How I cracked UPSC CSE with the rank of 150 after a gap of 5 years with a full time job

, and with the responsibil-

In 2016, I cleared the Indian Forest Service exam with AIR 21 and joined the 2017 batch.I finished my training and
was posted at my home cadre [Link] working in Pathankot as Deputy DFO for a year and a half , I was posted
as Regional Manager in Punjab State Forest Developmemt Corporation. Meanwhile I got married and I also have a
daughter who is 20 months old now.
In Pathankot , I got the opportunity to work as a nodal officer for migrant movement in Shramik trains . After having
seen the work of administration and police closely, I felt like taking the exam again to serve the society more holist-
ically. I spoke with my wife about taking the exam again and she fully supported me in this process which lasted for
almost a year.
I had to change my optional because in 2016 I had Maths as my optional and I could never score well in Maths des-
pite it being my post graduation subject in BITS Pilani. I thought that I should take a subject that I have a deep in-
terest in. Sociology is essentially about the society we live in and its characteristics. In limited time , I picked out the
right strategy and managed to score 286 in my optional( one of the highest marks in Paper 1 (161)) with limited and
content-rich resources.

HERE’S HOW I CLEARED THE EXAM THAT WOULD PROBABLY HELP ALL THE WORKING ASPIR-
ANTS

1) Find out time within your job where you can study

Luckily for me , in my present posting I was relatively free as compared to a job of a DFO , so i could take out 3
hours from 9 am -5 pm also apart from the non-working hours.
I would solve prelims questions between the time I dictated notes to the staff and the final printed draft . I would
(thanks to COVID ( a blessing in disguise) ) hold/attend meeting online or over the conference call. I used to have
lunch in the office itself and during holidays and weekends I used to devote 14 hours a day.
But for working aspirants who cannot take out time it is advisable to take leave for atleast 1-2 months ,both before
prelims and mains.

2) Controlling emotions and being optimistic when things go out of your hands

Having a positive attitude and emotional intelligence are the key elements that are needed in this journey.
I was diagnosed with dengue and chikangunya one after the other during mains and my entire strategy failed. How-
ever I didn’t not give up . I used to give positive affirmations to myself every now and then that I ll only focus on
things that are in my control and leave the rest to God .If it has to happen it will happen .
I reworked my strategy for the remaining time and made sure I finished the most important things before writing the
final exam

3) Delayed gratification without compromising on prime duties

I never missed any vaccination or health check-ups for my daughter .I never missed taking her monthly photos on
varied themes.I never avoided any work related meetings or field visits that were crucial. My parents suffered from
corona back at home but I called them here at Bathinda and took complete care of them. These are the things I
coudn’t ignore.
The things that i ignored were social media accounts , minimising office parties and friendly get-togethers .As a
couple we coudn’t spend the quality time by going on dates as frequently as we used to earlier . I deliberately
avoided meeting new people or made new friends as I was sure that I wanted to clear the exam without any distrac-
tion. My wife’s role in supporting my journey is commendable .My parents were always there with me during my
exams .My mother in law took care of our daughter for most of the time . My brother in law ( who is also preparing
for civil services) gave me all the notes and taught me all important topics .
So whatever free time I had I used to spend with my family and my duties .

4) Reverse engineering really helps

Before starting off any topic,referring to its previous year questions(PYQs) is really important. For sociology I pre-
pared notes as per the trends of questions asked so far . For prelims I solved more than 10000 questions and then re-
vised my static part . Having a problem solving approach to studies ,helps you narrow down the scope of what is to
be studied. It should be a step wise approach .First see the PYQs to get an idea of the syllabus .Then move towards
basic reading ,then again start with questions from test series and revise and update your already existing notes. It
saves time and gives you a rich content available to write in mains .

5) Revision is of utmost importance

It is almost impossible to retain so much without at least revising it 2-3 times .The revision has to be systematic. No
matter how one makes notes ( online/offline) ,while revising one needs to have a pen and a paper to jot down im-
portant keywords and stats and create mnemonics or stories out of it . Over time one will be able to retain a lot by
multiple revisions and rough scribbling.
6) Writing tests for mains irrespective of how much one has prepared is a must

Writing practice is a skill set that needs to be developed. One cannot just learn how to swim by reading about
it .Writing answers is like that . Even if one has not completed the syllabus ( the syllabus is endless and will never be
complete) one should write the test in a stipulated time .Not even a second extra!
It improves your writing skill and gives an idea of how to approach the answer holistically and new ideas come up at
the spot during the final exam
For instance there was a question on reverse migration during corona in my sociology paper.
Generally one thinks of reverse migration in terms of people moving from urban areas to rural area only
but I also added sociological insights on urban to urban migration which strengthened the joint family.
Also I added reverse migration from outside India and its dimensions . I had not prepared those topics but I could
write properly about them .When we practice writing tests in time we can think of many angles at the spot and it is
a skill that needs to be nurtured.

7) Don’t neglect interviews at any cost

I personally believe interviews are harder to crack than the mains exam. One has to prepare a lot and develop bal-
anced perspectives .One cannot fake during interviews and that confidence comes only after intense preparation .
Mock interviews of respectable panel members must definitely be taken in offline mode.

