manner possible. This will come only through practice. No matter how much you study, if you are not able to finish those 20 questions on the D-Day, you will not achieve your optimal outcome. For this, the solution is simple: practice as many mock tests as you can. Ensure that you fill all sheets and attempt all questions in the given time of 3 hours. This must be your goal. Think fast, write faster. Train your mind so well that you start writing without wasting much time upon seeing a question.
  3. Improve your vocabulary and argumentative skills. For this, newspaper reading becomes important. Even though coaching material is a good substitute for newspaper content, it cannot fully help you argue/ think/ write in a logical and convincing manner. This skill comes after reading editorials. Answers that read smart and are backed with data, logic and reason will stand out, even if they lack diagrams and flowcharts.
  4. Think of your UPSC preparation period as an investment. Slog and work hard. Push yourself. Because trust me, the returns are actually pretty amazing. The IAS is a great platform to work and bring positive change. Here’s a video of my interview with NDTV- and this was only a small part of the overall work one can get to do! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reo3ZApyNoY

As I prepare for my online Phase 2, here’s wishing all of you the best of health and mental peace in these unusually tough times. Let’s hope 2020 gets better from here.