My sociology strategy
Started preparing for it in January 2021 as it was a new optional for me . I have scored 286 marks and 161 in Paper 1
which is one of the highest score.
Study material
1) Sleepy classes free and paid content
2) IAS gurukul test series and answer writing programme and current affairs booklet
3)Nitin Sangwan sir’s book Essential Sociology
3)Neha Bhosle mam’s test papers
4) Vision solved test papers of previous years
5) Selected reading from IGNOU/Harlambos/Ritzer /youtube videos of foreign authors for topics I coudn’t find in
the above sources

1st 2-3 months ( 3-4 hours a day)

I went through PYQs and got an idea of the questions asked . Then I watched all sleepy classes videos (free) and
Nitin sir’s book and combined notes from both the sources

Next 3 months
Later I started writing answers and compared with Neha Mam’s papers and updated my notes. I also updated my
notes from previous years vision sociology solved test papers that I took from a friend.
Also I made notes for topics not covered from various internet sources
Next 3 months I didn’t read anything related to sociology and devoted my time and energy for prelims

After Prelims I joined the test series and daily answer programme of IAS gurukul and gave about 7-8 tests .The
feedback I got really helped me improve my marks . Also the model answers given by them were top-notch which
helped me in updating my notes with repect to current affairs and sociological insights.
I referred to their current affairs sociology magazine selectively to get names of the authors in the contemporary
times .
In the final stage of revision I made short and crisp notes of the final content I had and revised it 2 times .One till
December end and once during the 5 day break .

I made rough notes on thinkers and their basic ideas to memorise them every now and then . Learning thinkers is not
as difficult as it seems . You will remember them with multiple revisions and will be able to produce them on the D-
day

Also don’t be afraid of writing tests irrespective of your preparation . One never knows their true potential unless
they practise writing.

It was a simple but effective strategy .I didn’t compare my journey with anyone else and with a positive mindset and
faith in one’s own strategy (that needs to be worked upon as one moves forward) I could score well .

My notes are there on my telegram channel and all other queries are being taken up there itself.

Prelims strategy
I was always able to score well in prelims .In 2016 I scored 150 and even in this attempt despite having less time I
was able to score 103. I think what worked for me ,inter-alia, was the number of questions I solved before Prelims .I
solved about 10000 questions from various sources .By solving questions one develops the skill of elimination and
logical guess work .One tends to remember more if one commits a mistake in the tests .

Also the mind works faster and more effective with problem solving approach . After taking tests , we tend to read
more carefully the topics that we read .
Along with that revision of whatever you have read is important because you might just forget it completely. Revis-
ing 2-3 times should be a part of your strategy .Making rough notes of keywords on charts/papers/flashnotes will
help you retain more and will come handy in mains as well

Study material for prelims

1) Polity -Lakshmikant and selective reading from ncert ( definitions based questions)
2) Economy - Mrunal
3) Geography - Rajnatil videos (mrunal) +NCERT 11 and 12 and Amit sengupta/other youtube videos for maps
4) History and culture
Modern -spectrum
ancient and Medevial: Chetan Bharat Learning notes
5)Environment: Shankar for basic idea
Websites and wikipedia for organisations
national parks/ramsar sites /tiger reserves etc : Indian Geography throuh maps ( Ashish Bharti IPS)
6)Current affairs
vision 365 / insightsonindia/ ias baba and their free programmes and compilations
7) science and tech - Chetan Bharat learning notes + free youtube videos from study IQ/unacademy

Apart from the above one needs to spend time on solving PYQs and test papers .I used vision test papers,ias baba,
insightsonindia ,gsscore, raus (open tests) rigourously.

GS4
Read Decode ethics by Mudit Jain twice
Bought solved test papers of last year of Lukman and checked test papers of toppers from the same institute
Added a lot of contemporary examples (including some of my batchmates ) and quotes in the answers and case stud-
ies
Wrote 2-3 tests to maximise speed. Make diagrams,flowcharts and boxes wherver possible to catch the attention of
the evaluator.

Ethics is a high scoring exam with less efforts .It is quite common sensical. Write ethics tests to get good marks .If
possible join a test series for ethics and write atleast 5 tests in time. Don’t go for detailed theories and solve all the
Previous years papers and get them checked. THAT’S ENOUGH.

GS Mains (1,2 and 3)

Basic sources :
1) Sunya IAS compiled notes
2)Vision Ias compilations of current affairs and their test papers solved
3)IAS baba compilations of questions
4) PYQ questions solved from 2013
5) test series of IAS BABA( wrote about 7-8 tests) and updated my notes from the discussions
5) For economy i referred to Mrunal notes
6) For history and culture I revised prelims material only
7) Didn’t do world history and post independence history this time ..Just learnt some answers from test series

Interview
I feel it is tougher than Mains .It requires immense preparation both for content and personality [Link]
7-8 mocks preferably in offline mode. Give balanced judgements and it is ok if u are not able to answer 4-5 ques-
tions by simply saying I m sorry .They check the whole personality and how u carried yourself in that half and an
hour.I made notes on all topics related to DAF point-wise and for all the current topics ,I prepared the content theme
wise (politically,socially ,economically etc).I tried to answer every opinion based question through various dimen-
sions rather than explaining one dimension in detail.
Also before going to the board room I meditated for five minutes and remained calm throughout the interview ,irre-
spective of the reaction of disapproval in one or two questions.
Speaking softly and slowly , having a smile and remaining attentive and confident are the keys to acing the inter-
view.

If anyone wants to reach out to me for a detailed paper wise strategy one can join my telegram channel. I have
shared my notes and mock interview videos on it .I use that platform to clear doubts of aspirants . I am free till I join
LBSNAA/NPA,so I would be happy to help till then atleast. One can also get in touch through insta/fb /twitter also.

The links are as follows